That is sometimes used to avoid repeating a noun; as, I lost both my book and that of my sister.

This and that have also an adjectival use; as, this day, that year.

This and that may have most of the grammatical uses of nouns. As they are not inflected for case, they are not liable to be wrongly used grammatically.

EXERCISE 87

(1) Supply the proper demonstrative pronoun and give a reason for your choice:

1.

2.

are my scissors;
is my garden;

3. The saddest words are

4. Neither my estate nor

5.

they?

are yours.

is my brother's.

: "It might have been!"

of yours is liable to this tax.

are very lofty mountains; how many miles distant are

(2) Tell the grammatical use of the demonstrative pronouns:

1. Give these to him. 2. Add yours to those.

3. Give this another test.

4. His meaning was this.

5. This done, what remains?
6. I understand that very well.
7. I shall name it this.
8. It all started from that.

Interrogative Pronouns

121. Interrogative Pronouns Defined. Note these examples:

Who is it?

Which do you want?

What shall we call it?

Who, which, and what are here used in asking questions. A pronoun used to ask a question is called an interrogative pronoun.

An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun used to ask a question.

The interrogative pronouns are who, which, and what. Of these, only who is inflected and that merely for case. It is declined as follows:

The number of who, which, or what is determined by the use of the pronoun; thus,

What is a lasso? What are these things?

Whose, like this, may have either an adjectival or a substantive use; thus,

Whether, which is now used only as a conjunction, was formerly used also as an interrogative pronoun; as, Whether of them twain (which of the two) did the will of his father?

122. Uses of Interrogative Pronouns. The interrogative pronouns are used as follows:

as,

(1) Who is used to denote persons only; as,

Who comes here?

Whose hat is this?

To whom did you speak?

(2) Which is used to denote either persons or things;

Which is your brother?
Which is your umbrella?

as,

(3) What is used to denote everything except persons;

What is that crawling there?

What shall I say as to this?

Which differs from who and what in implying that the choice or selection is limited to a certain set or number. For example, we may say, "Who called me?" or "Which of you (not who of you) called me?" "What do you want?" or Which of these (not what of these) do you want?"

The interrogative pronouns who, which, and what have about the same grammatical uses. As who has three case-forms, its grammatical uses are of especial importance. Note these:

Subject; as, Who did it?

Subjective complement, or predicate nominative; as, Who are you? (You are who?)

Possessive modifier; as, Whose book is this?
Direct object; as, Whom do you see?

With a preposition; as, From whom is this?

The uses of who and whom are liable to be confounded.

There is

a tendency, especially in colloquial language, to ignore whom and to employ who too much. These forms are correctly used in the following sentences; can you explain why?

Who are you? Who do you think I am?

Whom do you want? Whom do you think I want?
Whom is it for? Whom do you think it is for?

EXERCISE 88

(1) Supply the proper interrogative pronoun and give a reason for your choice:

(2) Supply the proper form of who and give a reason for your choice:

(3) Tell the grammatical use of each interrogative

pronoun:

1. Which shall we take?

2. Who is that officer?

3. Who do you say he is?

4. To what do you liken this?

5. Which of them do you prefer?

6. What is the meaning of this? 7. What do you call this?

8. To whom was the letter addressed?

123. Direct Questions and Indirect Questions.- Note these examples:

(1) Harry asked, "Who spoke to me?”

(2) Harry asked who spoke to him.

In the first sentence, Harry's question is expressed in the exact words of the speaker, "Who spoke to me?" A question expressed in the exact words of the speaker is called a direct question.

In the second sentence, Harry's question is expressed in substance as a subordinate clause, who spoke to him, and not directly quoted. A question expressed in substance as a subordinate clause and not directly quoted is called an indirect question.

Note these additional examples of indirect question:

I know who he is.

I forgot who told me.
Tell us what you did.

(Question implied, "Who is he?")

(Question implied, "Who told me?") (Question implied, "What did you do?") A direct question is a question expressed in the exact words of the speaker.

An indirect question is a question expressed in substance as a subordinate clause, and not directly quoted.

Indirect questions are found after verbs and other expressions of asking, telling, knowing, doubting, and the like. They are not followed by an interrogation point.

Who, which, or what has the same meaning and use in an indirect question as in the corresponding direct question. Note that who or whom does not change its form in passing from the direct type to the indirect; thus,

Who came? He asks who came.

Who is that? He asks who that is.

Whom do you seek? He asks whom you seek.
Whom is it from? He asks whom it is from.

EXERCISE 89

(1) Write five direct questions introduced by who, which, or what, then change each to an indirect question.

(2) Supply the proper interrogative pronoun and give a reason for your choice: