who
part of speech
pronoun (who, whom, whose)
meaning for a pupil
1) Who asks about a person: «Who is at the door?». tree →
2) Who tells more about a person just named: «The girl who won is my friend». tree →
3) Whom is who when it is the one something is done to: «to whom». tree →
4) Whose asks or tells who something belongs to. tree →
5) (casual) «Who cares?» means it does not matter; «who knows?» means nobody knows. tree →
6) (rude) «Who do you think you are?» and «who asked you?» are rude put-downs. tree →
7) (formal) Exams and letters use «whom», «to whom it may concern», «whosoever» and «the party who». tree →
sense in the lessons
who gives and who receives; «who» asks for a person, not a number; phrases: «who is», «who has more», «whose turn», «to whom»; in casual talk «who's coming?», «who cares», «who knows», «who's who»; in rough talk «who asked you?», «who d'you think you are?»; in the exam voice «to whom», «the party to whom the items were transferred», «whosoever»
examples
- And He said: 'Who told thee that thou wast naked? (Torah GEN.3.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- We know not who put our money in our sacks.' (Torah GEN.43.22, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are these?' (Torah GEN.48.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- Who hath enjoined Him His way? (Writings JOB.36.23, JPS 1917) tree →
- Or who laid the corner-stone thereof, (Writings JOB.38.6, JPS 1917) tree →
- Who will lead me unto Edom? (Writings PSA.60.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- Today's lesson: Who gives to whom? tree →
- Who has more marbles, Ben or Lily? tree →
- Who is the 5th in the line? tree →
- Who wants another slice of pizza? tree →
- The boy who sits next to me is called Sam. tree →
- Whose coat is this? tree →
- Ask a grown-up who you trust. tree →
- who's coming tmrw? me, u, jake = 3 tree →
- Who cares if it's 12 or 13, just eat 'em. tree →
- Who asked you? Mind your own business. tree →
- Identify the party to whom the greater number of items was transferred. tree →
- Who knows how many stars there are? tree →
- "Who's there?" asked the old lady. tree →
note
The giver loses and the receiver gains. «Who» asks for a person, not a number. Trap: «whose» (belonging) and «who's» (who is) sound the same. «whom» is formal; most people say «who». «to whom» in an exam asks for the receiver. «who cares» is not a real question.
In the corpora
- And He said: 'Who told thee that thou wast naked?
- And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
- And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
- We know not who put our money in our sacks.'
- These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the souls were fourteen.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «who» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.