Wh- pronoun
From Teflpedia
A wh- pronoun is a wh- word that’s a pronoun.
There are four main pronouns used in English; what, which, who and whose. A fifth, whom is also used in formal registers.
Form[edit | edit source]
Wh- pronoun | Case | Meaning |
---|---|---|
what | Common case | Refers to things (unlimited scope) |
which | Common case | Refers to things (limited scope) |
who | Common case/Subjective case | Refers to people, companies, organisations, etc. |
whom | Accusative case | |
whose | Genitive case | Refers to possessors |
Usage[edit | edit source]
Grammatically, they can be used:
- As relatives, to introduce relative clauses, e.g. I know which one you want.
- As interrogatives, in wh- clauses (wh- questions and wh- statements).
Syntactically, they can be used:
- As independent pronouns; i.e. as subjects and objects.
- All except what can be used as dependent pronouns (a type of determiner), e.g. which one would you like?. In traditional grammar, these are sometimes called "interrogative adjective", but are not adjectives.