An interrogative pronoun is used to ask questions.
The most common interrogative pronouns are:
Table of contents of this lesson: Interrogative pronouns
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We use WHO for people:
- Who are you? I'm Tom's sister, Claire.
We use WHAT for people, animals and things:
- What do you do for a living? I'm a doctor.
- What are those? They are bears.
- What is that? It's an oak.
We use WHICH for people, animals and things when we want a specific answer:
- Which one is your teacher?
- Which animal sleeps in winter?
- Which dress do you prefer?
WHOM is the object form of WHO. We use WHOM when the person is the object of the verb:
- Whom did you see? I saw John. (John is the object of the verb.)
- Whom did you tell? I told Mary. (Mary is the object is the object of the verb.)
Watch out! When you don't know whether to use WHO or WHOM, try this simple trick:
If you can replace the word with “he”’ or “’she,” use WHO.
If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use WHOM.
- Whom did you see? I saw him.
We use WHOSE to ask who something belongs to:
- Whose house is that?
- I don't know whose this is.
Interrogative pronouns worksheet
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Download the worksheet below and learn how to use interrogative pronouns!
