Grammar lesson on ‘whoever’
In a recent column, “The Commencement Address: A Reality Speech,” Ron Hart tries to make a point that students aren’t learning. To help him make this point he quotes a girl as having written, “I will be suing whoever is responsible for me getting this low grade.” He then goes on to make fun of her for not knowing enough to have written whomever.
This time the joke is on Mr. Hart. What he apparently did not know is that whoever is actually the correct pronoun in this context. The girl was right! It is functioning as the subject of a noun clause. This noun clause is actually the direct object in that sentence, receiving the action of the “suing.”
There is, however, a grammatical error he did not mention in the sentence. Me should be my — possessive case before a gerund. I am normally not a grammar Nazi, but this time I felt it was warranted.
RICHARD DAUGHERTY, Dayton, Tenn.
Know who our enemy is
President George W. Bush once said, “Our war is not with Islam.” Perhaps he wanted to be politically correct. In fact, Islam’s war is with American infidels, Christians, Jews and anyone who does not call upon the name of Allah.