I read this sentence from a students essay. I think it sounds odd and think that whomever is better. Is this sentence alright?
What about to buy a dish for (whom/whomever) you like?
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2I depends what you want to say. Whom has the feeling that you have a specific person in mind already, whomever could be anyone.– PeterCommented Jan 25, 2017 at 1:04
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2 Answers
They mean different things. Whom is more specific, and whomever less so. So:
What about buying a dish for whom you like?
implies that there is one person you like, and the question is about buying a dish for that one person. If there were more than one person you like, you would phrase the question as follows:
What about buying a dish for those whom you like?
But whomever you like means, roughly, It doesn't matter whom.
Buy a dish for whomever you like
means: it doesn't really matter whom you buy a dish for; just buy it for one or more people.
What about buying a dish for whomever we like?
means: How if we just buy a dish, and it doesn't matter who the intended recipient is?
Note that in all cases, the verb form is buying. What about to buy would sound wrong to native speakers.
I've reworded your sentence so it makes sense:
What about buying a dish for (whom/whomever) you like?
This is called a free choice fused relative construction where whom and whomever have the same meaning, though the ever is omissible by virtue of being redundant. It's called 'free choice' because it is very similar in meaning to "...buying a dish for anyone you like.
It's interpreted as if it had a clausal complement, as in ... "buying a dish for whom(ever) you want to buy a dish for". So the meaning is not "buying a dish for the persons that you like", but "buying a dish for whom(ever) you care to buy one for".
