Hoo? Hoo? (or is it Hoom?)

 

Who, whoever, whom, and whomever are words that often gives writers headaches.

I hope this post will help you to choose which word is the right one to use when you are writing.

First, you need to decide whether your word is the subject of a verb or the object of a verb or preposition.

Subjective case

Who is used as a subject of a verb. So is whoever.

Examples:

Who is at the door?

Whoever runs the fastest will win the race.

Objective case

Whom is used as the object of a verb or the object of a preposition. So is whomever.

Examples:

Whom did the gang rob?

To whom did you report the incident?

Whom do you want to call?

The job will go to whomever the committee votes for.

I will choose whomever I want.

*****

It’s not really that hard to figure out. Please don’t say you don’t give a whoot. My owl would be so disappointed.