The relative pronounce?

Question

whoever's books are on the desk is/are the best selling.

"Whoever's books" or " the clause "whoever's books are on the desk" is the subject of verb "to be" in the above sentence.

thank a lot

Answer 1

The simple subject is "books" which is plural--therefore you need "are". The whole clause "whoever's books are on the desk" is the complete (not sure there isn't a more correct word for that) subject, but it's still basically "books".

Now, it could be that it's clear from the context that by "best selling" you're referring to a person, the best selling AUTHOR. In that case, the simple subject is "whoever", singular, and the verb you need is "is". But without a context, I'd assume that "best selling" refers to books.

Answer 2

The subject in the sentence is "books" therefore
the correct answer is
Whoever´s books are on the deske are the best selling.

Answer 3

I would rather say "Whomever's books"

Answer 4

are not is i think