Confused about whoever/whomever with these specific examples
I generally don't have a problem with the correct usage of who/whom, but I have got very confused over which is right for the following examples, all of which are similar:
"Whoever/whomever that may be"
"Whoever/whomever it is"
"Whoever/whomever your audience"
When I try to apply the pronoun substitution rule, my brain comes up with:
"That may be them"
"It is him"
"Your audience is them"
So all of these examples, in my mind, should use whomever, but I've read elsewhere that this is wrong, though the article doesn't do a good job of explaining why. Have I got the wrong idea when changing them to the him/them sentences?
Top answer
"To be" is copulative there, and so it does not have an object, it has a predicate nominative. You substituted in the objective case in error. A good rule for "who/whom" is to use "whom" only when it immediately follows its preposition.
- "To be" is copulative there, and so it does not have an object, it has a predicate nominative.
- You substituted in the objective case in error.
- A good rule for "who/whom" is to use "whom" only when it immediately follows its preposition.
- "Whomever" is ultra-proper and is only good in the most formal settings.
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"To be" is copulative there, and so it does not have an object, it has a predicate nominative. You substituted in the objective case in error.
A good rule for "who/whom" is to use "whom" only when it immediately follows its preposition. "Whomever" is ultra-proper and is only good in the most formal settings.
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