I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece

Question

I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music:  it has given me so much pleasure.

A. I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music: 
B. I would like to thank whomever it was that has written that piece of music: 
C. I would like to thank whomever it might be that wrote that piece of music: 
D. Whoever it was that wrote that piece of music, I would like to thank because 
E. I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music,

sarangadhar · Accepted Answer

We will hire him. You recommend him. 
look at above sentences. "He" is direct object in both the sentences (him + him = whomever). So, you use Whomever when we join both the sentences and say "We will hire whomever you recommend"

We will hire him. He is most qualified. 
In this situation, "He" is object in first sentence and same "He" is subject in second sentence. So, use Whoever...so, we say "We will hire whoever is most qualified".

In our SC problem: lets split "I would like to thank whoever/whomever it was that wrote that piece of music" into:
I would like to thank him. he wrote that piece of music. So, we pick  whoever . So, B and C are gone. E has a comma and hence eliminated because two complete sentences are joined here and 2nd sentence supports the first one why he is thanking.

now down to A and D.
D - whoever it was that wrote that piece of music... two that's are causing awkwardness.. we can simply say whoever that wrote or whoever wrote...

So, A is the winner

arzad · Answer

I picked E. i still don't know why is wrong!! isn't a comma better than : to join clauses. The second statement depends on the first one.

jitbec · Answer

the second sentence is relatively independent.
you can say
 
which is  grammertically  correct.
The dependency is thorugh the pronoun "it" to make the sentence complete in meaning.
If the second clause was not having this dependency a full stop could have used instead of a semicolon.
Just think
I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music.  The music   has given me so much pleasure.
here a full stop is perfect. We can not use semicolon here
like
I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music:  The music   has given me so much pleasure.
can we?
That is why 
I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music:  it   has given me so much pleasure.
 is a better option

if we use comma , the second clause would be even  grammertically  dependent on first clause.
Consider this

I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music,  which   has given me so much pleasure.

My two cents

viks4gmat · Answer

agree with you jitbec.. but shouldnt it be a ";" instead of a ":"
just wondering...

nick28 · Answer

I also have the same question as raised by viks4gmat above.

Shouldn't there be ";" instead of ":" ? Can experts comment on this.

jlgdr · Answer

Tip here: Who wrote it? He/Him wrote it? HE wrote it! So we need whoever not whomever Hope it helps Take it easy Cheers J

PiyushK · Answer

I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music: it has given me so much pleasure.

A. I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music: -- Looks fine hold on

B. I would like to thank whomever it was that has written that piece of music: -- that has written : it has given me pleasure >> two actions in present perfect indicates they are parallel in time frame and not in sequence. whomever is wrong instead it must be whoever.
I would like to thank him / he has written that piece of music : rule wise him + he = whoever
Refer this link for more detail https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/whoever.asp

C. I would like to thank whomever it might be that wrote that piece of music: --- it might be and whomever are not appropriate.
D. Whoever it was that wrote that piece of music, I would like to thank because -- run on sentence -- clause1, clause2
E. I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music, --- run on -- clause1, clause2

gmatter0913 · Answer

I eliminated option E thinking that we cannot join two independent clauses with a comma; we have to use a conjunction.

Am I wrong?

PiyushK · Answer

Yes you are right option E is a run on sentence.

gmatter0913 · Answer

I found the below article to be very useful in the context of this question. I am pasting it here.

Original article:  https://grockit.com/blog/gmat/2010/04/01/what-to-put-between-two-independent-clauses/

gmatprav · Answer

Is Colon an appropriate conjunction here?

prasi55 · Answer

Yes. A colon is typically used to illustrate/elaborate on a general idea introduced in the section of the statement before the colon.

SonofAnarchy · Answer

i misread the colon for a semi-colon and eventually chose E! GMAT is 5 days away, hope to be super alert on the Judgement Day!

kakal0t29 · Answer

I've just realized answer A, E has no difference ??? Could you please check the question again? that's confusing me when i eliminate both and decide C is final

meetmba91 · Answer

meaning: I want to thank the person who wrote a particular piece of music. Because it has given me so much pleasure.

The two sentences are independent. So use of FANBOYS or colon, semicolon is needed. Eliminate D,E

B) and C) use Whomever. Whom does the author want to thank? ....I want to thank him.He has written beautiful poetry. he is the subject of the sentence. Thus Whomever usage is wrong. It should be whoever (referring to the person)

Mpuneet · Answer

whomever’ is the wrong word to use here…so B and C are straight OUT. I couldn’t tell what was wrong with D at first, but then I realized that it’s a run on. Same thing with E. This means A is the right option.

Debashis Roy · Answer

GMATNinja 
Can you please be generous enough to weigh in with your ideas for arriving at the correct answer.....with a special mention for whoevr/whomever dilemma....
Thanks in advance
Cheers

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music:

B. I would like to thank whomever it was that has written that piece of music:
that has written isn't the correct tense hence out 
 
C. I would like to thank whomever it might be that wrote that piece of music: 
it might be that is wordy and akward hence out

D. Whoever it was that wrote that piece of music, I would like to thank because 
whoever and because isn't required since both together makes it wordy

E. I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece of music,
It's better to not connect 2 independent clause with comma

Therefore IMO A

Tusharjoshi573 · Answer

I would like to thank John.
It was John that wrote that piece of music
By this logic, it should "whomever"

Can you please clarify whoever vs whomever???

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I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece

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I would like to thank whoever it was that wrote that piece

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