16Hit1600
Standard English ConventionsVery hardWhoever as the subject of its own clause

Standard English Conventions practice question

The prize goes to ____ submits the best design by the end of the month.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. A. whoeverCorrect
  2. B. whomever
  3. C. who
  4. D. whom

Answer: A. whoever

Inside its clause, the pronoun is the SUBJECT of 'submits' ('whoever submits the best design'), so the subject form 'whoever' is needed — even though the whole clause follows 'to'.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. whomever
'whomever' is the object form, but the pronoun is doing the submitting; it's a subject in its clause.
C. who
'who' can't head a clause after 'to' in this way; the sentence needs 'whoever'.
D. whom
'whom' is an object form and can't be the subject of 'submits'.

More Standard English Conventions questions

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