Interrogative pronouns are question words that ask for information about a person, a thing, a choice, or ownership. They stand in for the answer, so the sentence does not name the thing directly. In Who called you?, the word who asks for the person. In What broke?, what asks for the thing. In Whose is this?, whose asks about possession. These words belong in the same family as the question forms in Asking Questions, but here they work as pronouns, not as adjectives. That means they replace a noun phrase instead of describing one.

Use who to ask about a person who does the action of the verb. The question asks for the subject. Who lives here? asks for the person who lives here. Who opened the door? asks for the person who opened it. After who, the verb usually takes singular form: Who wants tea? not Who want tea? The same pattern appears when the answer is one person or many people, because the question itself treats the unknown person as one subject.

Using who for people as subject

Usage	Explanation	Example
Subject question	Use who when you ask about the person who does the action in the sentence.	Who called me this morning?
Singular verb form	After who, the verb usually stays in the singular form because the question is about one person at a time.	Who knows the answer?

What asks for open information when the answer is not limited to a known set. What are you reading? can lead to any book, magazine, message, or article. Which asks the listener to choose from a smaller, known group. Which coat do you want? means there are several coats in view or in mind. When a noun follows which, the noun identifies the set: Which train are you taking? For a broader question, use what. For a choice among options, use which. The same contrast appears in Interrogative Adjectives, where what and which also come before nouns.

Choosing between what and which

Usage	Explanation	Example
Open choice	Use what when the question is open and you want general information.	What happened at the meeting?
Limited choice	Use which when the listener chooses from a smaller set of options.	Which color do you want?

Use whose to ask who owns something or who is connected to it. The question looks for the possessor, and the noun for the thing possessed comes after whose: Whose phone is ringing? Whose idea was that? The structure is whose + noun + verb. The noun is necessary, because whose points to ownership or relationship, not to the thing itself. In Whose is this?, the noun is understood from the situation, but in ordinary questions it is usually stated.

Whose questions about ownership

Example	Pattern
Whose jacket is this?	Use whose to ask who owns something.
Whose phone rang?	Put the noun after whose when you ask about the possessed thing.

Whom is the object form used in formal English when the pronoun receives the action of the verb or follows a preposition. Say Whom did you invite? and To whom did you speak? In everyday speech, many speakers use who in these positions: Who did you invite? and Who did you speak to? After a preposition, whom is still standard in careful writing. The object patterns from Object Pronouns help explain this form, because whom behaves like an object pronoun rather than a subject pronoun.

Using whom in formal object questions

Usage	Explanation	Example
Object of a verb	Use whom in formal English when the person is the object of the verb.	Whom did you invite?
After a preposition	Use whom after a preposition in formal English.	Whom are you speaking to?

Interrogative pronouns usually come at the start of the question. They appear before the auxiliary verb, or before the main verb if there is no auxiliary: Who is calling? What did she buy? Which train leaves first? Whose keys are these? In questions with a preposition, the preposition usually moves to the end in informal English: Who are you talking to? The question word still stays at the front. That front position shows the listener immediately what kind of answer is needed.

Placing interrogative pronouns in questions

Example	Pattern
Who are you calling?	Put the interrogative pronoun at the start of the question.
What did she say?	Place it before the auxiliary verb when the question has one.

Some question forms add ever to make the meaning wider, more open, or stronger. Whoever means any person that fits the situation: Whoever arrives first can sit here. Whatever means anything at all: Whatever you choose will be fine. Whichever points to any one choice from a group: Whichever route you take, call me. Whomever is the formal object form: Whomever you invite is welcome. These forms often appear in questions, but they also appear in statements and clauses where the speaker wants openness or emphasis.

Open ended interrogative pronoun forms

Word	Definition	Example
whoever	It means any person that fits the situation or the one you do not know yet.	Whoever finishes first can leave early.
whatever	It means anything at all or the exact thing is not important.	Take whatever you need.
whichever	It means any one from a choice of several options.	Pick whichever seat you like.
whomever	It is the formal object form meaning any person that receives the action.	Invite whomever you trust.

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Whose and who's are different words. Whose asks about possession: Whose jacket is this? Who's is the contraction of who is or who has: Who's ready? Who's taken my seat? Another common mix-up is using whom where who sounds natural in modern English. Use who for the subject of the verb and whom for the object in formal writing. In everyday conversation, who is often the normal choice. The question words in this group are the base for clear questions in Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns, because the answer often needs the same subject or object form.

Formal and everyday pronoun choices

Region	Variant	Definition	Example
Formal English	whom	Use whom when the pronoun is the object and the style is careful or formal.	Whom did you meet at the conference?
Everyday English	who	Use who in everyday speech even when the pronoun is the object.	Who did you meet at the store?
Standard English	whose	Use whose to ask about possession and never use it with an apostrophe.	Whose keys are on the table?

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