IPMAT Indore 2023 · Verbal Ability · Question 12

The rule. The case of who/whoever is decided by its job inside its own clause, never by the word before it. The preposition for governs the whole clause, not the pronoun.

Step 1 — isolate the clause. “**you are assigned ___**”

Step 2 — find the pronoun’s role. The subject is you; the verb is are assigned. In the active voice this is “they assign you [someone]”, so the person assigned is the retained object of the verb. An object takes the objective case:

\text{whomever}

Step 3 — add -ever. The clause has no explicit antecedent (“the person whom…”), so the compound form is needed: whomever.

buy a gift for whomever you are assigned

Why the others fail:

(a) whoever — subjective case; but the pronoun is not the subject here, you is.

(b) whom — right case, but whom needs an antecedent to attach to, and there is none. “for whom you are assigned” also changes the sense.

(c) who — wrong case and no antecedent.

A useful contrast. Had the sentence read “a gift for whoever is assigned to you”, whoever would be correct — there it is the subject of is assigned. One word of difference flips the case.

Answer: Option 4

Note on the published keys. Free sources split on this question, one marking “whoever”. The pronoun is the object of assigned within its clause — the subject slot is already filled by you — so the objective form is required.

Shortcut. The substitution test is quick and reliable. Replace the pronoun with he or him inside its own clause:

“you are assigned him” ✔ → objective → whomever

“you are assigned he” ✘

Him ends in m, and so does whom — that pairing is worth remembering.

Then check whether you need the -ever form: if there is no noun for the pronoun to modify, use whoever/whomever. Here there is none, so whomever.