Grammar according to The Office: Whomever vs. whoever

I have some other observations about the show that I will share in another post, but right now what I wanted to mention was the show's hilarious debate about whomever vs. whoever.

The clip is only about a minute long, but it addresses pretty much every common misconception about the usage of these words. The dialogue is very quick, so you might have to watch it more than once. What is so funny about this is how true it is — people actually think these things are correct.

Update: The original clip is no longer available, but I found one that someone set to an animated clip. It's better if you can watch the correct visual, but the dialogue is really what's important!



My favorite is the theory that whomever is the more formal version of whoever. Also the idea that the whole thing is made up to confuse and frustrate people. I've actually known people who believed these things!