Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable pronoun-
_____ is the book?
a. Who
b. Whom
c. What
d. Which

Answer 1

Hint: We use Interrogative pronouns to ask questions. Some of the interrogative pronouns are; why, what, whom, which, who etc.

Complete Step by Step Answer:
As given in the hint, interrogative pronouns are also known as Interrogative words or ‘WH’ words.
Let’s look at the usage and functions of different ‘WH words’-
a. Who- We use ‘who’ to ask questions about people. It functions as the subject of the given verb in a sentence. Example- Who is that girl?
b. Whom- We use ‘whom’ to ask questions about people. It functions as the object of the given verb in a sentence. Example- Whom did you give the book to?
c. What- We use ‘what’ to ask questions about people or things. We mostly use ‘what’ when we know that the options or answers to a question are unlimited. Example- What do you want to eat?
d. Which- We use ‘which’ to ask questions about people or things. We tend to use ‘which’ when we know that there are limited answers to a question. Example- Which way should we go?
Now, in the above given question- We know that the subject is ‘the book’ but there is no given verb in the sentence.
Let’s examine the given options-
a. Who- We only use ‘who’ with people. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
b. Whom- We only use ‘whom’ with people. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
c. What- We use ‘what’ when we know there are unlimited answers to a question. But the above given sentence has only limited answers. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
d. Which- We use ‘which’ when we know there are limited answers to a question. Hence, it is the correct option.
The correct answer is Option ‘d’.

Note: We can easily identify an interrogative pronoun by its function of enquiring or asking a question.