Who (pronoun)

The pronoun who, in English, is an interrogative pronoun and a relative pronoun, used chiefly to refer to humans.

Its derived forms include whom, an objective form the use of which is now generally confined to formal English; the possessive form whose; and the form whoever (also whosoever and whom(so)ever; see also -ever).

The word who derives from the Old English hwā. The spelling who does not correspond to the word's pronunciation /huː/; it is the spelling that represents the expected outcome of hwā, while the pronunciation represents a divergent outcome – for details see Pronunciation of English ⟨wh⟩. The word is cognate with Latin quis and Greek ποιός.

The forms whom and whose derive respectively from the Old English dative and genitive forms of hwā, namely hwām and hwæs.

Who and its derived forms can be used as interrogative pronouns, to form questions:

The same forms (though not usually the emphatic ones) are used to make indirect questions:

The corresponding form when referring to non-humans is what (which has the emphatic form whatever, and no possessive form). Another similar interrogative is which – this can refer to either humans or non-humans, normally implying selection from a particular set, as either interrogative pronoun (Which do you prefer?) or interrogative determiner (adjective) (Which man should I choose?). What can also be used as a determiner (What book are you reading?), but who cannot.

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