interrogatives
Who, what, where
Interrogatives are words used to ask questions.
In English, the main interrogatives are who, what, which, where, when, why, and how—sometimes called "question words" or "wh-words." They can function as pronouns Who called? , adjectives Which book do you want? , or adverbs Why did you leave? .
The term also covers sentences framed as questions.
Person-asking pronoun
- whatRequesting clarification or repetition
- whereAt what place
- whenTime interrogative
- whyReason-seeking query
how · which · whom · whose · whatever · whichever · whenever · wherever
Request for information
- queryRequest for information
- inquiryRequest for information
- askingPosing questions
- probeThorough examination or tool
quest · request · demand · challenge · examination · cross-examination · grilling · questioning
Professional crime investigator
- forensicsScientific crime-scene analysis
- suspectBelieve to be likely
- witnessOne who attests
- testimonySworn statement as evidence
evidence · alibi · deposition · cross-examine · debrief · depose · interview · inquest
Formal questioning session
- debriefPost-mission questioning session
- Q&AInteractive inquiry session
- FAQCommon queries document
- questionnaireFormal inquiry form
survey · poll · quiz · catechism · viva · oral examination · press conference · town hall
Amazement or curiosity
- inquisitivenessEager desire to learn
- curiosityDesire to learn
- probingThoroughly investigating something
- pryingIntrusively inquisitive
nosiness · snooping · meddling · intrusiveness · busybody · eavesdropping · fishing · digging
Using language for effect
- SocraticRelating to elenctic inquiry
- leading questionQuestion implying its answer
- loaded questionInquiry containing hidden assumptions
- hypotheticalAssumed but unproven
who
Person-asking pronoun
why · how · which · whom · whose · whatever · whichever · whenever · wherever · whomever
question
Request for information
probe · quest · request · demand · challenge · examination · cross-examination · grilling · questioning · quizzing
detective
Professional crime investigator
testimony · evidence · alibi · deposition · cross-examine · debrief · depose · interview · inquest · tribunal
interview
Formal questioning session
questionnaire · survey · poll · quiz · catechism · viva · oral examination · press conference · town hall · hotline
wonder
Amazement or curiosity
- inquisitivenessEager desire to learn
- curiosityDesire to learn
- probingThoroughly investigating something
prying · nosiness · snooping · meddling · intrusiveness · busybody · eavesdropping · fishing · digging · pressing
rhetorical
Using language for effect
- SocraticRelating to elenctic inquiry
- leading questionQuestion implying its answer
- loaded questionInquiry containing hidden assumptions
hypothetical · open-ended · closed-ended · follow-up · direct question
- questionsquestion, inquiry, questions, query, question words
- English grammarnouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns
- grammardeclension, pronouns, adjectives, conjugation, nouns
- Arabic grammarverb conjugation, declension, verb forms, conjugation, pronouns
- Japanesehiragana, katakana, kanji, particles, conjugation
- Shakespearean Englishthou, thee, thy, thine, ye
interrogativesdeclaratives
Sentences making claims
statements · assertions · imperatives · indicatives · commands
interrogativesassertions
Statements presented as true
affirmations · declarations · announcements · proclamations · answers