Interrogative Pronouns
Who wants to eat all of these cookies?Note that there are also possessive pronouns. Whose can be used instead of who when the possessive pronoun is plural.
| subject | object | ||
| person | who | whom | |
| thing | what | ||
| person/thing | which | ||
| person | whose | (possessive) | |
Whom, for example, is correct when a pronoun is the object of the verb. When asked “Whom made these cards?” (“Bill made these.”) We rarely use whom when we speak in English. Most of us even say “Who made these cards?”
Here are some examples of questions. In the answers, the noun the interrogative pronoun represents is written in bold.
| Question | Answer | |
| Who did this? | Bill did it. | subject |
| Whom did you give the cake? | I gave the cake to Gloria. | object |
| What is the answer? | The answer is five. | subject |
| What can I get you? | I’d like a cookie. | object |
| Which driver won the race? | John won the race. | subject |
| Which one did you buy? | I bought the red one. | object |
| A book hasn’t been turned in yet. Whose is missing? | Bill’s (book) is still missing. | subject |
| Whose cat is in the tree? | Betty’s cat is in the tree. | object |
The suffix “-ever” is also used frequently to make compound words from these pronouns. Whoever, whichever, and whatever are common examples. Adding “-ever” to the pronoun gives it emphasis and helps show surprise or confusion. Here are a couple examples:
- Whoever would eat a whole cake?
- Whatever did you eat after the cookies were missing?
- All of the treats at the party looked good. Whichever did you taste?
Who, Whom and Whose in Indirect Questions
Indirect questions can be used to show we don’t know an information. Here are some examples of indirect questions:
- Can you tell me who wrote this book?
- Would you let me know whose pen this is?
Some sentences start with phrases that show we don’t understand. Phrases like “He isn’t sure” or “We don’t want to know” are two examples. Ignore those types of phrases. Instead, look at the indirect part of the question to decide whether to use whose, whom or who. Ask yourself if the question is discussing an object, subject, or is in the possessive form.
Examples:
- Sarah isn’t sure who ate all the cookies. subject of the indirect question
- Brad doesn’t care whom you bring to the party. object of the indirect question
- Sally isn’t sure whose children are on the swing. Whose shows possession of the children.
Who, Whom and Whose in Adjective Clauses
The following sentences are examples of adjective clauses. The adjective clause comes after the relative pronoun and can also come after a relative adverb.
- I shook the hand of the woman who was on TV.
- That is her brother whose car is outside.
Nouns in the main sentence can be described with an adjective clause. In one of the previous examples the adjective clause to tell us about “the woman.” The adjective clause is the only thing that tells us whom, who or whose. In these examples, you can see if the adjective clause describes a subject, object, or possessive form.
Examples:
- We knew the man who owned a snake. subject of adjective clause
- They saw the man whom ran in the marathon last night. object of adjective clause
- Stacie met the man whose keys were lost. Whose shows possession of the keys.
Whom Less Commonly Used
“Whom” is a word that is used less and less in the English language. The word seems outdated to many native speakers. Whom is even less common in the United States. When whom is combined with prepositions, most people want to use who because it flows better. Here are some examples that most native English speakers would be comfortable using instead of using who:
- Who did you have the interview with?
- I want to know who ate the cookies.
- That is the man who doesn’t talk.
- Who loaned you the money?
- Do you know who has the new Audi in stock?
- That’s the woman who gave me a flower.