Words that end with ever. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use, however, whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, whomever, and whichever. Generally speaking, each of these words conveys the meaning any. However means in any way. Whatever, anything. Whenever, anytime. Wherever, anyplace. Whoever and whomever, anyone. Whichever, anything among a limited number of choices. Now, I'd like to introduce you to a teacher named Mr. Ever. Mr. Ever loves any word that contains ever. He is not a strict teacher at all. In fact, he's one of the most lenient teachers you'll ever meet. He gives his students the freedom to do and act as they please. I'm Mr. Ever. In my class, there are no rules. You can do whatever you want. Please sit wherever you are comfortable. Whenever you feel bored, please take a nap. Whoever forgets homework will not be penalized. Whichever book you want to read is up to you. You can dress however you want. I'll look forward to whatever the semester may bring. As you can see, words that end in ever are pretty straightforward. Let's take a closer look at the grammatical functions of these words. Words that end in ever, often appear in noun clauses. You probably remember that noun clauses just like other clauses, contain a subject and a verb. In this case, the noun clause, whatever you want is functioning as an object. These noun clauses with ever words act very similarly to their counterparts without ever. The difference between these two sentences is that the first one emphasizes the openness of the statement. That is, it emphasizes the idea of any. You can do whatever you want. Here's another example of a noun clause. In this case, it is functioning as a place. It is also worth mentioning that the placement of these types of noun clauses is flexible, as it is with other noun clauses. In this case, is the clause an object or a subject? You can see, it is a subject. When using whoever as a subject of a noun clause, remember that it receives a third person singular verb. Also noticed the possessive adjective His, which corresponds with the third person singular verb. In spoken English, especially in informal speech, It's common to hear their instead of his or her especially because the meaning of the word whoever implies that the gender of the person might not be known. Be careful. Never use whomever as a subject of a noun clause. This is wrong. A good rule to remember is that if you see a verb, whoever, whomever must come before it. The proper way to use whomever is when it functions as an object within the noun clause. Remember, you just learned that you should not use whomever before a verb. However, notice in this sentence, it is followed by a noun. Which means that whomever is like saying him or her. The teacher calls on him or her. The teacher calls on whomever. Thus, whomever always functions as an object within a noun clause. Ever words can also appear in adverb clauses, especially with whenever. For example, the adverb clause here is whenever you feel bored. Of course, it is possible to see it at the end of a sentence as well. You also saw an example of however, which means in any way, you can just however you want is the same as saying, you can dress in any way you please. Lastly, I'd like to make a few comments about using whatever in informal speech. Sometimes people use whatever by itself when speaking casually and it can mean two things. It can express apathy or a lack of concern. This shows disinterest or is almost a rude way of dismissing somebody's comment. It could also express, I don't mind. This is, on the other hand, not rude. This is just expressing that one is open to any option. The message being communicated depends on how the speaker says the word. Take a look at these two quick examples. What do you want to do tonight? Whatever, talk to you like a mind. Don't really know too much chocolate is bad for you? Whatever. That concludes this lesson on however, whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, whomever, and whichever. Remember that in each of these words, a meaning of any is expressed. I hope you learned a lot. See you next time.
