Wh-ever
Adding a clause with an indefinite relative pronoun
Wh-ever Uses
| WH- EVER | REPHRASED |
|---|---|
Whatever is a determiner that refers to "any" (not a particular thing.) |
Whoever, whatever, whichever and however have similar open meanings: "It doesn't matter who/what/how", "any person, thing, way" or "an unknow person, thing, way" |
RELATIVE DETERMINER (FREE CHOICE) Whatever you bake will be delicious. |
Any thing (that) you bake will be delicious. (meaning – it's your selection) |
RELATIVE DETERMINER (ANY, ALL) Take whatever ingredients (that) you need. |
(You) take the/ any ingredients ingredients (that) you need. |
RELATIVE DETERMINER (UNPREDICTABLE, UNKNOWN) Whatever the hour, he calls me. |
He calls me regardless of the hour / no matter what the hour is. |
ingredients – food that goes into a recipe
Wh–ever
As Relative Pronouns
Whoever Clauses
| WHOEVER | ANY PERSON |
|---|---|
Whoever means "It doesn't matter who", "any person who", "the unknown person who"; use a singular verb; use whoever for a subject or an object pronoun. |
Rephrase as any person [who + clause]; the person is indefinite "any" |
Whoever wants to know can ask me. (pronoun-subject of main clause) |
Any person who wants to know can ask me. (subject of main clause & subject of modifying clause) |
Who(m)ever you tell will be jealous. (pronoun-subject of main clause) |
Any person who you tell will be jealous. (subject of main clause & object of modifying clause) |
You told my secret to whoever asked you. (pronoun-object of main clause)
|
You told my secret to any person who asked you. (object of main clause & subject of modifying clause) |
You told my secret to who(m)ever you met. (pronoun-object of main clause) |
You told my secret to any person who you met. (object of main clause & object of modifying clause) |
Whatever Clauses
| WHATEVER | ANY THING |
|---|---|
Whatever means "It doesn't matter what", "any thing that", "the unknown thing that"; use a singular verb; use whatever for a subject or an object pronoun. |
Rephrase as anything [that + clause] |
Whatever he says is true. (pronoun-subject of main clause) |
Anything that he says is true. (subject of main clause & subject of modifying clause) |
Whatever you want is yours. (pronoun-subject of main clause) |
Anything that you want is yours. (subject of main clause & object of modifying clause) |
You can have whatever you please/ wish / like. (pronoun-object of main clause)
|
You can have anything that you please/ wish / like. (object of main clause & subject of modifying clause) |
You can have whatever you want. (pronoun-object of main clause)
|
You can have anything that you want. (object of main clause & object of modifying clause) |
Whichever Clauses
| WHICHEVER / WHATEVER (determiner) | ANY |
|---|---|
Whichever is a determiner that makes no reference to a particular one. |
Rephrase as any person / thing [that + clause] |
Whichever person you ask, he will tell you the same. (any person) |
Any person (that) you ask will tell you the same.
|
Whichever one you want, you may have. (any one / thing) |
Any one (that) you want, you may have. |
However Clauses
| HOWEVER (adverb) | REPHRASED |
|---|---|
However means "It doesn't matter how", "any way that", "the way that"; use a singular verb; use however as an . |
Rephrase as "no matter how" or "any way that". |
DETERMINER (FREE CHOICE, ANY) However you dress, you always look good. |
Any way you dress, you always look good. |
You can explain it however you want (to). |
You can explain it in any manner you want (to). |
DETERMINER (NO MATTER HOW) However much she tries, she'll never be quiet. however + adverb |
She'll never be quiet no matter how much she tries. (even if she tries very hard) |
However rich you are, you cannot buy true friendship. however + adjective |
You cannot buy true friendship no matter how rich you are. even if you are very |
However cleverly he speaks, he cannot hide his dishonesty. however + adverb |
He cannot hide his dishonesty no matter how cleverly he speaks. even if he speaks very cleverly |
Wh-ever Clauses
Clause Order
Changing clause order
| INITIAL SENTENCE POSITION | MEDIAL SENTENCE POSITION |
|---|---|
Wh-ever pronouns can be used in initial sentence position to introduce a modifying clause. |
Or they can be used in the middle of the sentence to introduce a modifying clause. |
Whichever one you want, you can have. |
You can have whichever one you want. (any one .... that) |
Whenever you please, you can phone me |
You can phone me whenever you please. (any time .... that) |
Wherever we went, people talked about us. |
People talked about us wherever we went. (any place .... that) |
However you travel, it will take a day to get there |
It will take a day to get there however you travel. (any manner .... that) |
Rewording Wh-ever Clauses
| WH-EVER CLAUSE | CLAUSE REPHRASED |
|---|---|
These sentences can be rephrased by returning the words to standard order. |
These are the underlying sentence structures: "any" or "no matter" |
Whoever telephones, tell them I am out. (Any person who, no matter who) |
Tell [them] whoever telephones that I am out. Delete "them". Tell any person who telephones that I am out. |
Whoever you are, I'm not opening the door. (No matter who, regardless of who) |
I'm not opening the door for whoever you are. Add "for". I'm not opening the door no matter who you are. |
Whatever your reason is, make sure it is a good one. (No matter what, regardless of what) |
(You) make sure your reason is a good one whatever it is. Make sure your reason is a good one no matter what it is. |
Whatever she said to you, you can believe. (No matter what) |
You can believe whatever she said to you. You can believe anything/something that she said to you. |
Wh–ever
Whichever one you want, you can have
Word Forms
Whatever/Whichever as a determiner
| DETERMINER | ADVERB (IN AN ADVERBIAL PHRASE) |
|---|---|
In these sentences, whichever and whatever are more like determiners — any/some in a modifying clause. |
|
Whatever occasion arrives, she bakes. |
She bakes for some/any occasion that arrives. |
Whatever reasons she had, she went out. |
She went out for some/any reason that she had. |
Whichever day you choose, just let us know. |
Let us know any day that you choose. |
Determiners are words that come before nouns such as: a, an, one, some, any, this, that, these, those, much many, my, you, ours, few, less, several, all, both, etc.)
Whatever/Whichever as an adverb
| ADVERB (IN AN ADVERBIAL PHRASE) | REPHRASED |
|---|---|
In these sentences, whichever and whatever are more like adverbs in phrases (telling when, where, why or what for). Note that the noun is the object of a prepositional phrase. |
When rephrased, the adverbial expression becomes the object of a preposition. |
Whatever the occasion, she bakes. What for? |
She bakes for some/any occasion. |
Whatever the reason, she went out. Why? |
She went out for some/any reason. |
Whichever the day, just let us know. When? |
Just let us know on which day / in which month / at which time. |
Commonly Confused Words
Homonyms, Expressions & Slang
Whoever vs. Who ever!
| WH–QUESTIONS + EVER | WH–EVER QUESTIONS |
|---|---|
In these questions, ever is used to express surprise or unexpected occurrence. The words in these expressions resemble the wh-ever words, but have different meanings. |
The Wh-ever words below introduce modifying clauses and express any or no matter ... that |
Who ever is that? |
Whoever that is, will you tell them to come back later? (no matter who) |
What ever have you done? |
Whatever you have done, we will be excited to see. (no matter what) |
How ever did you do that? |
However you choose to do it is all right with us. (any manner that) |
Why ever didn't you tell me you were unhappy? |
|
However (no matter how) vs. However (but)
| HOWEVER (adverb) | HOWEVER (conjunction) |
|---|---|
No matter how; any manner; adverb |
But conjunction for contrast. |
However she dresses, she always looks stylish. (no matter how) |
She wanted to get dressed up. However, the event was casual. |
We can get this done however you want to do it. (no matter how / in any manner) |
We can get this done; however, he doesn't want to. |
Whatever - Slang
| WHATEVER | MEANING |
|---|---|
"You put the DVD into the wrong drive." |
Whatever is used in an argument to concede (admit but not admit) so that the argument will be over. The speaker avoids an argument, "agree to disagree". |
"Look, if you don't put the soap in first and then add the clothes, you'll get bleach spots on your colored clothing and you don't want that, do you?" |
Whatever is used to end / leave / escape a conversation that is becoming too long with unnecessary or personally irrelevant information. "Enough" |
Common Mistakes
| ERROR | FIX |
|---|---|
Whatever is the reason, she doesn't want to eat.
|
For whatever reason, she doesn't want to eat. (for some / any reason that) Whatever the reason, she doesn't want to eat. (no matter what the reason that) She doesn't want to eat for some reason. (the reason is unknown) She doesn't want to eat for any reason. (no reason exists) |
You told my secret to whoever. ('Whoever' is awkward standing alone as an object pronoun.)
|
You told my secret to anyone / everyone. (Rephrase using an indefinite pronoun.) You told my secret to whoever you met. (Rephrase using a modifying clause.) |
Practice
- Select the word or phrase from the menu that means about the same as the given sentence.
- Then check your answer by clicking the check button to the right.