Interrogative Pronouns for intermediate learners

interrogative pronouns interrogatives what which who whom whose

There are five interrogative pronouns in English. Each is used to ask a specific question. In this lesson, we will learn more about these pronouns.

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"Interrogative Pronouns" in English Grammar

What Are Interrogative Pronouns?

When we want to make questions in English, we use interrogative pronouns. Although they are the same as 'wh words', you should know that they differ in use and that not all 'wh-words' are interrogative pronouns. Look at the table below:

Interrogative Pronoun	Person/Thing	Asking about
What	Thing	Subject/Object
Which	Person/Thing	Subject/Object
Who	Person	Subject
Whose	Person/Thing	Possessive Nouns

How to Use Them

Interrogative pronouns can be used as either subjects or objects. Now, let us see how they work:

Interrogative Pronouns as the Subject

In this case, we simply replace the subject of the sentence with an interrogative pronoun accordingly. The verb remains the same and nothing else is added or removed. Pay attention to the following examples:

The green one is my favorite. → Which is your favorite?

The blasting news was spread everywhere. → What was spread everywhere?

As you can see, simply the subject is removed and an interrogative pronoun is used.

We're talking about relationship goals. → Who are talking about relationship goals?

Interrogative Pronouns as the Object

Using interrogative pronouns as objects is a bit different. First, you have to remove the object in the sentence and then turn the sentence into a yes/no question and then add the interrogative pronoun to the beginning of the sentence. Let us study the following examples carefully:

I'm talking about real money here. → What are you talking about?

As you can see, the place of the verb is changed accordingly.

She's pointing to the red-haired guy. → Which is she pointing to?

Who and Whose

'Who' is used to ask about people. We normally use 'who' to ask about the subject and the object. Look at the following examples:

A : Who said you could come in here without permission?

B : You said so yourself.

Tip!

It is useful to know that another interrogative pronoun is 'whom'. It is old-fashioned and formal and is not that common among English speakers. Its main purpose is to replace the object of the sentence. Look at the following example:

A : To whom was the New Testament given?

B : It was given to Mark.

'Whose' is the only possessive pronoun here and it replaces possessive nouns or possessive determiners. Its purpose is to indicate ownership. Study the following examples:

That bus is ours. → Whose is that?

She is talking to her cat. → Whose cat is she talking to?

Warning!

Be careful that there is a slight difference between 'What' and 'Which'. When we use 'What' as an interrogative pronoun, we can have an infinite number of answers. However, when using 'which', we have a limited range of answers. Look at the following examples below:

A : What do you like to study in America?

B : I like to study Norse mythology there.

A : Which is your favorite food on the menu?

B : Well, it's Pasta with Alfredo sauce.

Interrogative Determiners

If these interrogative pronouns are followed by a noun, they are no longer called pronouns. They will be called interrogative determiners. Pay attention to the following examples:

Whose book are you reading?

What literary genre are you interested in?

As you can see, the interrogative pronoun is followed by a noun which turns it to a determiner.

Demonstrative Pronouns

A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun mostly used to point to something based on its distance from the speaker. In English, these pronouns have four forms.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns are used to show that the subject and object of a sentence are exactly the same person or thing or there is a direct connection between them.

Emphatic Pronouns

'Emphatic pronouns' are used to refer to a noun or a pronoun mentioned earlier. So they give more detailed information.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership and indicate that something belongs to someone particular. With their help, we can make a possessive phrase shorter.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things without saying exactly who or what they are. In this lesson, we will learn more about these pronouns.

Dummy Pronouns

Dummy pronouns function grammatically the same as other pronouns, except they do not refer to a person or thing like normal pronouns do.

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