is the question word -who- always singular?

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eren deren

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Please help me with my problem about the question word WHO.
Is it true that the verb after WHO must always be singular?

instruction:ask questions for the underlined word.
John and Brian go to the library once a week.

Who go to the library once a week? or Who goes to the library once a week?

which one is right?
 

5jj

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Is it true that the verb after WHO must always be singular?
No: Who are those people over there?

John and Brian go to the library once a week.
[STRIKE]Who go to the library once a week?[/STRIKE] or Who goes to the library once a week:tick:?
When 'who' is the grammatical subject of the verb that follows, the verb is singular
 

eren deren

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Thank you very much for your help.:lol:
 

nyota

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While going through my notes I found this:

1) Who haven't received their passes?
2) Who hasn't reveived their passes?

I made a quick note about no. 1 saying possible with restricted reference, but I'm not sure what I meant by that :roll:. Is there a slight difference in meaning? Like we know that somebody didn't get their pass? HM.
 

eren deren

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While going through my notes I found this:

1) Who haven't received their passes?
2) Who hasn't reveived their passes?

I made a quick note about no. 1 saying possible with restricted reference, but I'm not sure what I meant by that :roll:. Is there a slight difference in meaning? Like we know that somebody didn't get their pass? HM.

As far as I have understood, I would say
2) Who hasn't received his/her pass?
 

5jj

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Until comparatively recently, the only acceptable question forms were:

1. Who hasn't received his pass?
2. Who hasn't received her pass?
3. Who hasn't received his or her (his/her) pass?

#1 was used when addressing an all-male or a mixed group. The old idea that the masculine form covered both sexes was not seriously challenged until the second half of the 20th century.
#2 was used only for an all-female group.
#3 became more common when people began questioning sexism in language.

#4, below, once considered sub-standard, is now becoming increasingly accepted; this is because many find 'his/her' cumbersome:

4. Who hasn't received their pass?

Perhaps by analogy with 'They shook their heads', #5 is sometimes heard, even when each person will receive only one pass:

5. Who hasn't received their passes?
 

Barb_D

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It can be plural in some situations, though: Who are those two guys standing over there?

Three women knocked on my door at 3 am!
No! Who were they?
 

engee30

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It can be plural in some situations, though: Who are those two guys standing over there?

Three women knocked on my door at 3 am!
No! Who were they?

Your example sentences, Barb_D, are a bit off the the track in my opinion.
Here are some which might be of interest to the asker:

Who is calling Joan? (not Who are calling Joan?)
Who is in the picture? (not Who are in the picture?)
Who helps you do your homework, Pat? (not Who help you do your homework,Pat?)
Who drives better, Mike or Jason? (not Who drive better, Mike or Jason?)
 

5jj

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Your example sentences, Barb_D, are a bit off the the track in my opinion.
Hardly, when the original question was: Is it true that the verb after WHO must always be singular?

I had already partly answered this with a NO in my first post, but more examples do not come amiss.
 

engee30

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Hardly, when the original question was: Is it true that the verb after WHO must always be singular?

When you read on, fivejedjon, you might arrive at the same presumption as I did.

instruction:ask questions for the underlined word.
John and Brian go to the library once a week.

Who go to the library once a week? or Who goes to the library once a week?

which one is right?
 

5jj

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engee30

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Why not? To me, the asker's problem mainly lies in deciding whether s/he should apply a singular verb or a plural one after who being the subject of a question, not the object or complement. :-|
 

5jj

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Why not? To me, the asker's problem mainly lies in deciding whether s/he should apply a singular verb or a plural one after who being the subject of a question, not the object or complement.
engee, where 'the asker's problem mainly lies' is a matter for conjecture. eren deren asked two questions. I answered the first in post #2, and Barb added something in post #7. I answered the second in post #2 and followed up in post #6.

If eren deren is still not clear, we can expect further questions.
 

eren deren

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May I ask another question to help me out of my confusion?

Instruction:Ask the question word for the underlined sentence.

Terry and Sue watch TV every afternoon.

Who watches Tv every afternoon?
 
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5jj

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May I ask another question to help me out of my confusion?
Sorry our little discussion led us away from your question, eren.

This is basically the same question as the first, and the answer is:
When 'who' is the grammatical subject of the verb that follows, the verb is singular, so:

Who watches .
..?
 

eren deren

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Thank you very much for everyone who tried to help me.
At last I have understood.
So,Thank you all.:up:
 

Barb_D

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Side note: TV or tv, but not Tv when used for television.
 

davilan

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who ARE they

the verb is not singular

one of the reasons English is so difficult to master as a second language is:
there are very few rules where you can state that they ALWAYS apply. Whenever anyone asks: "is this always true" simply answer "no" and the odds are you will be correct.

It is NOT true that "who" is always used with the singular form of a verb.

A better question might be: is WHOM (the singular form of who) always used with a singular form of a verb?

to see the answer to THAT question see the rule about answers to questions in this post!
 

Barb_D

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A better question might be: is WHOM (the singular form of who) always used with a singular form of a verb?

Whom is the object form, not the singular form. Of course "whom" can be used to refer multiple people, but objects don't take verbs.

I think we can safely say "whom" never takes a plural verb, nor a singular one either, as it's an objective pronoun, and not used as the subject.

Was this just a brain cramp? I surely have them all the time, but the idea that you're teaching people that "whom" is the singular form of the subject pronoun "who" is disconcerting.
 

cubezero3

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When 'who' is the grammatical subject of the verb that follows, the verb is singular

Hello, 5jj.

I am a bit confused here.

Isn't who the grammatical subject of the verb be in the following sentence?

Who are those people over there?

Many thanks

Richard
 
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