[Grammar] Indirect object or object of preposition?!

[nininaz]

Hello,
The principal gave a certificate to whoever had a perfect attendance record.
The bold text acts as noun clause.
Now I want to know the bold text is Indirect object of the verb "gave" or object of preposition of "to"?!or both of them ?!!

And,the next question:
whoever wrote these directions never put a tricycle together.

The bold text acts as a noun clause.whoever is a subordinating conjunction.
and what is the grammatical rule of whoever ?!!

Thanks in advance

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Nininaz:


I found a sentence that is similar to your second sentence:


"Whoever arrives first is to turn on the lights."

The book says that we should parse "whoever" as an indefinite relative pronoun.

It is "indefinite" because it does NOT have an expressed antecedent.

Its meaning is actually "Anyone who arrives first is to turn on the light." [My note: You could speak that way, but it is more natural to simply use "whoever."]


James

Source: Pence and Emery, A Grammar of Present-Day English (1963).

 

[MikeNewYork]

The sentence is correct. It should be "whoever". The rule is that whom/whomever should be used as the object of a preposition unless it is the subject of a clause. In your sentence, it is the subject if a clause.

 

[nininaz]

The sentence is correct. It should be "whoever". The rule is that whom/whomever should be used as the object of a preposition unless it is the subject of a clause. In your sentence, it is the subject if a clause.

Thanks. I want to know why did you use "should " instead of "must" or "have to " in the sentence:The rule is that whom/whomever should be used as the object of a preposition ?!What does 'should' mean in the sentence?!

 

[MikeNewYork]

There are very few "musts" in English grammar. People are free to write whatever they wish. But some of it will be incorrect.