Whoever or whomever?

Question

In this sentence...

He had no problem preaching his views to whomever was listening.

...Am I correct to use whomever? Microsoft Word says I'm wrong. Isn't whomever the object of the preposition? Or should it be whoever because it's the subject of its own clause (whoever was listening)?

Answer 1

"Whomever" is correct.

Answer 2

"Whoever" is correct--your second alternative is right. The object of "to" is the whole clause, "whoever was listening." (However, it's not an indedpendent clause. If you wrote it alone, with a capital at one end and a period at the other, it would be a fragment.) In the example "He had no problem preaching his views to whoMever he disliked,",the reason for "whomever" is that it's the object of "disliked." Both clauses are equally dependent.

In other words, the choice between "whoever' and "whomever" depends on the role of the word in its clause, not in the whole sentence. The clause itself functions as a noun in the sentence and can even be the subject:

Whoever sees sees you in that outfit will think you're homeless..

Whomever you appoint will have my support.

Observe that in the second example, "whomever" is the object of "appoint," but the whole clause is the subject of the overall sentence.

Answer 3

If you read Fowler's Modern English Usage, it will tell you that "whoever" is correct, but 90% of English teachers in the U.S. get it wrong (my estimate) and will criticize you for getting it right.

"Whoever was listening" is an independent clause with a subject and a verb. The whole clause is the object, not the "who" or "whom" alone. As the subject of an independent clause, "whoever" is in the subjective form, not the objective form. (Try turning the sentence around: "Whoever was listening, he had no problem preaching to them." Sounds correct that way, right?)

You would say "He had no problem preaching his views to whoMever he disliked", because the second part is NOT an independent clause. ("Whomever" is not the subject of "disliked".)

The distinction is a hard one, and kind of unsatisfying to learn because most people will think you're wrong, although you'll be right.

Answer 4

"Whomever" is technically correct, but both have become acceptable in recent times (what with the slow death of "whom" and all).

And you should probably turn your grammar checker off. Just by knowing words like "whomever" and "object of the preposition", you're already more qualified to check your own grammar than Word's grammar tools are on their best day.

Answer 5

whomever

here's a Big help... if it has the word to in front of it, it has to be an object (gramatically speaking). So you would say to whomever.

Like first answerer said... in the subject of the sentence it's Who.

In the predicate (does anyone use that term anymore) it's whom. (and don't forget the to)

Answer 6

Everyone should ignore grammar check on MS Word. You are correct. Whom is used when referring to an object, as it is in this case. Who is always a subject.

Answer 7

a million. people settle on despite if to study e mail or delete it base on who the sender is and what the undertaking line says. 2. Whom do you think of we'd desire to constantly interview for the e-e book? 3. as quickly as I return the call, for whom might desire to I ask? 4. Whoever is to blame for this mistake would be terminated. 5. Janet who you haven't any longer met, would be arriving this afternoon.

Answer 8

If you changed the phrase "was listening," to "listened," I think that "whoever" would naturally fall into place.

Answer 9

Who cares?