Basics for Communicating Clearly

By Linda Shacklock

Who

Like the pronouns I, he, she, we, and they, the pronoun who is used as the subject of a verb.

Who is in charge of the meeting?
Who shall I say is calling?
Please determine who the leaders are.
The manager will decide who goes to the conference.
The writers who Donna said are good stay too busy to help.

Whoever

Like the pronoun who, the pronoun whoever is used as the subject of a verb, but whoever leads to cumbersome constructions and is best avoided.

Whoever is in charge of the meeting needs to publish the agenda.
   [Better:  The person (who is) in charge of the meeting needs to publish the agenda.]

Whoever calls first gets the job.
   [Better:  The applicant who calls first gets the job.]

Whoever the leaders are will get the praise or the blame.
   [Better:  The leaders will get the praise or the blame.]

The manager always selects whoever he thinks is most qualified.
   [Better:  The manager always selects the person (who) he thinks is most qualified.]

Donna will assign the project to whoever has time to do it.
   [Better:  Donna will assign the project to the writers who have time to do it.]

Collected "Grammar Central" topics

Questions?  Send an e-mail note to Linda Shacklock.