Regular Feature: Get it /Write/ Right!

May 2010
Vol. 1, No. 5

Who vs. Whom and Who's vs. Whose and Whomever vs. Whoever

Scratching HeadWhom is an outdated word and isn't something that comes up in regular conversation. However, there are times you will still need to know which of the who and whom you should be using.
The test
for determining whether to use who/whom is by using he/him. If he bought a pair of shoes, then who would be used. Who bought the pair of shoes? If the shoes fit him well, then whom did the shoes fit?
Who's vs. Whose follows this simple rule: who's is a contraction of who is/has. Who is going to the mall with me? Would be Who's going to the mall with me? Whose means "of whom" or "belonging to whom". Whose car are we taking to the mall?
Whomever vs. Whoever uses the same rule as whom vs. who. If your (whomever/whoever) can be replaced with he then use whoever. If, however, your sentence would use him, then use whomever. He drives the car to and from work would therefore be whoever drives the car to work. If you're planning on giving him some bananas when he gets to work, then you're planning on giving bananas to whomever arrives at work.
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Get it write right! is a regular feature of the Yet-to-be-Named Newsletter. Learn the proper use of words and solve those tricky grammatical questions that keep you up all night. Do you have a conundrum begging to be solved? Send it to TheChicoWritersGroup@gmail.com.

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