Questions: interrogative pronouns (what, who)
We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. They are: who, which, whom, what and whose. These are also known as *wh-*words. Questions using these are called *wh-*questions:
- Who called last night?
- Which keys are yours?
- Whom do I ask for at the desk?
- What did you do when the electricity failed?
- Whose watch is this?
Interrogative pronouns: uses
We use who and whom on their own:
- Who paid?
- Whom did you speak to?
We can use whose, which and what either on their own (as pronouns) or with a noun head (underlined):
| As pronouns | With a noun head |
| Whose are these books? | Whose books are these? |
| Which did you buy? | Which sweater did you buy? |
| What is the number on the door? | What number is your house? |
We can use who, whose, which and what both as subject and object:
- Who is the best footballer in the world? (who as subject)
- Who did you meet? (who as object)
- What happened next? (what as subject)
- What did you buy? (what as object)
Who or whom?
We use whom as an object in formal styles. When we use a preposition before whom, it is even more formal. We don’t normally use it in speaking:
- Whom did you give the book to? (formal)
- To whom did you give the book? (very formal) Or, less formally: Who did you give the book to?
What or which?
We use what when we ask about specific information from a general range of possible answers:
- What*’s the tallest building in the world?*
- What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.
- What*’s your address?*
We use which when we ask for specific information from a restricted range of possible answers:
-
[looking at a list of addresses]
-
A: Which is your address?
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B: This one here.
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Which hand do you write with?
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[looking at a photograph of three women]
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Which one is your sister?
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Which airport do we leave from, Heathrow or Gatwick?
- Questions: *wh-*questions