Interrogative pronoun. Declension of interrogative pronouns

Are interrogative pronouns ( interrogative pronouns ). There are also few of them, like . To interrogative pronouns in English language relate the following words: who(Who), what(what, which; and also with the meaning “who” if we are talking about a person’s profession or position), whose(whose), which(which). Interrogative pronouns in English we need for education. Each of the listed pronouns has its own nuances of use, so let’s look at them in order.

How to use interrogative pronouns in English?

First up is the pronoun. who. This pronoun is used in relation to persons. This pronoun has two case forms: nominative case – directly who, objective case – whom. The form of this pronoun is objective case rarely used, mainly in official and book styles speech. In colloquial speech they use who. What functions does this interrogative pronoun perform in a sentence in English? It could be:

. Please note that in this case the predicate verb accompanying who will be in the third person singular form.
Who knows the answer to this question? – Who knows the answer to this question?

Who broke the window? -Who broke the window?
The nominal part of the predicate. Now we will agree in person and number with the subject.
Who are those strange women? – Who are those strange women?

Who is your husband? - Who is your husband?
Direct and indirect prepositional prepositions. Note that the , which accompanies these interrogative pronouns in English, is usually placed at the end of the sentence.
Who (whom) did you invite to the party? – Who did you invite to the party?

Who (whom) did you show this book to? – Who did you show this book to?

Who (whom) are you waiting for here? - Who are you waiting for here?

Who (whom) are you going to spend the holidays with? – Who will you spend the holidays with?

Next, let's talk about the interrogative pronoun what. This pronoun is used in relation to inanimate objects. Its functions in a sentence are the same as pronouns who. That is, in a sentence the pronoun what May be:

Subject. The predicate verb in this case is also used in the third person singular form.
What was written in this article? – What was written in this article?

What is it? - What is this?
The nominal part of the predicate. The linking verb agrees in person and number with the subject.
What is the cost of this yellow bag? – How much does this yellow bag cost?

What are the results of this competition? – What are the results of the competition?
Direct and prepositional indirect object. The preposition referring to this interrogative pronoun usually appears at the end of the sentence.
What did you choose? - What did you choose?

What have you lost? - What did you lose?

What were you talking about? - What were you talking about?

Interrogative pronoun what can also be used in relation to persons if we seek to find out a person’s profession or position. For example:

– What is he? - Who is he?
– He is a builder. - He is a builder.

But this nuance does not apply to questions aimed at clarifying the first name, last name, and family relationships. In this case we use the pronoun who.

Such an interrogative pronoun in English is like whose, plays a function in a sentence and stands before the noun it defines.

Whose document have you brought? -Whose document did you bring?

Whose bag is it? - Who's bag is this?

Interrogative pronoun which can be applied to both animate and inanimate objects. It involves choosing from a limited number of persons or objects:

Which dish did you like? – Which dish did you like? (there were several)

Which language would you like to learn? – What language would you like to learn? (for example, on courses there is a choice of only 5-6 languages)

who- Who, what- what, which, whose- whose, which– which, which, who, what. They indicate the person, object, attribute or number about which the question is being asked.

Examples:Who is present today? – Who is present today?
What is on my table? -What's on my table?
Whose cup of tea is this? – Whose cup of tea is this?
Which of you speak English? – Which of you (who) speaks English?

Interrogative pronoun who (whom)

1. English interrogative pronoun who has two cases: Nominative case And objective case.

Pronoun who in nominative case used in the following functions:

As a subject(combined with verbs in singular, as in Russian);
As a function of the nominal part of the predicate(consistent in number with the subject);

Examples:Who has it done? - Who did it? (as a subject)
Who is he? – He is Mr. Rogers. - Who is he? He is Mister Rogers. (as a function of the nominal part of the predicate)
Who are these boys? They are my brothers. -Who are these boys? They are my brothers. (as a function of the nominal part of the predicate)

Pronoun who in the objective case (whom) used:

In addition function;

Examples:Whom did you see there? -Who did you see there?
Whom did you give your book? – Who did you give your book to?

Note! Currently, there is a tendency to use who instead of whom.

2. Sometimes a pronoun who (whom) used with a pretext

Examples:Whom are you looking at? = Who are you looking at? -Who are you looking at?

Interrogative pronouns what and whose

what used as and has a translation What, and is also used as and has a translation which, which, which.

Examples:What has happened? - What's happened?
What books are you reading? - What books do you read?

2. If the pronoun what and pronoun whose are used as adjective pronouns, then before a noun, in this case it is not used.

Examples:What bag (bags) can I take to go to shopping? –What bag(s) can I take to go to the store?
Whose book (books) are you reading? – Whose book(s) are you reading?

3. In English Interrogative pronouns in the defining function are always placed before the noun being defined. In Russian Interrogative pronouns can be separated from the noun by other words.

Examples:What pen(only this way in the definition function) can I take? – Which pen I can take? = Which I can take handle?

4. Interrogative pronoun what used in relation to inanimate objects, animals and abstract concepts. Regarding people pronoun what used when talking about a profession.

Examples:What is it? It is a dog. – Who (who is) this? This is a dog.
What are your friends? They are students. – Who (who are) your friends? They are students.
What is your father? He is a doctor. – Who (who is) your father? He is a doctor.

5. Sometimes a pronoun what used with a pretext, which is usually placed at the end of an interrogative sentence.

Examples:What are you looking at? -What are you looking at?
What are you talking about? - What are you talking about?

Interrogative pronoun which

1. Interrogative pronoun which translated into words which, Which, Who, What when it comes to choosing from a limited number of persons, objects or phenomena.

Examples:Which color is more popular for iPhone 5: black or white? –Which color is more popular for iPhone 5: black or white?
Which do you like more: skating or skiing? – What do you like more: skating or skiing?
Which of you speaks French? – Which of you (who) speaks French?

The pronoun is special class significant words that indicate an object without naming it. To avoid tautology in speech, the speaker can use a pronoun. Examples: I, yours, who, this, everyone, most, all, myself, mine, other, another, that, somehow, someone, something, etc.

As can be seen from the examples, pronouns are most often used instead of a noun, as well as instead of an adjective, numeral or adverb.

Pronouns are typically divided into categories according to meaning. This part of speech is focused on names. In other words, pronouns replace nouns, adjectives, and numerals. However, the peculiarity of pronouns is that, replacing names, they do not acquire their meaning. According to established tradition, pronouns include only modifiable words. All unchangeable words are treated as pronominal adverbs.

This article will present by meaning and grammatical features, as well as examples of sentences in which certain pronouns are used.

Table of pronouns by category

Personal pronouns	I, you, we, you, he, she, it, they
Reflexive pronoun
Possessive pronouns	my, yours, ours, yours, yours
Demonstrative pronouns	this, that, such, so much
Determinative pronouns	himself, most, all, every, each, any, other, other
Interrogative pronouns	who, what, which, which, whose, how many, which
Relative pronouns	who, what, how, which, which, whose, how many, which
Negative pronouns	no one, nothing, none, nobody, no one, nothing
Indefinite pronouns	someone, something, some, some, several, some, anyone, anyone, anything, some, some

Pronouns are divided into three categories:

Pronominal nouns.
Pronominal adjectives.
Pronominal numerals.

Personal pronouns

Words indicating persons and objects that are participants speech act, are called "personal pronouns". Examples: I, you, we, you, he, she, it, they. I, you, we, you represent the participants verbal communication. The pronouns he, she, they do not participate in the speech act; they are reported to the speaker as non-participants in the speech act.

I know what you want to tell me. (Participant in a speech act, object.)
You should read the whole thing fiction from the list. (The subject to whom the action is directed.)
We had a wonderful holiday this year! (Participants in a speech act, subjects.)
You played your role perfectly! (Addressee, object to which the address is directed in a speech act.)
He prefers a quiet pastime. (Non-participant in the speech act.)
Will she definitely go to America this summer? (Non-participant in the speech act.)
They jumped with a parachute for the first time in their lives and were very pleased. (Non-participant in the speech act.)

Attention! The pronouns his, her, their, depending on the context, can be used both as possessive and personal pronouns.

Compare:

He wasn't at school today, either on the first day or on the first day. last lesson. - His performance at school depends on how often he attends classes. (In the first sentence it is a personal pronoun in genitive case, in his second sentence - possessive pronoun.)
I asked her to keep this conversation between us. “She ran, her hair fluttered in the wind, and her silhouette was getting lost and lost with every second, moving away and dissolving in the light of day.
You should always ask them to turn the music down. “Their dog very often howls at night, as if grieving for some unbearable grief of his.

Reflexive pronoun

The pronoun oneself belongs to this category - it indicates the person of the object or addressee who is identified with actor. This function is performed reflexive pronouns. Example sentences:

I have always considered myself the happiest in the whole wide world.
She constantly admires herself.
He doesn't like to make mistakes and trusts only himself.

Can I keep this kitten with me?

Possessive pronouns

A word indicating that a person or thing belongs to another person or thing is called a “possessive pronoun.” Example: mine, yours, ours, yours, yours. Possessive pronouns indicate belonging to to the speaking person, interlocutor or non-participant in the act of speech.

My the decision always turns out to be the most correct.
Yours wishes will definitely be fulfilled.
Our The dog behaves very aggressively towards passers-by.
Is yours the choice will be yours.
Finally I got mine present!
Their keep your thoughts to yourself.
My the city misses me and I feel how much I miss it.

Words like her, him, them can act as a personal pronoun in or as possessive pronoun. Example sentences:

Their the car is parked at the entrance. - They were not in the city for 20 years.
His the bag is lying on the chair. - He was asked to bring tea.
Her the house is located in the city center. - She was made the queen of the evening.

The possessive pronoun also indicates that a person (object) belongs to a group of objects. Example:

Our I will remember our joint trips for a long time!

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative is the second name that goes by demonstrative pronoun. Examples: this, that, such, so much. These words distinguish this or that object (person) from a number of other similar objects, persons or signs. This function is performed by the demonstrative pronoun. Examples:

This The novel is much more interesting and informative than all those I have read before. (Pronoun this distinguishes one object from a number of similar ones, indicates the peculiarity of this object.)

Pronoun This also performs this function.

This sea, these mountains, This the sun will forever remain in my memory as the brightest memory.

However, you should be careful when determining the part of speech and not confuse the demonstrative pronoun with a particle!

Compare examples of demonstrative pronouns:

This it was excellent! - It was you who played the role of the fox in school play? (In the first case, This is a pronoun and fulfills the predicate. In the second case This- particle and syntactic role is not in the sentence.)
That the house is much older and more beautiful than this one. (Pronoun That highlights an object, points to it.)
Neither such, no other option suited him. (Pronoun such helps to concentrate attention on one of many subjects.)
So many once he stepped on the same rake, and again repeats everything all over again. (Pronoun so many emphasizes the repetition of the action.)

Determinative pronouns

Examples of pronouns: himself, most, all, every, each, any, other, other. This category is divided into subcategories, each of which includes the following pronouns:

1.Himself, the most- pronouns that have an excretory function. They elevate the object about which we're talking about, individualize it.

Myself the director, Alexander Yaroslavovich, was present at the party.
He was offered the most a highly paid and prestigious job in our city.
The most The greatest happiness in life is to love and be loved.
Self Her Majesty condescended to praise me.

2.All- a pronoun that has the meaning of breadth of coverage of the characteristics of a person, object or characteristic.

All the city came to see him perform.
All The road passed in remorse and the desire to return home.
All the sky was covered with clouds, and not a single clearing was visible.

3. Anyone, everyone, anyone- pronouns denoting freedom of choice from several objects, persons or characteristics (if they exist at all).

Semyon Semenovich Laptev is a master of his craft - this is for you any will say.
Any a person is capable of achieving what he wants, the main thing is to make an effort and not be lazy.
Each blade of grass every the petal breathed life, and this desire for happiness was transmitted to me more and more.
All sorts of things the word he said turned against him, but he did not seek to correct it.

4.Different, different- pronouns that have meanings that are not identical to what was said earlier.

I chose other a path that was more accessible to me.
Imagine another If you were me, would you do the same?
IN other Once he comes home, silently, eats and goes to bed, today everything was different...
The medal has two sides - another I did not notice.

Interrogative pronouns

Examples of pronouns: who, what, which, which, whose, how many, which.

Interrogative pronouns contain questions about persons, objects or phenomena, quantities. A question mark is usually placed at the end of a sentence that contains an interrogative pronoun.

Who was that man who came to see us this morning?
What what will you do when the summer exams are over?
What there must be a portrait ideal person, and how do you imagine it?
Which out of these three people could know what really happened?
Whose is this a briefcase?
How much does a red dress cost? which did you come to school yesterday?
Which your favorite season?
Whose I saw a child in the yard yesterday?
How Do you think I should enroll in the Faculty of International Relations?

Relative pronouns

Examples of pronouns: who, what, how, which, which, whose, how many, which.

Attention! These pronouns can act as both relative and interrogative pronouns, depending on whether they are used in a particular context. In a complex sentence (CSS), only the relative pronoun is used. Examples:

How are you making sponge cake with cherry filling? - She told how she prepares a pie with cherry filling.

In the first case How - pronoun,has interrogative function, i.e. the subject concludes a question about a certain object and the method of obtaining it. In the second case, the pronoun How is used as a relative pronoun and acts as a connecting word between the first and second simple sentences.

Who knows in which does the sea flow into the Volga River? “He didn’t know who this man was and what could be expected from him.
What do you need to do in order to get a job? Good work? - He knew what to do in order to get a well-paid job.

What- pronoun - used both as a relative and as an interrogative pronoun, depending on the context.

What what are we going to do tonight? - You said that today we should visit our grandmother.

To accurately determine the category of pronouns when choosing between relative and interrogative, you need to remember that the interrogative pronoun in a sentence can be replaced by a verb, a noun, or a numeral, depending on the context. The relative pronoun cannot be replaced.

What do you want for dinner today? - I would like vermicelli for dinner.
Which do you like the color? - Purple do you like it?
Whose is this a house? - Is this mom's house?
Which are you in line? -Are you eleventh in line?
How many do you have any candy? - Do you have six sweets?

The situation is similar with the pronoun than. Compare examples of relative pronouns:

What to do on the weekend? - He completely forgot what I wanted to do this for the weekend. (As we see, in the second version the pronoun how is included in the category of relative and performs a connecting function between two parts of a complex sentence.)
How did you get into my house yesterday? - Anna Sergeevna looked questioningly at the boy and did not understand how he got into her house.
How does it feel to realize that you are in trouble? - I know from myself what it’s like to realize that your plans are collapsing quickly and irrevocably.
How many times do I ask you not to do this again? “She has already lost count of the number of times her son brought his class teacher to tears.
Whose car is parked at the gate of my house? “He was at a loss, so he couldn’t figure out whose idea it was to provoke a fight.
How much is this Persian kitten worth? - He was told how much a red Persian kitten costs.
Who knows what year it happened battle of Borodino? - Three students raised their hands: they knew in what year the Battle of Borodino took place.

Some scholars propose combining relative and interrogative pronouns into one category and calling them “interrogative” relative pronouns". Examples:

Who is there? - He didn't see who was here.

However, at present it has not yet been possible to reach a general agreement, and the categories of interrogative and relative pronouns continue to exist separately from each other.

Negative pronouns

Examples of pronouns: no one, nothing, none, nobody, no one, nothing. Negative pronouns mean the absence of persons, objects, and also to indicate their negative characteristics.

Nobody didn't know what to expect from him.
Nothing he was not interested enough to devote his whole life to this matter.
No debt and none money couldn't keep him from running away.
A lonely dog ran along the road, and it seemed that it never had an owner, a home or tasty food in the morning; She was draw.
He tried to find excuses for himself, but it turned out that everything happened precisely on his initiative, and no one was to blame for this.
He was completely nothing to do, so he walked slowly in the rain past the glowing shop windows and watched the oncoming cars passing by.

Indefinite pronouns

An indefinite pronoun is formed from interrogative or relative pronouns. Examples: someone, something, some, some, several, some, anyone, anyone, anything, some, some. Indefinite pronouns contain the meaning of the unknown, unknown person or subject. Also indefinite pronouns have the meaning of deliberately hidden information that the speaker specifically does not want to communicate.

Examples for comparison:

Someone's a voice rang out in the darkness, and I didn’t quite understand who it belonged to: a man or an animal. (Lack of information from the speaker.) - This letter was from my no one friend who for a long time was absent from our city and was now planning to come. (Information deliberately hidden from listeners.)
Something the incredible happened that night: the wind tore and tossed leaves from the trees, lightning flashed and pierced the sky. (Instead of something You can substitute indefinite pronouns with similar meaning: something, something.)
Some of my friends consider me a strange and wonderful person: I don’t strive to earn a lot of money and live in a small old house on the edge of the village . (Pronoun some can be replaced by the following pronouns: some, several.)
Some a pair of shoes, a backpack and a tent were already packed and were waiting for us to pack up and leave far, far from the city. (The subject does not specify the number of objects, but generalizes their number.)
Some people informed me that you received the letter, but do not want to acknowledge it volume.(The speaker deliberately hides all information about the face.)
If anyone I saw this man, please report this to the police!
Anyone knows what Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky talked about at the ball?
When will you see anything interesting, don’t forget to write down your observations in a notebook.
Some Moments in learning English remained incomprehensible to me, then I returned to the previous lesson and tried to go through it again. (Intentional concealment of information by the speaker.)
How long I still had some money in my wallet, but I didn’t remember how much. (Lack of information about the subject from the speaker.)

Grammatical grades of pronouns

Grammatically, pronouns are divided into three categories:

Pronominal noun.
Pronominal adjective.
Pronominal numeral.

TO pronominal noun These categories of pronouns include: personal, reflexive, interrogative, negative, indefinite. All these categories in their own way grammatical properties are likened to nouns. However, pronominal nouns have certain features, which the pronoun does not have. Examples:

I came to you . (IN in this case This masculine, which we identified by the past tense verb with zero ending). - You came to me. (Gender is determined by the ending of the verb “came” - feminine,

As you can see from the example, some pronouns do not have a gender category. In this case, the genus can be restored logically, based on the situation.

Other pronouns of the listed categories have a gender category, but it does not reflect real relationships persons and objects. For example, the pronoun Who always combined with a verb in the masculine past tense.

Who was the first woman to travel into space?
Ready or not, here I come.
She knew who would be the next contender for her hand and heart.

The pronoun that is used with neuter nouns of the past tense.

What allowed you to do this act?
He had no idea that something similar to his story could be happening somewhere.

Pronoun He has generic forms, but gender here acts as a classification form, and not as a nominative form.

TO pronominal adjective These include demonstrative, attributive, interrogative, relative, negative, and indefinite pronouns. They all answer the question Which? and are likened to adjectives in their properties. They have dependent forms of number and case.

This tiger cub is the fastest in the zoo.

Pronominal numerals include pronouns as much as, several. They are likened to numerals in their meaning when combined with nouns.

How many books have you read this summer?
I now had so many opportunities!
My grandmother left some hot pies for me.

Attention! However, in combination with verbs, pronouns how many, as many, several are used as adverbs.

How much is this orange blouse worth?
You can only spend that much on vacation.
I thought a little about how to live and what to do next.

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Hello my dear readers.

If you are also a fan of asking questions, then the topic “Interrogative pronouns in English” may become one of your favorites. In it, my students and I analyze in detail what is used for what. So expect examples, rules and exercises today.

What is it?

Interrogative pronouns usually begin. That is, they are used to identify the person or subject of an action. The main words include who, what, which, whose. But we will also look at a couple more not so popular ones.

Total analysis

I have a table for you with translation and transcription of all the pronouns that you can use in interrogative sentences. It will be understandable for both children and adults who are just starting to learn.

Pronoun	Example
Who- Who	Whowas that man who called you so late?- Who this manwho called you so late?
What- What	Whatis the problem?- What behind problem? Whatdid you buy? -Whatdid you buy?
Which-Which, which	Whichis the answer correct?- Which answer correct?
When- When	When are you planning to finish the presentation? – When are you going to finish your presentation?
Whose- Whose, whose	Whosecar is this?- Whose This car?
Additionally
Whom- To whom	Whomare you writing to?- To whom You you write?
Why- Why	Why didn't’ t you call me? - Why didn't you call me?
Where- Where, Where	Wheredid your brother go?- Where let's go is yours Brother?
How- How	Howdid you manage to do it in time?- How You coped With this during?

Tips to learn

Of course, in general everything is quite simple. But there are a few more features that you need to remember.

in modern English question most often placed at the end of a sentence.

Who are you going to spend Christmas with?- Cby whom You are you going to conduct Christmas?

With whom are you going to spend Christmas?

If you don't know what to put: which or what- check if you have a choice. If for example you need to choose from 2 colors then use which. If there is no choice, use what.

There is only red and green pencil. Which color do you prefer? - There are red and green pencils here. Which color do you like best?

What colors do you like the most? - What colors do you like best?

Very often in language you can find the forms how much or how many. And both options have the meaning “how much”. The only difference is that the first form is used with objects that cannot be counted. For example, time- time. The second form is with objects that can be counted. For example, pictures- paintings.

How much time does it take -How many time This takes?

How many pictures did you buy? -How many paintings You bought?

The pronoun whose is used more like an adjective. And it is usually followed by a noun.

Whose doll is it? -Whose This doll?

Whose folder is this? -Whose This folder?

Well, my dears, I hope that I have cleared up all your existing ambiguities in this topic. Of course, how could it be without practice? It wouldn't be me if I forgot such an important part. Therefore, you will find further. And of course, I won’t leave you in the dark - you can read the answers when you’re done.

Share in the comments if you have any confusion in this lesson and what questions you have. I will definitely answer everything, everything, everything.

In the meantime, it's time to say goodbye.

See you later, my dears.