Interrogative Pronouns





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Interrogative Pronouns :


The interrogative pronouns (who/which/what) introduce questions.

  • What is that?


  • Who will help me?


  • Which do you prefer?



  • Which is generally used with more specific reference than what. If we're taking a quiz and I ask "Which questions give you the most trouble?", I am referring to specific questions on that quiz. If I ask "What questions give you most trouble"? I could be asking what kind of questions on that quiz (or what kind of question, generically, in general) gives you trouble. The interrogative pronouns also act as Determiners:

  • It doesn't matter which beer you buy.


  • He doesn't know whose car he hit.



  • In this determiner role, they are sometimes called interrogative adjectives.


    Like the relative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns introduce noun clauses, and like the relative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns play a subject role in the clauses they introduce:

  • We know who is guilty of this crime.

  • I already told the detective what I know about it.


    Related Links :


  • Personal Pronouns


  • Demonstrative Pronouns


  • Indefinite Pronouns


  • Relative Pronouns


  • Reflexive Pronouns


  • Intensive Pronouns


  • Interrogative Pronouns


  • Reciprocal Pronouns





  • English Glossary Index




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