whomever

"Whomever" is used for a person when that person is the object in the sentence, not the subject. In simple terms, it works more like "him," "her," or "them" than like "he" or "they." If the person is receiving the action, this form may be the right one.

It often appears in formal writing, especially after prepositions such as "to," "for," "with," or "by." In everyday English, many people say "whoever" instead, but this form is still useful to understand. For example: "The committee will interview whomever they choose."

"Whomever" means "any person who" or "the person that," but it is used when that person is in the object position. It is the object form related to "whoever." That means it is used for the person who receives the action, not the person who does it.

A useful test is to see whether "him," "her," or "them" would fit. If one of those works, "whomever" is often the right choice. For example, in "The gift is for whomever she chooses," the word comes after "for," and the person is also the object of "chooses." In "You may invite whomever you like," the person is the object of "invite" and "like."

This form is most common after prepositions such as "to," "for," "with," "by," or "about," and in formal writing. You may also see it in sentences like "Give the prize to whomever the judges select" or "The company will hire whomever the team recommends." In each case, the word points to the person being selected, hired, or talked about.

The main contrast is with "whoever." If the word is the subject of its own clause, "whoever" is usually the better choice: "Whoever wants to join can come." If it is the object, "whomever" may be correct: "They can invite whomever they want." In modern everyday English, many speakers use "whoever" almost all the time, so "whomever" now sounds formal and sometimes old-fashioned. Even so, it still appears in careful writing and edited speech, and it helps when you want to be grammatically exact.