Interrogative pronouns Worksheet Practice Exercises with Answers

Lesson 25: Interrogative Pronouns

What do you notice about the underlined words in the following sentences?

Question 1. Who went first?

Question 2. What was the man carrying?

Question 3. Which did you buy?

You undoubtedly recognize them as question words. They are called interrogative pronouns; we list them in Quick Tip 25.1.

Quick Tip 25.1

Interrogative pronouns are question words. The interrogative pronouns are: how, what, when, where, which, who, whom, whose, why. Look for the question mark to help find them.

You may be wondering why these are considered to be pronouns. Like other pronouns, interrogative pronouns stand for something else, often a noun. They stand for missing information, information that's in the answer to a question:

Question 4a. Who went first?

Question 4b. Harry went first.

Question 5a. What was the man carrying?

Question 5b. The man was carrying a camera.

Question 6a. Which did you buy?

Question 6b. I bought the red car.

Since, when we ask a question, we don't yet know what the answer will be, we have no choice but to use a question word, or interrogative pronoun, to stand for the information we are asking about.

Test Yourself 25.1

Underline the interrogative pronoun in each of the sentences below.
Sample: Why is his approach so exciting?

Getting Started (answers on p. 101)

Question 1. To whom did you send the package?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "whom".
In simple words: Look for the question word that asks about a person or thing.

Question 2. Whose is it?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "whose".
In simple words: Find the word that asks who owns or possesses something.

Question 3. What can the producer do about it?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "what".
In simple words: Look for the question word that asks about an action or thing.

Question 4. How can I believe you are telling the truth?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "how".
In simple words: Find the word that asks about the way or manner of doing something.

Question 5. Where have you been?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "where".
In simple words: Look for the question word that asks about a location or place.

More Practice (answers on the website)

Question 6. When did you come home last night?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "when".
In simple words: Find the word that asks about the time something happened.

Question 7. Why is it so dark in this room?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "why".
In simple words: Look for the question word that asks for the reason or cause.

Question 8. Which do you prefer?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "which".
In simple words: Find the word that asks you to pick one from a group of choices.

Question 9. Who gave you permission to open that box?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "who".
In simple words: Look for the question word that asks about a person.

Question 10. From whom did you get this call?
Answer: The interrogative pronoun is "whom".
In simple words: Find the question word that asks about a person in the object form.

To Enhance Your Understanding

Don't confuse the following - they sound the same:

Question 7a. Who's (= who is) there?

Question 7b. Whose party are we going to?

Test Yourself 25.2

Decide if each pronoun below is an interrogative pronoun (who, what), demonstrative pronoun (this, these, etc.), object pronoun (me, us, etc.), or reflexive pronoun (myself, ourselves, etc.).
Sample: myself - reflexive

Getting Started (answers on p. 101)

Question 1. herself
Answer: reflexive
In simple words: This is a reflexive pronoun because it shows the subject doing the action to itself.

Question 2. which
Answer: interrogative
In simple words: This is an interrogative pronoun because it asks a question about choices.

Question 3. who
Answer: interrogative
In simple words: This is an interrogative pronoun because it asks a question about a person.

Question 4. those
Answer: demonstrative
In simple words: This is a demonstrative pronoun because it points to specific things.

Question 5. him
Answer: object
In simple words: This is an object pronoun because it receives the action in a sentence.

More Practice (answers on the website)

Question 6. itself
Answer: reflexive
In simple words: This is a reflexive pronoun because it refers back to the subject doing the action.

Question 7. how
Answer: interrogative
In simple words: This is an interrogative pronoun because it asks a question about the way or manner.

Question 8. what
Answer: interrogative
In simple words: This is an interrogative pronoun because it asks a question about things.

Question 9. us
Answer: object
In simple words: This is an object pronoun because it is the target of an action in a sentence.

Question 10. whom
Answer: interrogative
In simple words: This is an interrogative pronoun because it asks a question about a person in object form.

Test Yourself 25.3

Underline the interrogative, possessive, and subject pronouns in each of the sentences below. Label each as interrogative (what, who, etc.), determiner possessive (my, our, etc.), nominal possessive (mine, ours, etc.), or subject (I, we, etc.). Some sentences will have more than one pronoun. (Remember that interrogative pronouns are used in questions, so look for that question mark to help you.)
Sample: What are you looking for? (interrogative; subject)

Getting Started (answers on p. 101)

Question 1. Where did your friend hide the ball?
Answer: (interrogative; determiner possessive)
In simple words: "Where" is the question word asking about location, and "your" shows that the friend belongs to you.

Question 2. Which does Jack like: coffee or tea?
Answer: (interrogative)
In simple words: "Which" asks Jack to pick between two choices.

Question 3. Ours was the only entry in the contest.
Answer: (nominal possessive)
In simple words: "Ours" shows that the entry belongs to us, not to someone else.

Question 4. We kept our promise.
Answer: (subject; determiner possessive)
In simple words: "We" is the subject doing the action, and "our" shows that the promise belongs to us.

Question 5. Your business is yours alone.
Answer: (determiner possessive; nominal possessive)
In simple words: "Your" shows the business belongs to you, and "yours" says it is only your property.

More Practice (answers on the website)

Question 6. Why didn't you wash your car?
Answer: (interrogative; determiner possessive)
In simple words: "Why" asks for the reason, and "your" shows the car belongs to you.

Question 7. He thought that the brown coat was his.
Answer: (subject; nominal possessive)
In simple words: "He" is the person doing the thinking, and "his" shows the coat belongs to him.

Question 8. The bicycle is mine, not hers.
Answer: (nominal possessive; nominal possessive)
In simple words: "Mine" shows the bike belongs to me, and "hers" shows it doesn't belong to her.

Question 9. I mailed my package to Korea.
Answer: (subject; determiner possessive)
In simple words: "I" is the person who mailed it, and "my" shows the package belongs to me.

Question 10. When will he arrive?
Answer: (interrogative; subject)
In simple words: "When" asks about the time, and "he" is the person arriving.

Test Yourself 25.4

Underline the pronouns in each of the sentences below. Don't worry about what kind of pronoun each is. Some sentences will have more than one pronoun.
Sample: What will they buy at his store?

Getting Started (answers on p. 102)

Question 1. You keep hurting yourself when you go skiing.
Answer: The pronouns are: you, yourself, you.
In simple words: Find all the words that stand in for people or things in the sentence.

Question 2. We should get it to them as soon as possible.
Answer: The pronouns are: we, it, them.
In simple words: Look for words that replace nouns in the sentence.

Question 3. Who was Bill thinking of sending them to?
Answer: The pronouns are: who, them.
In simple words: Find the question word and any words that stand in for people or things.

Question 4. She has a great opportunity to advance herself in her company.
Answer: The pronouns are: she, herself, her.
In simple words: Look for words that stand in for people or show who owns something.

Question 5. When will your great novel be finished?
Answer: The pronouns are: your.
In simple words: Find the word that shows something belongs to someone.

More Practice (answers on the website)

Question 6. Our hope is that one day we will find ourselves living it up in style.
Answer: The pronouns are: our, we, ourselves, it.
In simple words: Find all the words that stand in for people, things, or show ownership.

Question 7. That will never happen under his watch.
Answer: The pronouns are: that, his.
In simple words: Look for the word pointing to something and the word showing ownership.

Question 8. Her determination gave her the impetus to improve herself.
Answer: The pronouns are: her, her, herself.
In simple words: Find all the words that stand in for a person or show ownership.

Question 9. Where are those new shirts you bought yourself yesterday?
Answer: The pronouns are: those, you, yourself.
In simple words: Look for the word pointing to things, and words that stand in for people.

Question 10. Our ball club prides itself on its ability to win most of our games.
Answer: The pronouns are: our, itself, its, our.
In simple words: Find all the words that show ownership or stand in for things.

To Further Enhance Your Understanding

As we discussed at the beginning of this Lesson, interrogatives function as pronouns - they replace nouns. Note, however, that some interrogatives can also function as determiners - they can come before a noun. You can see this in the examples below:

Question 8. Which book did you read last?

Question 9. Whose purse is on the table?

Question 10. What name did they choose for their baby?