有一本语法书上说,关系代词 whichever 跟 whatever 和 whoever 不同,其后总要接一个名词,如 whichever day, whichever book 等等。但我却读到这样的句子: Choose whichever you like best. (CGEL)
关系代词 whatever 与 whoever 可在从句中充当主语、宾语或表语。而 whichever 在从句可充当定语,所以它常常与名词连用:
- You should wear whichever dress suits you best. (CGEL) 什么衣服最适合你穿,你就应
该穿什么。
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Take whichever seat you like. (McArthur) 你喜欢哪个座位, 就坐哪个座位。
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That would permit 700,000 French citizens living overseas to vote in whichever district they chose. (WTYB) 那将允许在海外居住的 700,000 法国居民在他们所选择的地区进行投票。
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The dual-language greeting was the newest hospitality trick of the European host. It presumed nothing and opened the door for the guest to reply in whichever language was more comfortable. (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code) 双语的问候是欧洲银行招呼客人的最新方式，让客人用感觉舒适的语言作答。(《达·芬奇密码》)
但是，在一定的语境中，与 whichever 连用的名词有时是可以省略的。这样一来，whichever 所引起的从句也就可以充当主语从句或宾语从句了，而它本身也就可以在从句中充当主语或宾语了。
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Whichever(of you) comes in first will receive a prize. (ALD) （你们中）哪一个来得最早，哪一个就得奖。
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Whichever you want is yours. (McArthur) 你需要哪一个,哪一个就是你的。
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All the books are here. You may borrow whichever you like. (NEG) 所有的书都在这儿，你愿借哪本，就借哪一本。