Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
interrogative pronoun

interrogative pronoun

3.6
A word that people use to ask a question, like who or what
  • noun
  • /ˌɪntəˈrɒɡətɪv ˈproʊnaʊn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pronombre interrogativo
  • In the question 'What is your name?', the word what is an interrogative pronoun.

Examples

  • When forming questions, we often use interrogative pronouns at the beginning of the sentence.

  • In the sentence 'Who is coming to the party?', the word who is an interrogative pronoun.

  • English has several interrogative pronouns, including who, what, which, and whose.

  • What is an interrogative pronoun?

  • An interrogative pronoun can help form questions.

  • An interrogative pronoun is used to inquire about something, such as in the question 'Which book do you prefer?'

  • Words like 'what', 'who', and 'which' are examples of interrogative pronouns that help us ask questions.

Synonyms

interrogative
vsinterrogative pronoun
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A word or sentence that asks a question

is a specific pronoun class used to ask questions

Surface Forms

interrogative pronoun singular
interrogative pronouns plural

Morphology

interrogative + pronoun

The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'interrogative' (relating to questions) modifies 'pronoun' (a word replacing a noun), so the meaning 'a pronoun used to ask questions' follows immediately from the parts. This construction and logic are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Interrogative pronoun comes from two parts: interrogative, a word meaning 'to ask', and pronoun, a word that stands for a person or thing. So interrogative pronouns are words like 'who', 'what', and 'which' that we use when we 'ask' a question.