Whatever or whichever

Obviously, "Whichever" is the right word.

The main difference between "whatever" and "whichever" is that "whatever" refers to a choice from a lot of things or from an infinite number of things, but "whichever" refers to a choice from a few things .

/Sameer

I disagree with askshameer. Although both 'whatever' and 'whichever' may be used as adjectives, only 'whatever' may be used as a pronoun. Thus, one may say "Whatever is the matter with you?," while s/he cannot say *"Whichever is the matter with you?".

One college recruiter might say "Whatever school you attend, you have a chance at a scholarship." Likewise, another college recruiter migh

Whichever is, is right.

" only 'whatever' may be used as a pronoun." -- completely incorrect, at least as understood by these two competent sources:

http://www.englishlanguageguide.com/english/gram

The post that claimed that "whichever" is not a pronoun is incorrect. "Whichever" and "whatever" can both function as relative pronouns. I just taught relative pronouns to my 9th grade students this morning!

Example as an adjective: I will read whichever manuscript arrives first. (Here "whichever" functions as an adjective decribing the noun "manuscript")

Example as a pron

whichone is more suitable

I came across the following question, which puzzles me a lot.
__ team wins on Saturday will go through to the national championships.

In determining the correct answer, we have to consider the semantic and syntactical aspect as well as grammatical one.

We can explain and reason with this approach:

whichever should be used when you reefer to two or more known/determinable things/items. whatever should be used when you're talking about a wide indeterminable variety of things/subjects.

1-Q: What college would you like to attend?
A:Whatever would make me a better doctor...

2-Q: What college are you attending.....Harvard or MIT? (I'm from Boston, Can't you tell)?

Whichever for limited choice, whatever for open choice (as with which and what and which else and what else) in this context of the use of the word.

So, if it's like this:
Children can watch ______ television programme is on.
A. Whichever or B. Whatever
Can you tell me which would be the correct one please?