Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are question words. They stand for a person or a thing that we do not know. In this module, the main words are who, whom, whose, what, and which.

Who asks about people. It can ask about the subject of a question, and in everyday English it also often asks about the object. In common speech, who is more usual than whom.

Whom also asks about people. It is the object form, but it is mostly used in formal English. Many speakers do not use it in daily conversation, so both who and whom can be possible.

Whose asks about possession. It asks which person has something. It can stand alone as a pronoun, and it can also come before a noun.

What asks about things, information, or identity. It is used when the answer is open and not chosen from a small known set. It can stand alone as an interrogative pronoun, and it can also come before a noun.

Which asks about a choice from a limited set. The set can be said directly or understood from the situation. In some questions, speakers may choose what or which differently, but which often shows a smaller known group.

An interrogative pronoun stands alone and replaces the unknown person or thing. An interrogative adjective comes before a noun and describes that noun in the question. Some words, such as whose, what, and which, can do both jobs.

In English questions, the interrogative pronoun usually comes first. After it, English often uses the normal question order with an auxiliary verb before the subject. When the interrogative pronoun is the subject, there is no extra auxiliary before the verb.

You can now choose an interrogative pronoun to ask about people, things, possession, and limited choices. You can also see when English varies, especially with who and whom and with what and which. You can build these questions with the usual English question order.