EntranceWho and whose in English. English lives here: Interrogative pronouns in English: the difference between what and who, the difference between who and whom, the difference between what and which, the difference between how many and how much
IN English language You can find a number of pronouns that can not just replace nouns, but serve to combine two sentences into one - the main one and the subordinate clause. First of all, we mean the English pronouns who, which and that. These pronouns are usually called connective or relative. Often this group includes whom.
To begin with, you should understand that relative (Relative pronouns) and connecting (Conjunctive pronouns) pronouns are different groups.
I have a friend who can draw well. - I have a friend who draws great./ That is, we will find out exactly what kind of friend this is - a good drawer.
Do you know who wrote this book? - Do you know who wrote this book?/ Here the pronoun joins two clauses and does not define anyone.
Although they may be expressed in the same words and even have the same translation into Russian, these pronouns serve different functions in a sentence. The main purpose of our article is to help you choose the right word, and not to provide a classification of pronouns. Based on this, we will talk about the features of each word, regardless of their group.
Each of the presented pronouns can be translated from English as “which”, “which”. Pronouns are NOT interchangeable. We will talk about the reasons further.
English pronoun Who
This pronoun can only be used to refer to a person. Remember, in English it is not enough to be an animate noun, such as cat or horse. Many grammatical rules related to pronouns divide nouns into the category “person” and “non-person”.
This is a song about a man who sold the world. - This is a song about a man who sold the world.
Let's find out who killed who. - Let's find out who killed whom.
Since the word that performs the function of the subject presupposes a person, a person, we use the pronoun ‘who’.
This pronoun has a case form ‘ whom’ - “which”, “which”. This is the word in English sentence expresses the addition in the subordinate clause:
Do you remember whom did you tell about it? - Do you remember who you told about this?
However, many linguists and philologists consider this form to be bookish. IN colloquial speech it is most often replaced by 'that'.
English pronoun Which
The pronoun ‘which’ is also translated “which”, “which”, but unlike the previous word it can only be used in relation to inanimate objects and animals, that is, to “non-people”.
Sally don’t remember which way to go. - Sally didn’t remember which road to take.
It is generally accepted that the pronoun ‘which’ is a more bookish version of ‘that’, which can be found more often in colloquial speech. However, these words cannot always replace each other. ‘That’ will never be used as the subject of a subordinate clause:
Tell me, which car is yours? - Tell me, what car is yours?
This is an important point to pay attention to. The pronoun ‘that’, which we will now discuss, very often replaces ‘who’ or ‘which’ in speech, if they are relative.
BUT 'that' is never used as a connecting pronoun.
English pronoun That
So, we have decided that this English pronoun is relative. Its beauty lies in the fact that it can replace almost any relative pronoun, regardless of what noun it is attached to - animate or inanimate, be it a person or an animal:
There's a look on your face that I would like to knock out. -Your face has such an expression that I want to punch you (which I just want to knock out).
In this sentence, the English pronoun 'that' refers to the inanimate noun 'look'.
Let's consider another proposal:
Do you have someone that you love to distract? - Do you have someone you love madly?
In this example, the pronoun ‘that’ refers to the word ‘someone’, denoting a person, a person.
Let’s talk about another niche occupied by the English pronoun ‘that’. There are several cases where we can only use this word:
- after ordinal numbers
- after construction with a superlative adjective
- after the words everything, all, any, every
The first rule that you should remember is - there are no rules. - The first rule you need to remember is that there are no rules.
This is the most beautiful painting that I’ve ever seen. - This is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen.
All that you need is love. - All you need is Love.
This choice is due to the fact that ‘that’, like the definite article ‘the’, refers to an object, one of a kind, concrete, given.
So, we hope that this article will significantly help you in choosing the right pronoun.
We wish you interesting and useful English!
Victoria Tetkina
The essence of any communication is the exchange of information. If you want to know something specific from your interlocutor, then you need to ask an informational question. In order for the interlocutor to understand exactly what information you want to receive from him, the correct question word plays an important role. In an information question, the question word should come first.
All question words, with the exception of How, begin with the letters Wh, so information questions are often called Wh-Questions. Question words can be one word, two words, or a whole phrase. Some words (what, how) form a series of interrogative combinations, which we will also pay attention to.
Many people find it difficult to remember all the question words at once, because at first glance they seem very similar. In addition, most of the question words have nuances in use that simply cannot be ignored.
I decided to introduce you to question words gradually, in doses, because I know from myself how difficult it is to quickly perceive a large amount of information. In my explanations, I will not limit myself to the translation of the question word and examples of questions with it, but will try to tell you as much as possible. Today we will look at the words who, whom and whose.
Who? - Who? (Who? To whom? By whom?)
This word is only used in questions about a person. When we ask a question with the word who , we want to get the person's name in response, or information about who that person is:
Who is it? - Who is this?
Who will help you? - Who will help you?
Who did you invite to the party? -Who did you invite to the party?
Who did they travel with? -Who did they travel with?
Questions with who can be of two types: questions to the subject and questions to the object. Depending on what exactly we want to ask, the structure of the question will change:
Who called you? - Who called you?
(question to the subject)
Who did you call? - Who did you call?
(question for addition)
I explained the difference between these questions in great detail in the article. If you find it difficult to understand the difference between these types of questions, I highly recommend that you read and understand.
Whom - Whom? By whom? To whom?
The interrogative word whom is very similar to who, even translated the same way, but is not used as often as who. If who can ask questions to the subject (Who?), then questions with whom imply a question only about the object: Whom? To whom? Rarely seen in modern colloquial speech, this word is more typical of the formal style:
Whom did you meet yesterday? -Who did you meet yesterday?
Whom is she calling? -Who is she calling?
Whom is often used in questions with verbs that require the preposition to, for, with, and others after them. For example: give, speak, talk, buy, send and many others. Therefore, questions with whom at the beginning can have a preposition at the end:
Who(m) did you talk to? - Who did you talk to?
Who(m) did he buy it for? - Who/for whom did he buy it?
Who(m) did you send the letter to? - Who did you send the letter to?
In all the examples above, you can replace who with whom. But if you have a very formal tone, then the preposition can come at the beginning of the sentence, before whom:
To whom did you talk to? - Who did you talk to?
With whom will you meet? -Who will you meet?
Whose? - Whose?
If you need to ask a question about who owns something, you will need the question word whose. Most often whose is used with a noun. If the question is about an object (whose object?), and from the communication situation it is clear what exactly the question is about (for example, you point to an object), then the noun may be omitted:
Whose (book) is this? - Whose book is this?
Whose (pencils) are those? - Whose pencils are they?
If you are asking about people, then the noun after whose cannot be removed:
Whose brother is he? -Whose brother is he?
Whose children are they? - Whose children are these?
The noun about which the question is being asked can also go to the end of the sentence. Then the auxiliary verb comes directly after the question word whose:
Whose is this book? - Whose book is this?
Whose are those pencils? - Whose pencils are they?
Whose are these children? - Whose children are these?
Since the owners of something are usually people, in response we expect to hear the name of the person in possessive case, or possessive pronoun. We discussed in detail how to answer questions with whose in the articles and.
Whose can also be used with prepositions. The preposition can appear at the very beginning of the question (more formal option) or at the end (less formal option):
With whose plan do you agree? -Whose plan do you agree with?
In whose house did you stay? - In whose house did you stay?
And one last point. You can confuse the question word whose with the form who's, because they sound exactly the same. Who's is from who is or who has, so there is no auxiliary verb after it (it is shortened), and after whos e there is a regular, unabridged auxiliary verb:
Who's this? - Who is this?
Who's got a pen? -Who has a pen?
Who's done that? - Who did it?
Whose is this? - Whose is this?
In the next article on questions, I will tell you about question words. And the next article will be devoted to the question words where, when, how. If you have any questions, write to us and leave comments.
Let's look at every word, let's give general recommendations on the use of one or another English pronoun in accordance with the rules of grammar and we will analyze their use in practice.
To begin with, you should understand that relative (Relative pronouns) and connecting (Conjunctive pronouns) pronouns- these are different groups.
- Relative pronouns define “which one”:
I have a friend who can draw well.- I have a friend who draws well. / That is, we will find out what kind of friend he is - a good drawer.
- Conjunctive pronouns will combine parts of subordinate clauses:
Do you know who wrote this book?- Do you know who wrote this book?/ Here the pronoun combines two sentences and does not define anyone.
Although they may be expressed in the same words and even have the same translation into Russian, these pronouns serve different functions in a sentence. We will tell you about the features of each word, regardless of their group.
Each of the presented pronouns can be translated from English as “which”, “which”. Pronouns NOT interchangeable. We will talk about the reasons further.
English pronoun Who
This is a song about a man who sold the world.- This is a song about a man who sold the world.
Let's find out who killed who.- Let's find out who killed whom.
Since the word that performs the function of the subject presupposes a person, a person, we use the pronoun 'who'. This pronoun has a case form 'whom'- “which”, “which”. This word in an English sentence expresses the addition of a subordinate clause:
Do you remember whom you told about it.- Do you remember who you told about this?
However, many linguists and philologists consider this form to be bookish. In colloquial speech it is most often replaced by 'that'.
English pronoun Which
Pronoun ‘ which'“which”, “which” is also translated, but unlike the previous word it can only be used in relation to inanimate objects and animals, that is, to “non-people”.
Sally doesn’t remember which way to go.- Sally didn’t remember which road to take.
It is generally accepted that the pronoun ‘which’ is a more bookish version of ‘that’, which can be found more often in colloquial speech. However, these words cannot always replace each other. ‘That’ will never be used as the subject of a subordinate clause:
Tell me, which car is yours?- Tell me, what car is yours?
This is an important point to pay attention to. The pronoun ‘that’, which we will now discuss, very often replaces ‘who’ or ‘which’ in speech, if they are relative. BUT 'that' is never used as a connecting pronoun.
English pronoun That
So, we have decided that this English pronoun is relative. Its beauty lies in the fact that it can replace almost any relative pronoun, regardless of what noun it is attached to - animate or inanimate, be it a person or an animal:
In this sentence, the English pronoun 'that' refers to the inanimate noun 'look'.
Interrogative pronouns in English
As you know, in the English language there are several types of questions (general, alternative, dividing, special). But only to create special questions you will need interrogative pronouns (what, who, whom, whose, which, when, why, how):
- what - what, which, which, which, which,
- who - who,
Using what or who depends on the information that is requested, using one of these pronouns, if it is necessary to find out the type of activity of a person, resort to what, if the first and / last name, then - who:
What is he? Who is he (by profession, type of activity)?
Who is he? Who is he (what is his name, his first and last name)?
- whom - to whom, whom,
Who is an interrogative pronoun in the nominative case (is the subject of a sentence), in the objective case it is also whom (in a sentence it is an object).
Both whom and who can be used as objects in an English sentence. However, the difference between who and whom is that whom is more formal and is not used in colloquial speech, where it is replaced by who. Using whom together with a preposition makes the statement even more formal:
Who did he visit?-Who did he visit? - objective case, less formal
To whom did you give your gloves? Who did you give your gloves to? - objective case, very formal
- whose - whose,
Whose goose is this? Whose goose is this?- possessive
It should be noted that the pronouns who, whom, whose are used only in relation to animate objects.
- which - which,
Which article is yours?-Which article is yours?
The difference between what and which is:
with what (which) a question is asked to clarify ‘which of the possible, of its own kind?’ (Which = what color is your favorite? (one of the existing colors)),
with which (which) make up a question to clarify ‘which is from a certain, limited range of objects’ (what dress = which color do you choose (from the colors of dresses presented before us, for example: pink, blue and yellow))
What is the smartest computer? What is the smartest computer (of all existing computers)?
Which is your bag? Which of the (certain) bags is yours?
The pronouns who, whose, which and what in a sentence can serve as both an object and a subject, while in cases where pronouns act as a subject, the auxiliary verb is not used:
What happened next? NOT What did happen next? What happened next? - what is the subject.
What did you do yesterday? What were you doing yesterday? Did is an auxiliary verb, what is an object.
- when - when,
- why - why,
Why did you visit Peter?- Why did you visit Peter?
- how - how,
How is your kitten getting on?- How is your kitten doing?
- how many / much - how much
The difference between how many and how much lies in whether the question refers to a countable or uncountable noun.
How many books do you have at home?- How many books do you have at home? (Book is a countable noun, that is, they (books) can be counted)
How much send is in the vase? How much sand is in the vase? (Sand is an uncountable noun; it cannot be counted grain by grain without resorting to measures of volume or weight).
Relative pronouns in English
Most of the pronouns we discussed above can be used in complex sentences, namely subordinate clauses, and, serving to connect two sentences as part of a complex sentence, they acquire the name relative (who, whom, whose, which, that).
The use of these pronouns usually does not cause difficulties, with the exception of some cases.
The difference between which and who is that which is used in relation to inanimate objects and animals, and who (as well as whom and whose) is used in relation to animate ones. That is used with both animates and inanimates.
The difference between who and whom is identical to the rule described above: whom - more formal, who - less.
I have visited a lot of places which / that are worth seeing. I have visited many places that are worth seeing. Places is an inanimate noun.
I have seen my aunt who / that is a kind old lady. I saw my aunt, she is a sweet old lady. Aunt is an animate noun.
Which is also used in a subordinate clause, where the pronoun refers to the entire clause.
She seemed more nervous, which was because it was her first day at a new job. She was clearly nervous because it was her first day at her new job.
The difference between that and which is less significant, and in some cases these pronouns are interchangeable.
To begin with, let us distinguish between two types of subordinate clauses: defining and non-defining.
- A attributive clause is a clause that serves to identify a noun. Both which and that can be used in these sentences (however that is more informal, colloquial), subordinate clauses with commas are not isolated.
The dresses which you see on the bed cost me 200 Euro. The dresses you see on the bed cost me 200 euros.
The dress that Peter bought for me is very nice. The dress Peter bought me is very cute.
In the examples given subordinate clauses cannot be omitted, the sentences as a whole will lose meaning - this is how the defining sentence can be identified.
- An indefinite sentence is a subordinate clause that carries optional, additional information. In these cases, the subordinate clause is separated by commas, and the use of which should be used, but the use of that will be incorrect.
Relative pronouns
So, what kind of pronouns are called relative? These are the pronouns that introduce definitive subordinate clauses and into Russian are usually translated by words which, -th, -oe, -s. They always refer to a specific, defined word (usually a noun, object pronoun) in the main clause. This group includes, among others, who, which, whose, whose, and that.
PronounWHO
Let's look at each of these pronouns in more detail.
The peculiarity of the pronoun who (which, whose) is that it is used only in relation to persons and performs the function of the subject in a subordinate clause:
E.g.I see a boywho is drawing.
I see boy which draws.(Fig. 3)
The girlwho gave me the book has gone.
Girl,which gave me the book and left.
There was somebodywho wanted you.
There was someone hereWho I was looking for you.
I know (don't know)who did it.
I know (I don't know)Who did this.
Rice. 1. Illustration for example ()
PronounWHOSE
The pronoun whose (which, whose, whose) is very similar in appearance to who. This pronoun is used in relation to persons.
E. g. That’ sthe man whose carhasbeenstolen.
That's the man, the car whom stolen.
Do you know the man whose house we saw yesterday?
Do you know the person, house whom did we see yesterday?
Do you know whose book it is?
You know, whose this is a book?
I wonder whose house that is.
Interesting, whose this is home. (Fig. 4)
Rice. 2. Illustration for example ()
PronounWHICH
Now we will look at the pronoun which (which, which, what). Unlike the previous pronouns, which is used in relation to inanimate objects and animals. In addition, it is considered bookish and in a conversational style is usually replaced by the pronoun that.
E.g.He ordered coffee which(that) was promptly brought.
He ordered coffee, which They brought it right away.(Fig. 5)
I'm looking for jeans, which(that) are less expensive.
I'm looking for jeans which would be cheaper (less expensive).
Rice. 3. Illustration for example ()
I don't know which book to choose.
I don't know, which one choose a book.
Tell me which way we'll do it.
Tell me, what way (manner) we will do this.
Sometimes in colloquial speech which (that) may be omitted.
The pen which(that) you took is mine.
Pen, which you took it - mine.
He returned the book ( which, that) he had borrowed.
He returned the book which took.
This is the picture ( which, that) I bought yesterday.
This is a picture, which I bought it yesterday.
PronounTHAT
And finally, we are left with the pronoun that (which, whose). As a definition, a pronoun that often replaces pronouns whoAndwhich in ordinary colloquial speech. Can be used in relation to persons, but is more often used in relation to inanimate objects:
E.g. They could not find anybody that(who) knew the town.
They couldn't find anyone Who I wish I knew the city.
Did you see the letter that had come today?
Have you seen the letter which did it come today?(Fig. 6)
The news that(which) he brought upset us all.
News, which he brought it, upset us all.
Rice. 4. Illustration for example ()
In colloquial speech pronouns that(as well as which), introducing attributive clauses, are usually omitted altogether:
E.g. It is the end of the letter (that, which) she sent me.
This is the end of the letter which she sent it to me.
The woman (that) I love most of all is my mother.
Woman, which I love most of all - my mother.
Addition in English
As in Russian, in English there are direct (always without a preposition) and indirect (without a preposition and with a preposition - prepositional) objects.
Transitive verbs (which express an action that passes to a person or object) require after themselves a direct object denoting a person or object and answering the question what? or who?
For example, He gave a book.
He gave the book. (Fig. 5)
Rice. 5. Illustration for example ()
The direct object itself is used without a preposition, but many verbs form stable combinations with prepositions that express a single concept ( for example: look for - search, listen to - listen, take off - shoot, pick up - lift, etc.). In this case, the preposition (adverb) forms a single whole with the verb, and the direct object that follows it is (as expected) without a preposition.
For exampleI'm looking for the book.
I'm looking for a book.
As for indirect additions, they provide various additional information that answers different questions: to whom?, with whom?, for whom?, about what? etc.
A non-prepositional indirect object occurs in a sentence when some of the transitive verbs, in addition to the direct object, also have a second - indirect object, answering the question to whom? and denoting the person to whom the action is addressed. An indirect object placed before a direct object is used without a preposition.
For example,Hegave the boy abook.
He gave the boy a book.(Fig. 6)
Rice. 6. Illustration for example ()
A prepositional indirect object is an indirect object that comes after a direct object. It is used with a preposition and answers various questions: about whom?, about what?, with whom?, with what?, for whom? etc.
For example, He gave a book for my father.
He gave the book to my father.
ENDorFINISH
The words end and finish have fairly similar meanings, but there are a number of differences. Let's look at them.
When we are talking about approaching the completion of some action, the construction finish + addition (“to complete something”) is used.
E.g. You should try to finish all the work before 6 p.m.
You should try complete all work until 6 p.m.
I have already finishedreading that book.
I have already finishedreading that book.
If we use the construction “end + addition”, we get the meaning “to stop, stop something.” The meaning will be similar to the verb “to stop”:
E.g. We must end this war!
We have to stop this war!
They decided to end their relationships.
They decided end your relationship. (Fig. 7)
Rice. 7. Illustration for example ()
When talking about the “physical/material” end of something (rather than a temporary end), it is better to use “end”:
E.g. This street ends a mile away from here.
This street ends one mile from here.
In all other cases, as a rule, there is either no difference between these words or it is not significant. Eg:
Whattimedoyour classes end / finish ?
At what time your classes are ending?
After nouns qualified by superlative adjectives, ordinal numbers, and all, only only the pronoun is used that(but not which):
E.g. This is the second book that I read last summer.
This is the second book I read last summer.(Fig. 8)
I"ve read all the books that you gave me.
I've read all the books which you gave it to me.
This is the best dictionary that I have ever seen.
This is the best dictionary which I've ever seen.
The only thing that I can do is to take his advice.
The only thing, What What I can do is listen to his advice.
Rice. 8. Illustration for example ()
Limericks
English limericks are poems that are one of the components of English humor and culture.
A limerick is a short, funny poem consisting of five lines. In addition, a distinctive feature of the limerick is its special, uniform poetic form. Usually begins with the words “There was a...”.
Here are some interesting limericks.
There was an Old Man of Peru,
Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.
He wakes up in the night
In a terrible fright
And found it was perfectly true!
One day I saw an eccentric
In a dream that he eats his shoe
He instantly woke up
And I was convinced
That this is really true.
There was an Old Man, who when little,
Fell casually into a kettle;
But growing too stout
He could never get out
So he passed all his life in that kettle.
One clumsy kid
Fell into the pot, you tomboy.
He wanted to get out quickly
But I got so fat
That the little guy remained there.
Self-test tasks
And now let’s do some exercises to understand the use of who, which, whose and that better.
Now let's do some exercises to better understand the use of the pronouns who, which, whose, that.
Look at the sentences and fill the gaps with the necessary relative pronoun - who, whose, which.
1. Do you know ___ cup of tea it is? → whose
2. She is looking at the aquarium ___ we bought last week. → which
3. I don’t know the girl ___ is speaking with my brother. → who
4. Where is the pie ___ our mother made yesterday? → which
5. Do you know ___ dog is in our garden? → whose
6. We know ___ broke your vase. → who
7. I don’t see the boy ___ won the competition. → who
8. Have you found the dog ___ bit you? → which
9. I wonder ___ car it is. → whose
10. The apple ___ I bought is worm-eaten. → which
Bibliography
- Afanasyeva O. V. Series “New English course for Russian schools" 5th grade. - M: Bustard, 2008.
- Fomina I. N., Fomina L. V. English in algorithms. - Dnepropetrovsk, 2007.
- Dubrovin M.I. Illustrated guide to English grammar. - M: “Nachala-Press”, 1992.
- Pakhotin A. Everything about modal verbs and the subjunctive mood in English. - M: Karev Publisher, 2005.
- Educational Internet resources - English language ().
- Rapidsteps.com ().
- CorrectEnglish.ru ().
Homework
Insert the pronouns who, whose or which.
1. He didn’t know ___ sheet of paper it was. 2. We are talking about the book ___ we bought yesterday. 3. I don’t know the man ___ is looking at me. 4. Where is the pizza ___ she cooked yesterday? 5. Do you know ___ cat it is? 6. I know ___ broke your smartphone. 7. We are discussing the boy ___ won the competition. 8. Do you see the elephant ___ has a big red bow? 9. He wonders ___ house it is. 10. The apple-pie ___ I bought is in the refrigerator.
Divide the pronouns who, which, whose, that into two columns depending on whether they are used with animate and inanimate objects. Come up with one example to support your choice.