The English pronoun who is an interrogative pronoun and a relative pronoun, used primarily to refer to persons. Unmarked, who is the pronoun's subjective form; its inflected forms are the objective whom and the possessive whose. The set has derived indefinite forms whoever, whomever, and whoseever, as well as a further, earlier such set whosoever, whomsoever, and whosesoever (see also -ever).
Etymology The interrogative and relative pronouns who derive from the Old English singular interrogative hwā, and whose paradigm is set out below:
It was not until the end of the 17th century that who became the only pronoun that could ask about the identity of persons and what fully lost this ability. "The first occurrences of wh-relatives date from the twelfth century (with the possible exception hwær (see Kivimaa 1966: 35)). The wh- form does not become frequent, however, until the fourteenth century." Today, relative whose can still refer to non-persons (e.g., the car whose door won't open). 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.
Uses
As interrogative pronoun "Who" and its derived forms can be used as interrogative pronouns, to form questions:
"Who did that?" "Who did you meet this morning?" (formal: "Who(m) did you meet this morning?") "Who did you speak to?" (formal: "To whom did you speak?" or "Whom did you speak to?") "Whoever could have done that?" (emphatic form, expressing disbelief) "Whose bike is that?" (use of whose as possessive determiner/adjective; see possessive and English possessive) "Whose do you like best?" (use of whose as possessive pronoun) The same forms (though not usually the emphatic ones) are used to make indirect questions:
"We don't know who did that." "I wonder who(m) she met this morning." 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. Which, who, and what as interrogatives can be either singular or plural ("Which is the highest hill?", "Which are the highest hills?", "Who was born in 1920?", or "Who were king and queen in 1920?"). Who and what often take a singular verb regardless of any supposed number. The question "Who wants some cake?" does not presuppose anything about number in possible responses ("I want some cake" or "All of us want some"), as does the question "What's in the bag?" ("A rabbit is in the bag" or "Five coins and a bus ticket").
As relative pronoun The other chief use of who and its derivatives are in the formation of relative clauses:
"These are the men who work upstairs." "This is Tom, who(m) I believe you have already met." "I helped some lads whose car had broken down." The corresponding form for non-humans is which, although whose can be used as a possessive in relative clauses even when referring to non-humans: "I will have to fix the car whose engine I ruined." In restrictive relative clauses, when not preceded by a preposition, both who(m) and which can be replaced by that (or by zero, if not the subject of the clause). In relative clauses, who (like other relative pronouns) takes the number (singular or plural) of its antecedent. Who also takes the person (first, second, or third) of its antecedent:
"I, who am having a hard time right now, won't be able to help you." "I, a tired old man who is fed up with all your nonsense, refuse to help you." Who and whom can also be used to form free relative clauses (those with no antecedent). The emphatic forms are often used for this purpose: "I'll take whoever you choose" (informal) or "I'll take whomever you choose" (informal). This corresponds to the use of what(ever) when referring to non-humans. (For the choice between who(ever) and whom(ever) in formal English, see § Ambiguous cases below.) The emphatic forms can also be used to make adverbial clauses, as in "Who(m)ever you choose, I'll be satisfied". (For more details, see English relative clauses.)
For groups of people Especially in British English and other non-American or non-Canadian varieties, who is often used as the relative pronoun of collective nouns (e.g. team, family, club) that take plural verb and pronoun forms when the emphasis is on the individual members, particularly in music and sports journalism, for example:
"The band, who have been performing together for decades, released a new album."
Usage of "whom"
Tendency to replace whom with who
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