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# who

«who» in Mova's school dictionary: **at the door?»** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

pronoun (who, whom, whose)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Who asks about a person: «Who is at the door?». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#m1)

2) Who tells more about a person just named: «The girl who won is my friend». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#m2)

3) Whom is who when it is the one something is done to: «to whom». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#m3)

4) Whose asks or tells who something belongs to. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#m4)

5) (casual) «Who cares?» means it does not matter; «who knows?» means nobody knows. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#m5)

6) (rude) «Who do you think you are?» and «who asked you?» are rude put-downs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#m6)

7) (formal) Exams and letters use «whom», «to whom it may concern», «whosoever» and «the party who». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#m7)

### 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

- Today's lesson: Who gives to whom? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x1)
- Who has more marbles, Ben or Lily? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x2)
- Who is the 5th in the line? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x3)
- Who wants another slice of pizza? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x4)
- The boy who sits next to me is called Sam. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x5)
- Whose coat is this? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x6)
- Ask a grown-up who you trust. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x7)
- who's coming tmrw? me, u, jake = 3 [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x8)
- Who cares if it's 12 or 13, just eat 'em. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x9)
- Who asked you? Mind your own business. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x10)
- Identify the party to whom the greater number of items was transferred. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x11)
- Who knows how many stars there are? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x12)
- "Who's there?" asked the old lady. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/#x13)

### 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

- [Benefits are paid for by everyone's taxes as a safety net, and many families who work get some help too.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/5-where-money-comes-from/11/)
- [An inheritance is money or belongings left by someone who has died, as written in their will.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/5-where-money-comes-from/13/)
- [An estate agent helps sell houses, and viewings are when people who might buy come to look round.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/10-moving-house-and-renting-a-home/9/)
- [Tenants who cannot get a repair done may complain more than once or ask the council for help.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/12/)
- [A chore chart lists the household jobs and who does each one, so work is shared fairly and nobody has to nag.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/12-cars-chores-and-the-shopping-list/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «who» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/who/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.