I read something yesterday that just looked and "sounded" wrong, but when I mentally tried the alternative that didn't seem right, either. So perhaps someone can point me at the grammatical rule that governs. We all know that "who" is a subject and "whom" is an object. Thus, I would write "I would like to know who did this," or I would write "I would like to know to whom this letter was addressed." So what happens if I toss an "ever" into the mix? Which of the following is correct, and why? "I want to complain to whoever made this piece of junk!" or "I want to complain to whomever made this piece of junk!" The sentence I encountered was in the second form, and I can't help but think that it should be the former. Is there a rule that governs? I think the answer lies in how the sentence would be diagrammed -- and I haven't done that since about the seventh grade (which, for me, was a VERY long time ago).
I've always thought whomever should be used after a preposition, and that the 'ever' doesn't change anything, but maybe that's wrong. But I have a copy of 'Elements of Style' so I'll check later.
Had to google that (so ashamed! ): Ah ok, so my gut reaction was right! It should be for whom (the Bell Tolls) or to whom (it may concern). And possibly a few others (after whom, concerning whom, with whom etc). And without the preposition it's who. Barring more rules I don't know about of course.
Honestly the second one looks correct to me, not sure why it wouldn't be? Adding 'ever' makes no difference so far as I know.
For plain old, unadulterated "who" and "whom" I know the rule. I stated that in the opening post. What I need help with is when they change to "whoever" and "whomever." The logical part of my brain says to just follow the same rule as it applies to "who" and "whom" but, when I do that, it just doesn't look right to me. In the end, I gave up and opened the Chicago Manual of Style. If you have it and care to pursue it, see CMS 5.63: Those are the examples. They are preceded by an explanation. Not sure if reproducing the full explanation would be too much, and enough to violate the copyright. Thanks, all.
Yeah, the preposition turns it into an object, doesn't it? Nice, never really thought about it that way before. Damn, how come I didn't keep up with this grammar stuff after grade school? Who knew one day I'd actually like it? And I was even beginning my writing 'career' way back then (not in the publishing sense—that has yet to kick off. I mean in the sense of just writing ).
That's the tricky case, and you're right. It should be whoever. I want to complain to whoever made this piece of junk! The object of "to" is the entire clause. In that clause, "whoever" should be the subject. (whoever made this piece of junk) It stays that way even after a preposition. It would be this though if it was shorter, quaint as it sounds. I want to complain to whomever!
Personally, I'm of the opinion that "whom" is archaic, so I just use "who", though that might be partly a regional thing. However, I think we can resolve this rule by switching to a more familiar pronoun e.g. he/him. Using your examples: "I would like to know who did this" => "I would like to know he did this" "I would like to know to whom this letter was addressed" => "I would like to know this letter was addressed to him" Now let's try that trick with your problem sentence: "I want to complain to he who made this piece of junk!" "I want to complain to him who(m) made this piece of junk!" That second sentence screams "wrong" to me. I'd go with "who" here.
