Meaning
‘WH’ Words are pro-forms, which are short, common words that represent other, specific words or ideas of that same part of speech. For instance, pronouns are a type of pro-form that refers to nouns. While some ‘WH’ Words are pronouns, others are pro-adverbs or pro-determiners.
Each ‘WH’ Word has a particular set of concepts that it is used for. For instance, while both who and what are pronouns, who is used for people, named animals, and personified things while what is used for everything else.
Primary ‘WH’ Words
| representation | 'wh' word | lexical class |
|---|---|---|
|
humans and other sentient beings, named animals, some anthropomorphized objects, and sometimes organizations |
who(m) |
pronoun |
|
non-personified items, abstract nouns, and sometimes organizations |
what /
which |
pronoun |
|
actions or events |
what /
which |
pronoun |
|
a selection from among a specified set of nouns |
which
/ what |
determiner |
|
someone — or (rarely) something — that possesses the referent |
whose |
determiner |
|
the quantity of the referent |
how many /
how much |
determiner |
|
a descriptor of a noun |
how _____ |
pro-adjective |
|
the extent of a quality or characterisitc |
how _____ |
pro-adverb |
|
time |
when |
pro-adverb |
|
location or direction |
where |
pro-adverb |
|
an assessment or quality; the manner or method by which an action is done |
how |
pro-adverb |
|
the cause or the purpose of an action or event |
why |
pro-adverb |
Distinctions
Who vs. Whom
The terms who and whom are two different forms of the same word. Traditionally, who is used for subjects while whom is used for objects.
Many modern English speakers only use who, regardless of whether it’s a subject or an object. In fact, whom is now rarely used outside of formal speech.
How Many vs. How Much
The phrase how many is used for countable nouns (like people and most physical items) while how much is used for uncountable nouns (like mass nouns and many abstract nouns).
‘WH’-Evers
The -ever suffix can be added to any ‘WH’ Word, as in whenever, whichever, however many, etc. These terms stretch ‘WH’ Words to far-reaching extents.
- In questions, they represent not only unknowns, but a presumed lack of rational or credible possibilities.
- As subordinating linkers, they indicate limitless potential.
Archaic ‘WH’ Words
The following ‘WH’ Words are hardly ever used in modern English, except in legal speech.
- whence — from where
- whither — to where
- whereby — in what manner
- wherefore — for what reason
As you can see, all of these are more specific variations of the more common ‘WH’ Words. Since we can use where plus a preposition to account for any possible use of whence and whither (and similarly for how and whereby, and for why and wherefore), these more specific terms have become obsolete.
Applications
Interrogatives
‘WH’ Words are perhaps most popularly known as ‘Question Words’. ‘WH’ Words come at the head of Subject Questions and Predicate Questions, collectively called ‘WH’ Questions or Open Questions. These type of questions allow the asker to inquire about more specific information than they could with polar questions.
Who, what, when, where, and why are known as ‘The 5 Ws’ of investigation and are famously used by reporters, detectives, and researchers, though there is no limit to their applications. These words — sometimes accompanied by how — allow investigators to form questions that help them uncover a breadth of information.
‘WH’ Words can also be used as the crux of Indirect Questions, as in “Could you tell me where the exit is?” Here, ‘WH’ Words serve dual roles as the head of the embedded question clauses (which are Content Clauses) and as subordinating linkers that connect the embedded clause with its host clause.
Although it’s rare, we can apply the -ever suffix to Question Words in order to stress the unknown quality of the question, perhaps making it even unbelievable. For instance, in “Whyever would you say such a thing?” the asker cannot fathom a reasonable answer to their question.
Relative Linkers
‘WH’ Words — along with ‘that’ — are among the relative subordinating conjunctions, also called Relative Linkers or Relativizers. As such, they introduce Relative Clauses.
While most conjunctions only serve to link different parts of a sentence, Relativizers do more than just that; they also play semantic roles within their embedded clauses. Like Question Words, Relative Linkers serve as pronouns, pro-adverbs, or determiners and are needed to complete both the meaning and the structure of their clauses.
What makes Relative Linkers tricky is that, while they semantically act like pronouns, pro-adverbs, and determiners within their embedded clause, they also reference the preceding nouns from the host clause, which makes them always pronouns. This means a Relative Linker might be simultaneously a pronoun and a pro-adverb, or simultaneously a pronoun and a determiner. Although they serve multiple roles, Relative Subordinators should also take on the form that’s most appropriate for their embedded clauses.
Content Clause Linkers
‘WH’ Words can also be used as subordinating conjunctions that introduce Content Clauses.
Along with if and whether, ‘WH’ Words are used in Indirect Questions, which are complex sentences that feature questions as their Content Clauses.
For other types of Content Clauses, we might use the -ever variants of ‘wh’ words: whoever, whomever, whatever, whichever, whenever, wherever, however, and whosever. Instead of indicating unknowns, these terms indicate a wide (presumably limitless) scope of possibilities. They are similar to any terms (any time; anywhere; anyone, etc.). For example:
- “You can invite whomever you like!” ← whomever means ‘any person’, and possibly ‘any number of people
- “I’ll go wherever you go.” ← wherever means ‘any place’, probably no matter what
Insights sometimes refers to linkers for Content Clauses as cruxes since they act as the pivot points between clauses, but also because each is usually the focal point of their entire sentence.
Adverbial Subordinators
Some ‘WH’ Words can serve as linkers for Adverbial Clauses. Of the primary ‘WH’ Words, only when, where, and how are adverbial linkers, but whatever, whenever, wherever, whichever, and however work as well.
| Interrogative | Relative | Content Crux | Adverbial | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
who(m) |
who(m) |
who(m) |
who(m)ever |
|
|
what |
which |
what which |
whatever whichever |
whatever whichever |
|
what _____ which _____ |
|
what _____ which _____ |
|
|
|
whose _____ |
whose _____ |
whose _____ |
whosever |
|
|
how many how much |
|
how many how much |
however many however much |
|
|
when |
when |
when |
whenever |
when whenever |
|
where |
where |
where |
wherever |
where wherever |
|
how |
|
how |
however |
how however |
|
why |
|
why |
|
|
Reactive Expressions
A couple ‘WH’ Words are used in certain types of expressions for which the speaker communicates strong feelings, often as a reaction.
- “What a [nominal phrase]” … often followed by the subject and then a Linking Verb.
- “How [adjective]” … often followed by the subject and then a Linking Verb.
- “How [adverb]” … often followed by the subject and then an Action Verb.
These sentences almost always conclude in exclamation marks.
For example: “What a jerk that receptionist was!” or “I can’t believe how tall you’ve grown!”
Although these expressions are sometimes just one part of a greater sentence, “What a [nominal phrase]”and “How [adjective]” can be used on their own. For instance, that first example could be replaced with “What a jerk!” if the listener already knows what that speaker is talking about. Keep in mind that these are fragments instead of complete sentences — but in casual conversations, that’s not necessarily a problem.
Further Reading
| Related Concepts | Applied Grammar Topics |
|---|---|
