WHATEVER or WHATSOEVER, applied ordinarily to things only.
Sing. Nom. whatever, Plur. Nom. whatever,
Poss. ————, Poss. ————,
Obj. whatever; Obj. whatever.
Sing. Nom. whatsoever, Plur. Nom. whatsoever,
Poss. ————-, Poss. ————,
Obj. whatsoever; Obj. whatsoever.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.—Most of the personal pronouns have two forms of the possessive case, in each number: as, my or mine, our or ours; thy or thine, your or yours; her or hers, their or theirs. The former is used before a noun expressed, or when nothing but an adjective intervenes; the latter, when the governing noun is understood, or is so placed that a repetition of it is implied in or after the pronoun: as, "My powers are thine; be thine alone The glory of my song."—Montgomery. "State what mine and your principles are."—Legh Richmond, to his Daughters. Better, perhaps: "State what my principles and yours are;"—"State what your principles and mine are;"—or, "State what are my principles and your own."
"Resign'd he fell; superior to the dart
That quench'd its rage in yours and Britain's heart."—J. Brown.
"Behold! to yours and my surprise,
These trifles to a volume rise."—Lloyd, p. 186.
OBS. 2.—Possibly, when the same persons or things stand in a joint relation of this kind to different individuals or parties, it may be proper to connect two of the simple possessives to express it; though this construction can seldom, if ever, be necessary, because any such expression as thy and her sister, my and his duty, if not erroneous, can mean nothing but your sister, our duty, &c. But some examples occur, the propriety of which it is worth while to consider: as, "I am sure it will be a pleasure to you to hear that she proves worthy of her father, worthy of you, and of your and her ancestors."—Spectator, No. 525. This sentence is from a version of Pliny's letter to his wife's aunt; and, as the ancestors of the two individuals are here the same, the phraseology may be allowable. But had the aunt commended her niece to Pliny, she should have said, "worthy of you and of your ancestors and hers." "Is it her or his honour that is tarnished? It is not hers, but his."—Murray's Gram., p. 175. This question I take to be bad English. It ought to be, "Is it her honour or his, that is tarnished?" Her honour and his honour cannot be one and the same thing. This example was framed by Murray to illustrate that idle and puzzling distinction which he and some others make between "possessive adjective pronouns" and "the genitive case of the personal pronouns;" and, if I understand him, the author will here have her and his to be of the former class, and hers and his of the latter. It were a better use of time, to learn how to employ such words correctly. Unquestionably, they are of the same class and the same case, and would be every way equivalent, if the first form were fit to be used elliptically. For example: "The same phrenzy had hindered the Dutch from improving to their and to the common advantage the public misfortunes of France."—Bolingbroke, on Hist., p. 309. Here the possessive case their appears to be governed by advantage understood, and therefore it would perhaps be better to say, theirs, or their own. But in the following instance, our may be proper, because both possessives appear to be governed by one and the same noun:—
"Although 'twas our and their opinion
Each other's church was but a Rimmon."—Hudibras.
OBS. 3.—Mine and thine were formerly preferred to my and thy, before all words beginning with a vowel sound; or rather, mine and thine were the original forms,[207] and my and thy were first substituted for them before consonants, and afterwards before vowels: as, "But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance."—Psalms, lv, 13. "Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God."—Acts, x, 4. When the Bible was translated, either form appears to have been used before the letter h; as, "Hath not my hand made all these things?"—Acts, vii, 50. "By stretching forth thine hand to heal."—Acts, iv, 30. According to present practice, my and thy are in general to be preferred before all nouns, without regard to the sounds of letters. The use of the other forms, in the manner here noticed, has now become obsolete; or, at least, antiquated, and peculiar to the poets. We occasionally meet with it in modern verse, though not very frequently, and only where the melody of the line seems to require it: as,