Choose whichever one you want

Advice or advise? Affect or effect? All or every? All or whole? Allow , permit or let? Almost or nearly? Alone , lonely , or lonesome? Along or alongside? Already , still or yet? Also , as well or too? Alternate ly , alternative ly Although or though? Altogether or all together? Amount of , number of or quantity of? Any more or anymore? Anyone , anybody or anything? Apart from or except for? Arise or rise? Around or round? Arouse or rouse? As or like? As , because or since?

As , when or while? Been or gone? Begin or start? Beside or besides? Between or among? Born or borne? Bring , take and fetch Can , could or may? Classic or classical? Come or go? Consider or regard? Consist , comprise or compose? Content or contents? Different from , different to or different than? Do or make? Down , downwards or downward? During or for? Each or every? East or eastern ; north or northern? Economic or economical? Efficient or effective?

Elder , eldest or older , oldest? End or finish? Especially or specially? Except or except for? Expect , hope or wait?

Experience or experiment? Fall or fall down? Far or a long way? Farther , farthest or further , furthest? Google Ngram backs this up with the following chart, the expression whichever one blue line is by far the most common, and the same results are repeated in the British English and American English corpora. Examples taken from Google Books If you decide to only keep one, you'll have to decide which one to keep. Go in and take whichever one you please. The second clause in the OP's example omits the subject pronoun does not matter The appropriate pronoun which agrees with the negative auxiliary verb does not is it Whichever one you choose, it doesn't matter.

To whom it matters is not specified. Whichever ones you choose, [ they ] don't matter. Whichever ones you choose doesn't matter. We have all colors in stock. So just "which ones you choose doesn't matter" is not grammatical? So it's a fuzzy term. There are situations where quite a large number of speakers, though certainly not the majority, will say something in a certain way, as we have here, and for these situations we use the term "marginal".

I would call that sentence "marginally grammatical". It's very simple: "Whichever" is always "singular". Explanation: It doesn't matter whichever book you take. One book It doesn't matter whichever books you take. An amount of books; two or more Another example of 'plural' : Whichever of the three questions did you like most?

Only one question Whichever two of the three questions did you like most? Any two questions out of the three With living creatures: Does it matter whichever one is going there first?

SovereignSun SovereignSun The word whichever doesn't seem to be particularly singular to me. You are refering to 'books' and 'people' here.

Books are, people are, but whichever is. It is still singular. No, I'm afraid you've accidentally made that up. It is not true!!! See here for 5, reasons that that's not true. However, as you noted "people are" and "books are".

As it happens "ones are" too. And it is "ones" that we see in OP's example. However, "ones" is not the subject of the verb does. Neither is "whichever ones". If it was then the verb would take plural agreement. The reason it does not is because the subject is a clause. Clauses nearly always take singular verb agreement. That's why the verb's singular. Just between us: it's complicated. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'?

How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice? The awkward case of 'his or her'. Take the quiz. Our Favorite New Words How many do you know? Spell It Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? Yesterday I baked three cakes. Take whichever whatever wherever I don't know one you like.

I want you to help me in my homework. You can choose whichever whatever whenever I don't know day is best for you. Last year they gave books to whichever whoever whatever I don't know wanted them. I can keep a secret. You can tell me wherever whatever whoever I don't know you like. Whatever Wherever Whoever I don't know wins a million dollars will be a rich person.