View source for whoever

{{also|whoëver}}
==English==

===Alternative forms===
* {{alt|en|whoe'er||poetic}}
* {{alt|en|whoëver||obsolete|rare}}

===Etymology===
From {{inh|en|enm|whoever}}. {{surf|en|who|ever}}.

===Pronunciation===
* {{IPA|en|/huˈɛvɚ/|a=GA}}
** {{audio|en|en-US whoever.ogg|a=US}}
* {{IPA|en|/huˈɛvə/|a=RP}}
* {{audio|en|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-whoever.wav|a=Southern England}}
* {{audio|en|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-whoever.wav|a=US}}
* {{rhymes|en|ɛvə(ɹ)|s=3}}

===Pronoun===
{{en-pron|desc=nominative case|objective|whomever|possessive|whosever}}

# {{lb|en|interrogative}} [[who|Who]] [[ever]]: {{non-gloss|an emphatic form of '''''[[who]]'''''.}}
#: {{ux|en|'''Whoever''' thought up that stupid idea?}}
# {{lb|en|fused relative}} Any person or persons that.
#: {{ux|en|'''Whoever''' breaks the law will be punished.}}
# {{lb|en|fused relative}} The person that (no matter who).
#: {{ux|en|'''Whoever''' robbed that old lady ought to be locked up.}}
#: {{ux|en|I don't know what it is. Ask '''whoever''' put it there.}}
# Regardless of the person or persons that.
#: {{ux|en|'''Whoever''' stole the painting, the police will catch the thief in no time.}}
# {{lb|en|informal}} Any person or persons.
#: {{ux|en|I don't care who gets it; give it to '''whoever'''.}}
# {{n-g|Misspelling of '''''[[who]] [[ever]]''''' other than in interrogative use.}}
#: ''*He is the tallest man '''whoever''' lived.'' (incorrect usage)
#* {{quote-journal|en|title=Ian Thorpe acknowledges he's gay, let's hope he's now happy as well|work=Sydney Morning Herald|author=Peter FitzSimons|date=July 13, 2014|passage=When the gays can claim the toughest bastard '''whoever''' pulled on a football boot as one of their own, ...}}

====Usage notes====
{{U:en:who and whom}}

====Derived terms====
{{col-auto|en|whoever smelt it dealt it}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top|any person or persons that}}
* Arabic: {{t+|ar|مَنْ}}
* Aromanian: {{t|rup|tsenushcari}}
* Bulgarian: {{t|bg|който и да е}}
* Classical Nahuatl: {{t|nci|āquin}}
* Danish: {{t|da|hvem i alverden}}, {{t|da|hvem der end}}, {{t|da|enhver som}}
* Dutch: {{t|nl|[[wie ook|wie (dan) ook]]}}
* Esperanto: {{t|eo|kiu ajn}}
* Finnish: {{t|fi|kuka tahansa}}, {{t|fi|kuka ikinä}}
* French: {{t+|fr|quiconque}}, {{t+|fr|qui que ce soit}} qui
* German: {{t|de|wer immer}}, {{t|de|wer auch immer}}
* Greek: {{t+|el|όποιος}}
*: Ancient: {{t|grc|ὅστις}}, {{t|grc|ὁστισοῦν}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|akárki}}, {{t+|hu|bárki}}
* Indonesian: {{t+|id|siapa pun}}
* Irish: {{t|ga|cibé}}, {{t|ga|pé}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|chiunque}}
* Latin: {{t+|la|quisquis}}, {{t|la|quicumque}}
* Maltese: {{t|mt|kulmin}}
* Norwegian:
*: Bokmål: {{t|nb|den som}}, {{t|nb|enhver som}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|ktokolwiek}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|quem}}, {{t|pt|quem quer que}}
* Romanian: {{t+|ro|oricare}}
* Russian: {{t|ru|[[кто́]] [[бы]] [[ни]]}}, {{t|ru|[[кто́]] [[бы]] ([[то]]) [[ни́]] [[быть|бы́ло]]}}, {{t|ru|[[кто]] [[уго́дно]]}}
* Scottish Gaelic: {{t|gd|ge be cò}}
* Spanish: {{t+|es|cualquier|m}}, {{t+|es|cualesquiera|m-p|f-p}}, {{t+|es|cualquiera}}, {{t+|es|quien}}, {{t|es|quien sea}}, {{t+|es|quienquiera}}, {{t|es|quienquier}}
* Tagalog: {{t|tl|sinuman}}
* Ugaritic: {{t|uga|𐎎𐎐|tr=mn}}, {{t|uga|𐎎𐎐𐎋|tr=mnk}}
{{trans-bottom}}

====See also====
{{col6|en
|nobody
|whatever
|whenever
|wherever
|whomever
|whosoever
}}

===Anagrams===
* {{anagrams|en|a=eehorvw|everwho|however}}

{{cln|en|interrogative pronouns}}