Meaning of who in English

who

pronoun

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/huː/ us

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/huː/

who pronoun (QUESTIONS)

used especially in questions as the subject or object of a verb, when asking which person or people, or when asking what someone's name is:

Who did this?

Who's she?

Who are all those people?

She asked me if I knew who had got the job.

Who (also formal whom) do you want to talk to?

I don't know who to ask to the party.

used with verbs that relate to knowing, when you want to say that something is not known:

"Are they going to get married?" "Who knows?" (= It is not possible to know at the moment.)

Who can tell what will happen now?

More examples

Who told you you could park there?
Who have you invited to the party?
Who won the match?
Who did you vote for in the last election?
Who is the president of France?

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Linguistics: question words & expressions

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who pronoun (USED TO REFER)

used as the subject or object of a verb to show which person you are referring to, or to add information about a person just mentioned. It is used for people, not things:

I think it was your dad who phoned.

She's one of those people who love to be the centre of attention.

He called James, who was a good friend as well as the family doctor.

The other people who (also that) live in the house are really friendly.

This is Gabriel, who I told you about.

More examples

We need a mayor who is tough enough to clean up this town.
There seems to be some confusion over who is actually giving the talk.
She's part of a team of scientists who are engaged on/upon cancer research.
Have the police got the man who did it yet?
People who work in the trade can buy their books at a discount.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Linguistics: relative forms

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Grammar

Questions: interrogative pronouns (what, who)

We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. They are: who, which, whom, what and whose. These are also known as wh-words. Questions using these are called wh-questions: …

Interrogative pronouns: uses

We use who and whom on their own: …

Who, whom

Who and whom are wh-words. We use them to ask questions and to introduce relative clauses. …

Who as a question word

We use who as an interrogative pronoun to begin questions about people: …

Emphatic questions with whoever and who on earth

We can ask emphatic questions using whoever or who on earth to express shock or surprise. We stress ever and earth: …

Who in relative clauses

We use who as a relative pronoun to introduce a relative clause about people: …

Whom

Whom is the object form of who. We use whom to refer to people in formal styles or in writing, when the person is the object of the verb. We don’t use it very often and we use it more commonly in writing than in speaking. …

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, that. The relative pronoun we use depends on what we are referring to and the type of relative clause. …

Relative pronouns: who

We use who in relative clauses to refer to people, and sometimes to pet animals. We use it to introduce defining and non-defining relative clauses: …

No relative pronoun

In informal styles, we often leave out the relative pronoun. We only do this in defining relative clauses, and when the relative pronoun is the object of the verb. We don’t leave out the relative pronoun when it is the subject of the verb nor in non-defining relative clauses: …

Relative pronouns: typical errors

…

Idiom

who's who

the WHO

noun [ + sing/pl verb ]

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/ˌdʌb.əl.juː.eɪtʃˈəʊ/ us

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/ˌdʌb.əl.juː.eɪtʃˈoʊ/

abbreviation for the World Health Organization

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Medical places & organizations

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Named organizations & societies & their members

(Definition of who from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

who | American Dictionary

who

pronoun

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/hu/

who pronoun (ASKING)

used esp. in questions to ask which person or people, or to ask someone’s name:

Who did this?

Who’s she?

Note:

In formal speech or writing, "whom" is the form of "who" used when it is the object of a verb or preposition.

who pronoun (ADDING INFORMATION)

used as the subject or object of a verb when referring to a particular person or when adding information about a person just mentioned:

The other people who live in the house are really friendly.

This is Frank, who I told you about.

Note:

In formal speech or writing, "whom" is the form of "who" used when it is the object of a verb or preposition.

Idioms

who cares
who needs something 
who would have thought

(Definition of who from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Translations of who

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詢問, 誰，甚麼人, （與表示「知道」的動詞連用，表示不知道）…

誰が（を、に）, ～する人（文法）前にある人を表す名詞を説明する文節, そして、その人は（文法）前にある人を表す名詞に説明を付け加える文節…

kim, kimi, kimler…

qui, que, (qui est-ce) qui…

qui, que…

مَنْ, الَّذي, الّتي…

kdo, který…

hvem, der…

siapa, yang…

ใคร, บุคคลซึ่ง, บุคคลที่…

ai, chỉ người đã nhắc tới trước đó, bổ nghĩa thêm cho người được nhắc trước đó…

kto, który…

siapa, yang…

wer, der/die/das…

hvem, som…

누구, -한 (사람), (앞에 나온 사람에 대해) 추가 정보를 제시할 때 쓰임…

quem, que, o qual…

询问, 谁，什么人, （与表示“知道”的动词连用，表示不知道）…

chi, che, il quale…

кто?, который…

quién, que, abreviatura de “the World Health Organization”: la Organización Mundial de la Salud…

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What is the pronunciation of who?

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whizz-kid

whizzed

whizzing

whizzy

who

who can say? idiom

who cares idiom

who needs something idiom

who needs...? idiom

Meaning of who in English

who pronoun (QUESTIONS)

who pronoun (USED TO REFER)

Grammar

Idiom

who | American Dictionary

who pronoun (ASKING)

Note:

who pronoun (ADDING INFORMATION)

Note:

Idioms

Translations of who

Browse

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