Interrogative Pronouns: Definition, Examples, and Usage

Interrogative pronouns are words like what, whom, and which, that inquire about an unknown person or thing. For example, if you don’t know which phone your friend uses, you’d inquire about their phone by saying, “Which phone do you use?” Here, “Which” is an interrogative pronoun referring to the specificity of the phone (i.e., brand, model, etc.) from a limited set of choices.

Similarly, there are other interrogative pronouns used to inquire about unknown entities. However, these pronouns can get confusing, especially since they can also be used as relative pronouns.

To help you strengthen your foundation of interrogative pronouns, in this article, we’ve clarified them in detail, including their definition and usage with plenty of examples.

What are Interrogative Pronouns?

Definition:

Interrogative pronouns are question words that ask about an unknown person or thing. We use these pronouns to seek information about someone or something we don’t know about.

Interrogative pronouns are also called the wh-words, because most interrogative pronouns in English start with “wh.” Additionally, these pronouns always form question sentences (unless used as relative pronouns), so sentences formed using these pronouns end with question marks “?”.

Additionally, specific interrogative pronouns are used to inquire about specific kinds of entities. For example, the pronouns “who” and “whom” are used to refer to persons only (and sometimes animals) and not non-living objects. For example, for a person, you’d say, “The person who got lost.” But for a bottle you’d rather say, “The bottle that got lost.” and not “The bottle who got lost.”

Types of Interrogative Pronouns:

There are five interrogative pronouns in English:

• What

• Who

• Whom

• Whose

• Which

Purpose and Usage:

Interrogative pronouns, as the name suggests, are primarily used to ask questions and inquire about something.

1. Used to Ask Questions and Inquire about Unknown Things

These pronouns help us interrogate — ask questions about something unknown to us.

Examples of Interrogative Pronouns:

• What is she eating?

Here “What” asks about the thing she is eating.

• Who is at the door?

Here “Who” refers to and asks about the identity of the person standing at the door.

• Whose cat is this?

Here “Whose” refers to and asks about the person who the cat belongs to.

• Whom did you ask?

Here “Whom” refers to and asks about the person being asked.

• Which animal do you like?

Here “Which” refers to and asks about the specificity of the animal being liked.

Direct and Indirect Questions:

Additionally, questions that interrogative pronouns form can either be direct or indirect.

1. Direct Questions:

A direct question is a normal interrogative sentence, following the usual formula for interrogative sentences. An interrogative pronoun in a direct question comes first, followed by the rest of the sentence.

For example:

• What are you doing?

• Who are you talking to?

• Whose sketch did you draw?

• Whom do you believe to be true?

• Which day of the week is it today?

2. Indirect Questions:

Indirect questions are question sentences that follow a declarative sentence structure to ask about something. These questions don’t use question marks (?) but instead periods (.). An interrogative pronoun in an indirect question comes somewhere in between the sentence.

For example:

• I wonder what you are doing.

• Maybe I should know who you are talking to.

• I would like to know whose sketch you drew.

• I don’t know whom you believe to be true.

• I need to know which day of the week it is today.

2. Used to Introduce Relative Clauses

Interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which are sentences that add new information about a noun being discussed in the main clause of the sentence.

It is essential to understand that each relative pronoun always has an antecedent, which is a specific noun in the sentence that the relative pronoun talks about. Another way to understand relative pronouns is that they connect a relative clause with their antecedent. For example:

• The girl who won the medal is my sister.

This sentence implies that there are more than one girl, but only one of them won the medal who is the speaker’s sister. Here, the pronoun “who” helps the speaker add more information — a relative clause about their sister (“who won the medal”) — allowing them to clarify which of the girls exactly is their sister. If the speaker drops the relative pronoun and its clause, the sentence would become unclear: “The girl is my sister.”

Additionally, the information added could be essential or non-essential, depending on the speaker’s requirement, making the relative clause either restrictive or nonrestrictive, the latter of which is separated by a comma.

Examples of Interrogative Pronouns Being Used as Relative Pronouns:

• One of my classmates, who happens to live abroad now, has offered me a job.

• My cousin whom I taught mathematics scored the highest in her exams.

• Only the blue car is my favorite, which I drove for 12 years.

• Our neighbors, whose house burned down yesterday, have moved.

Note that, unlike who, whom, which, and whose, the interrogative pronoun “what” usually occurs as an indefinite relative pronoun. It is used when an antecedent is not introduced and the noun in question remains unspecified. For example:

• I want to know what you guys are talking about.

Now that we have a general overview of interrogative pronouns, let’s understand the five interrogative pronouns with examples.

The Five Interrogative Pronouns in English

Each of the five pronouns serves a specific purpose when forming questions or introducing relative clauses. Below is a detailed breakdown of each pronoun, its function, and examples to clarify its usage.

1. What — Used to Ask About People or Objects

The pronoun “what” can refer to a particular type of entity; things, ideas, and sometimes even people in general, usually without implying a limited choice but rather seeking open-ended information.

Examples:

• Say, what’s happening these days? (Asking about activities)

• What is your favorite book? (Inquiring about a preference)

• I wonder what time it is. (An indirect question asking about time)

• What made him so angry? (Asking about a reason)

2. Which — Used to Ask About a Specific Set of Choice

“Which” is more restricted compared to “what,” as it is used to inquire about a specific option or choice.

Examples:

• Which beach is the closest? (Asking about a specific beach from a limited set of options)

• Which country do you live in? (Asking about a specific country from a limited set of choices)

• Which song should we listen to? (Asking about choosing a specific song from a set of options)

• I wonder which dessert costs the least. (Asking about the specific dessert from available options)

3. Who — Inquires About People

“Who” specifically refers to people, more specifically, inquiring about their identity, role, or action. It is also sometimes used for animals, especially pets.

Examples:

• Who is in the selfie beside you? (Asking about the identity of a person)

• Who left the refrigerator open? (Asking about the specific person responsible for leaving the refrigerator open)

• Who must have been here? (Inquiring about the person who was likely present earlier)

• Who are you? (Asking the second person about their identity)

4. Whom — Inquires About People as Objects in Sentences

While “who” asks about people that are subjects of sentences, “whom” replaces people that are objects of their sentences. Although now less common in modern English, it is still correct and should not be used interchangeably with “who” as done often.

Examples:

• Whom did you beat in soccer? (Used as and referring to the object of “beat”, i.e., the person beaten in soccer)

• Whom are you waiting for? (Asking about the person being waited for.)

• He’s the person whom I helped yesterday. (Referring to the object of “helped.”)

• Whom do you take as your ideal? (Asking about the object of “take” as an ideal, i.e., the person taken as ideal.)

5. Whose — Inquires About People’s Possessions

“Whose” always inquires about some sort of possession or ownership. The thing being possessed could be people, animals, or objects – physical things or ideas.

Examples:

• Whose idea was this? (Inquiring about the person who came up with the idea.)

• Whose food was left unfinished? (Asking about the owner of the food.)

• If you could tell me whose keys these are. (Asking about the possessor of the keys through an indirect question.)

• Whose son is he? (Asking about the parent of the person.)

Conclusion

English has five interrogative pronouns: what, whom, who, whose, and which. These are question words that help us form direct or indirect questions to seek information about an unknown person or thing — grammatically, an unknown “noun.” Interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, both restrictive and nonrestrictive.