Grammar for Everyone - Barbara Dykes 2007
21 More pronouns - Interrogative pronouns
Introduction
Part II The parts of speech
Before further study of pronouns, students should be sure of:
• the meaning of the term pronoun
• the fact that a pronoun takes the place of a noun and cannot be used with it
• recognising and naming personal and demonstrative pronouns There are some pronouns that are less easily categorised with out some explanation. It is important that students recognise that they are pronouns and understand why that is so. While the names of the subclasses do explain their functions this understanding is more important than memorising their names.
Interrogative pronouns
Definition: ’Interrogative’, from Latin interrogativus means, simply, ’questioning’. So interrogative pronouns not only take the place of nouns, but also ask questions. In other words, the questioner wants to know something about a person or thing.
These pronouns, like others, take different forms according to the part they play in the sentence.
For example:
As the subject:
Who - Who are you?
As the object:
(For a person) whom - Whom did you see?
(For a thing) what - What did you see?
Or object of a preposition - whom - At whom was it thrown?