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Interrogative adjectives like “which” and “what” modify nouns to indicate a question. They have a limited scope and only clarify, not describe. They can also modify noun phrases. Depending on their position in a sentence, they can be pronouns instead of adjectives. To determine their function, look at the word following them.
An interrogative adjective is a word that modifies a noun and indicates a question. The words “which” and “what” are used as interrogative adjectives. Whether these words serve as adjectives or simply pronouns, however, depends on whether they modify a noun or stand on their own.
Just as interrogative sentences are questions, interrogative adjectives indicate a question. When a sentence begins with an interrogative adjective, the reader knows a question will be asked. For example, in both “What’s your car?” and “What river is it?” adjectives indicate that a question is about to be asked.
More importantly, like any adjective, interrogative adjectives modify a noun. Unlike most adjectives, however, the interrogative variety is more limited in scope than their general counterparts. This limitation is partly due to the few interrogative adjectives that exist. With just two options, the resulting scope is pretty narrow.
Also, while adjectives can add detail and clarification, interrogative adjectives only clarify. For example, in the sentences “What’s your car?” and “The blue car is mine,” the phrases “which car” and “the blue car” both make it clear that there is a specific car in question. Only the phrase “the blue car,” however, in any way describes that specific car.
In addition to modifying nouns, an interrogative adjective can modify a noun phrase. A noun phrase is a group of words that act as a noun. For example, in the sentence “Which road should I take?”, “road should I” is the noun phrase, “that” serves as an interrogative adjective, and “to take” is the verb.
However, “which” and “what” are not exclusively interrogative adjectives. Depending on their place in a given sentence, they can be pronouns. Simply rearranging the word order in a sentence can change the adjective into a pronoun. For example, in the sentence “Which answer is correct?”, the word “quale” functions as an interrogative adjective because it modifies the word “answer”. In the sentence “What is the correct answer?” However, “which” no longer modifies “answer”, “correct” is now the modifier, so “which” becomes a pronoun.
To determine whether “which” or “what” are interrogative pronouns or adjectives, a reader must first look at the word or phrase that comes directly after the word in question. If the word following “quale”, for example, is a noun, “quale” is most likely an interrogative adjective. On the other hand, if the word following “which” is a verb, “which” probably serves as a pronoun.
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