Interrogative pronouns in English, as in any other language, perform the function of subjects or objects in interrogative sentences. In any language, including English, without them it would be impossible to ask about something, ask for some information, take an interest. This article will consider all existing and actively used interrogative pronouns in English with transcription.
Who - [hu:] - who?
In English, pronouns can exist in three cases: nominative, object, and possessive. The nominative case is no different from Russian, is the subject of the sentence and has a set of all relevant functions. The objective case corresponds to all indirect cases of the Russian language. The possessive case answers the question "Whose?" and can be expressed by the preposition of.
Who is an interrogative pronoun in English, in the nominative case anddenoting any animated person. It is conventionally accepted that who - who? - corresponds to the form of the third person singular or plural (depending on the context) number. The verb following it is conjugated accordingly. Here are some examples of interrogative pronouns in English:
| Example | Translation |
| Who is this man? | Who is this person? |
| Who are those people? | Who are these people? |
| Who invented this machine? | Who invented this car? |
The examples clearly show that the English who? fully corresponds to the Russian "who?".
Whom - [hu:m] - who? To whom? By whom? About whom?
Whom is the same pronoun who, but used in the object case form. The best way to understand how this interrogative pronoun works in English is to look at examples of its use.
| Example | Translation |
| Whom have you seen there? | Who did you see there? |
| Whom has she sent her mail? | Who did she send her letter to? |
| Whom is this song written by? | Who wrote this song? |
| Whom was this story about? | Who was this story about? |
Russian speakers usually have no problems with memorizing, translating or pronouncing interrogative pronouns in English, but withthey may well be used. If the use of the pronoun whom causes difficulties and seems incomprehensible, it is quite possible to replace it with the variant who. The fact is that the English language tends to be concise, and cumbersome words give way to more popular counterparts.
Whose - [hu:z] - whose? Whose? Whose? Whose?
As mentioned above, English pronouns have a possessive case. Whose is his most frequently used example in questions. In a sentence, it can be used, for example, as follows:
| Example | Translation |
| Whose is this tie? | Whose tie is this? |
| Whose is this cute little dog? | Whose cute little dog is this? |
| Whose is this apple? | Whose apple is this? |
| Whose are those children? | Whose children are these? |
An important fact about the pronoun whose, which, no doubt, will please Russian speakers, is the following: this word does not refer to any particular gender or number and does not change by case.
What - [wa:t] or [wo:t] - what?
What is an English interrogative pronoun corresponding to the nominative form and all indirect cases for inanimate objects or phenomena. Also, like the previous pronoun, this does not change by gender and number. Verbs used after it are accepteduse in the third person singular form. Here are some examples of using this interrogative pronoun in English in a sentence:
| Example | Translation |
| What are you diong right now? | What are you doing right now? |
| What is this song about? | What is this song about? |
| What have you given to him when he was here? | What did you give him when he was here? |
| What is the matter? | What's the matter? |
As the examples show, the interrogative pronoun what in this meaning completely replaces the Russian "What?" and any of its case forms.
What - what? Which one?
With the help of this interrogative pronoun, you can also express a question about the type, variety of something, take an interest quite specifically. Here are a few examples to help you quickly understand how this works in English:
| Example | Translation |
| What color would you like to see on the walls of your own room: yellow or green? | Which color would you like to see on the walls of your room: yellow or green? |
| What animal does she prefer: a dog or a cat? | Which animal does she like more (she prefers): a dog or a cat? |
| What present have you prepared for your best friend? | What gift did you have for your best friend? |
| What option would you choose: to liveforever or to find a true love? | Which of these options would you choose: live forever or find true love? |
| You should ask her, what kind of movies does she like, and then invite her to a movie theater. | You should ask her what movies she likes and then take her to the cinema. |
As the examples show, using what to mean "which" requires a specific choice for the responder to follow. A question of this type is most often posed on the opposition of two or more options. Nevertheless, it can also be general, as in the third or fifth example, when it was about a gift and a favorite movie genre, respectively.
