Interrogative Pronouns
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00:00Hi friends! Today we will learn more about the types of pronouns. So let's start!
00:09We have already learned that there are 10 types of pronouns. We have learned about indefinite
00:15and distributive pronouns in our last section. Today we will learn about interrogative pronouns.
00:24As the name suggests, these pronouns are used to ask questions or are used in only interrogative
00:32sentences. There are only 5 interrogative pronouns. What, which, who, whom, and whose.
00:43As all of these interrogatives start with the common words, WH, they are also known
00:50as WH words. Now let's learn about WH words one by one. The first in the list is WHAT.
01:02What is a very flexible interrogative pronoun. It can be used to ask questions about people
01:11as well as objects or even abstract things like feelings and ideas. Example, What do
01:19you want for your lunch? Here, WHAT is used for asking the things someone may want for
01:27lunch. What are your plans for tomorrow? Here, WHAT is used for asking about something abstract
01:37like plans. What time are you coming tomorrow? Here, WHAT is used for asking about time.
01:49What is the name of your daughter? Here, WHAT is being used for asking about someone's name.
02:00What do you think of this dress? Here, WHAT is being used for asking about someone's feelings.
02:08So friends, you have seen that the interrogative pronoun WHAT can be used for asking about
02:14a variety of questions. It can take plural as well as singular verbs after it. What is the name
02:24of your daughter? Here, we have used singular verb after WHAT is. What are your plans for tomorrow?
02:35Here, we have used plural verb after WHAT, that is ARE. So, we can use singular as well
02:45as plural verb after the interrogative pronoun WHAT. Now, let's move on to the next interrogative
02:54pronoun, WHICH. WHICH is generally used when there is a choice between a number of things.
03:02When WHICH is followed by OF in the sentence, it takes a plural noun. And when WHICH is not
03:12followed by OF, it takes a singular noun. Let's see with examples. Which of these dresses would
03:22you prefer? Here, the listener is presented with a number of dresses, and he is being asked to
03:30choose one of them. So WHICH is used. And also, when OF is following the word WHICH,
03:39so we have used plural noun, that is DRESSES. Which author do you like the most? Here,
03:50the listener has to choose from a number of choices. This is why WHICH is being used here,
03:57and it takes singular noun. So, AUTHOR is used. Which author do you like the most?
04:04Which of these bags is for yours? Here, the speaker is referring to one out of many bags,
04:14so he has used the word WHICH. And because WHICH is being followed by OF, it has taken a plural
04:24noun. The interrogative pronoun WHICH and WHAT can be used interchangeably in some situations,
04:34like WHICH is your favorite color? What is your favorite color? Here, WHICH and WHAT are used in
04:45the same sentence, and it doesn't change the meaning of either of the sentences. We cannot
04:52use WHICH and WHAT interchangeably in all the sentences. Sometimes, it can change the meaning
05:00of the sentence. For example, what shops would be open at this time? Which shops would be open
05:10at this time? The first sentence suggests that the place is unknown to the speaker,
05:16whereas the second sentence suggests that the place is familiar to the speaker. Moreover,
05:24the pronoun WHAT can be used to ask about people or objects which are not present in
05:31front of the people. But for using WHICH, the context of choice is needed in front of people.
05:39For example, what flavor of milkshake do you want? Which flavor of milkshake do you want?
05:49The first sentence suggests that the menu card may or may not be present in front of the person.
05:58The second sentence suggests that the menu card is present in front of the person,
06:06and he is ordering out of that menu. Let's look at the next interrogative pronoun,
06:13that is WHO. WHO is used to ask questions about people. It can be used for singular,
06:22as well as plural nouns. For example, who was she talking to? Here, WHO is being used for
06:33asking questions about a person. It is being used for a singular noun. As we are using WAS,
06:42and WAS is always used in singular nouns. Who are there in the party? Here, WHO is being used
06:54to ask questions about more than one person, that is plural noun, as the verb WERE is used here.
07:04WERE is always used in plural nouns. Who is going to clean the desk? Here,
07:12WHO is being used to ask about a singular noun, as the verb IS is being used. I'm wondering,
07:21who said that about me? Here, WHO is being used to ask about a singular noun,
07:28as the verb SAID is being used. So what we learned? We learned that the interrogative
07:37pronoun WHO is always used to ask questions about one person or more than one person.
07:45Let's learn about our next interrogative pronoun, which is WHOM. WHO and WHOM sound similar,
07:58but there is difference between the two. WHO is used to ask questions about the person,
08:05WHO is doing the action, or the subject of the sentence. But, WHOM is used to ask questions
08:14about the person or whom the action is done upon, that is, the object of the sentence.
08:23I repeat, WHO is used to ask questions about the person, WHO is doing the action,
08:29or the subject of the sentence. But, WHOM is used to ask questions about the person
08:36or whom the action is done upon, that is, the object of the sentence. So,
08:42WHO is used for the subject, and WHOM is used for the object. Let's see some examples to learn
08:51better. Whom did you talk to? Here. Here, WHOM is used not for the one who talked,
09:01but for the one who is being talked with. Who talked to you? Now here, WHO is used for the
09:11person who talked, not the person with whom the talking was done. So, WHO is used for the person
09:20in subject position, and WHOM is used for the object. Whom did you share a room with? Here
09:30again, WHOM is being used for the person in the object position, that is, the one on whom the
09:38action is done upon. Whom did you call for help? Here again, WHOM is being used for the person in
09:47the object position, that is, the one on whom the action is done upon. Now the last interrogative
09:54pronoun, and it is WHOSE. WHOSE is used to ask the question, the questions of possessions. In
10:06other words, it is used to ask about the owners of things or persons. For example, WHOSE book
10:16is this? Here, WHOSE is used to ask about the person to whom the book belongs. WHOSE dog is
10:26that? Here again, WHOSE is used to ask about the person to whom the dog belongs. I wonder
10:37whose dog ruined the flower pot? Here again, WHOSE is used to talk about the person to whom
10:45the dog belongs. So friends, we have learned a lot about the interrogative pronouns. Now
10:52you may go ahead and take a quiz to learn more. Bye-bye!