Grammar+Discussion+Example

On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 7:23 AM, elfie wrote: Hi, A friend of mine, studying for general knowledge teaching test, came across this sentence: "I gave the ticket to whoever was first on line." She doesn't understand why it is whoever and not whomever. I don't know how to explain it grammatically to her. Can someone help us, please?

Born in, raised in, retired from New York State, and happy to pass on these grammatical rules that are written in stone or maybe in blood and will be published in my next grammar book - posthumously, so that I do not have to deal with fall-out.

1. You must wait ON line when the line is LONG, stretching around the corner, requiring an umbrella or pillow and just as you see the end about an hour away, you wonder what made you think it was worth waiting ON line.

2. You must wait IN line when the line is SHORT, and you only wanted three stamps so why isn't there a line for those who have 18 packages to mail and not enough packing tape? Or maybe you got IN line at the wrong cash register because the cashier is changing shifts and the person in front of you can't find her bonus card and needs a pen that works because she is writing a check that the manager has to approve...

3. Dixie, I do hate to contradict you, but in the north we DO wait ON people; we are called "waitresses" and I have had that less-than-pleasant summer job, where customers laugh at me when they ask for Chivas Regal and my response is, "Sorry, we only have Schlitz and Bud." I do know better now, but I don't have to waitress in the summer any more... We only wait FOR someone if we are patient, and not many New Yorkers possess that virtue.

Thanks for making me smile - Eileen

From: Brent Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 6:30 PM

Here in New England, we usually say "in line," but I've heard the phrase "on line" a number of times before. It seems to me that it usually comes from New Yorkers. Maybe some of you in the Empire State could straighten me out here. Where in the country is it more common to say "on line"?

On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 8:10 PM, Skip wrote: The word is the subject of the verb 'was.' The dependent clause 'whoever was first in line' is the object of the preposition 'to.' The confusion comes because the word 'whoever' might appear to be the object of the preposition 'to' and therefore would need to be in its accusative (object) form, 'whomever.' It's not the object of the preposition, though, but the subject of the clause it introduces, so it stays in the nominal (subject) form.

Cheers, Skip