For whomever and whoever loves the office
In this post, we celebrate Worker's day with a classic scene from The Office which shows how not to give a presentation and how native speakers won't always be able to answer your grammar questions.
Hello, I’m Mandeep. Welcome to my Watch and Learn English substack. My aim is to teach “real-life” English using videos and topics that are in the news.
Video of the week
Did you get the day off work on May 1st?
All around the world, the first day of May is a national holiday dedicated to the workers of the world. To celebrate this, we are going to look at one of the most popular work-based comedies out there.
The Office was originally a British show but, after huge success, it was remade for an American audience. The resulting hit show ran for nine seasons over eight years, from 2005 to 2013.
In this famous clip, a truly terrible presentation on how to use PowerPoint goes from bad to worse when everyone starts to argue over grammar. Specifically, how and when to use whoever and whomever in a sentence.
First Watch: Learning
Click the image below to watch the video with clear, correct captions (not auto-generated), definitions for the key vocabulary, and an option to slow the video down to help you catch every word.
So, who was right?!
In this scene, the presentation is interrupted by an unlikely debate about grammar! Everybody is a native speaker, but nobody is really sure of the rules for using the words whoever and whomever in English.
Let’s remind ourselves of who said what:
Ryan: What I really want — honestly, Michael — is for you to know it so you can communicate it to the people here, to your clients, to whomever.
Michael: Oh, okay…
Ryan: What?
Michael: It’s whoever, not whomever.
Ryan: No, it’s whomever…
Michael: No…whomever is never actually right.
During the discussion, some staff say it is never right to use the word whomever, some aren't sure how to use it and others say they know, but do they really?
Here’s what everyone said:
Michael: No, whomever is never actually right.
Creed: Michael is right; it’s a made-up word used to trick students.
Andy: No. Actually, whomever is the formal version of the word.
Oscar: Obviously, it’s a real word, but I don’t know when to use it correctly.
Kevin: I don’t know.
Pam: It’s whom when it’s the object of a sentence, and who when it’s the subject.
Toby: It was, I wanted Michael — subject — to explain the computer system — the object — to whomever, meaning us, the indirect object, which is the correct usage of the word.
The Office is such a popular show that this discussion about grammar got the attention online from lots of English grammar lovers!
When is it whoever and when is it whomever?
Read and listen to the grammar explanation
Both whoever and whomever are relative pronouns that we use when we are describing an unknown or unnamed person.
Whoever is a subject pronoun that performs the action. For example:
Whoever asked Michael if he was a cocktail waitress is funny
Whomever is an object pronoun that receives the action. For example:
Michael will work for whomever he chooses.
Notice that the verb comes right after whoever in a sentence (Whoever asked), but that there’s usually another noun or pronoun between whomever and the verb (Whomever he chooses).
Examples with “whoever”
In these examples, whoever is a subject pronoun and is used to when an unidentified person is doing/performing an action.
In these examples the relevant action is in bold.
Whoever gave the last piece of pizza can have it.
Whoever said the words “always wrong” is not correct.
Whoever may appear in different places in a sentence, but as long as it’s performing an action and introducing a longer noun clause, you’re using it correctly.
I’ll support whoever offers to give the next PowerPoint presentation.
Examples with “whomever”
In these examples, whomever, is an object pronoun and is used to when an unidentified person is receiving an action.
In these examples the relevant action is in bold.
You can teach PowerPoint presentations to whomever you want.
Please give these instructions to whomever Ryan hired.
So … is Ryan using the word correctly?
The official answer to who is correct is…….we don’t know!
This is because Ryan was interrupted before finishing his sentence. Here are two ways he definitely would have been correct.
Ryan: What I really want — honestly, Michael — is for you to know it so you can communicate it to the people here, to your clients, to whomever you need to.
Ryan: What I really want — honestly, Michael — is for you to know it so you can communicate it to the people here, to your clients, to whoever needs it.
So it’s complicated. And, in Ryan’s case, we don’t have a definitive answer.
Maybe the staff in The Office should believe whomever they think knows the most about grammar.
Second Watch: Testing
Now you can watch the scene again but in “quiz” mode!
As you watch, you need to choose the correct word to make the sentence. This will test how well you remember the key vocabulary from the video.
Coming soon!
Our “Learn English with Wednesday” study guide is very nearly ready. Coming soon, we’ll give you the chance to download a free sample!
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