34b Use who, whoever, whom, and whomever appropriately.
A common problem with pronoun case is deciding whether to use who or whom. Even when traditional grammar requires whom, many Americans use who instead, especially in speech. Nevertheless, you should understand the difference between who and whom so that you can make informed choices in situations such as formal college writing that may call for the use of whom (or whomever) in the objective case. The most common confusion with who and whom occurs when they begin a question and when they introduce a dependent clause.
Correctness or Stuffiness?
TALKING THE TALK
“I think Everyone has their opinion sounds better than Everyone has his or her opinion. And nobody says whom. Why should I write that way?” Over time, the conventions governing certain usages—such as who versus whom, or their versus his or her when it refers to an indefinite pronoun like everyone—have become much more relaxed. To many Americans, Whom did you talk to? and No one finished his or her test—both of which are technically “correct”—sound unpleasantly fussy. However, other people object to less formal constructions such as Who did you talk to? and No one finished their test; to them, such usages signal a lack of discrimination. Unfortunately, you can’t please everyone. Use whatever you are most comfortable with in speaking, but be more careful in formal writing. If you don’t know whether your audience will prefer more or less formality, try recasting your sentence.
In questions
You can determine whether to use who or whom at the beginning of a question by answering the question using a personal pronoun. If the answer is he, she, or they, use who; if it is him, her, or them, use whom.
I visited them. Them is objective; thus whom is correct.
I think she wrote the story. She is subjective; thus who is correct.
In dependent clauses
The case of a pronoun in a dependent clause is determined by its purpose in the clause, no matter how that clause functions in the sentence. If the pronoun acts as a subject or subject complement in the clause, use who or whoever. If the pronoun acts as an object in the clause, use whom or whomever.
The verb of the clause is wants, and its subject is who.
Whomever is the object of suspected in the clause whomever the party suspected of disloyalty.
If you are not sure, try separating the dependent clause from the rest of the sentence and looking at it in isolation. Then rewrite the clause as a new sentence, and substitute a personal pronoun for who(ever) or whom(ever). If you substitute he, she, or they, use who or whoever; if him, her, or them is correct, use whom or whomever.
The minister grimaced at (whoever/whomever) made any noise.
Isolate the clause whoever/whomever made any noise. Substituting a personal pronoun gives you they made any noise. They acts as the subject; therefore, The minister grimaced at whoever made any noise.
The minister smiled at (whoever/whomever) she greeted.
Isolate and rearrange the clause to get she greeted whoever/whomever. Substituting a personal pronoun gives you she greeted them. Them acts as an object; therefore, The minister smiled at whomever she greeted.
The minister grimaced at whoever she thought made the noise.
Ignore such expressions as he thinks and she says when you isolate the clause.