Interrogative pronouns are ጥያቄ መጠየቂያ ተውላጠ ስሞች in Amharic.

We use these words to ask open-ended questions. ምን አይነት ጥያቄ? (For what type of question?) Examples:

• ማን ነው ስምህ? (What is your name?) (M)
• ምን እያደርግሽ ነው? (What are you doing?) (F)
• ለምን አትማሪም ይልቅስ? (Why don’t you learn instead?) (F)
• ጊዜሽን ለምን በከንቱ ታባክኛለሽ? (Why do you waste your time in vain?) (F)

Interrogative pronouns are a very small group of words that are used at the beginning of a sentence to ask a question; therefore, the sentence ends with a question mark (?). The following words are interrogative pronouns.

ማን (Who) ፣ ማንን (whom)፣ ምን (what)፣ የትኛው (which)፣ የማን (whose)

1. Use ማን (who) and ማንን (whom) to indicate people.
2. Use ምን (what) to indicate both people and things.
3. Use የትኛው (which) to indicate only things.
4. Use የማን (whose) to indicate ownership.
Examples:

• እነዚያ ሰዎች እነ ማን ናቸው? Who are those people?
• ማንን ነው ማዳመጥ ያለብኝ? Whom should I listen to?
• አንተ ማንን ነው የሰረከው? Whom did you steal?
• ምን እያደርግሽ ነው? (What are you doing?) (F)
• አንተ ምን ዓይነት ሰው ነህ? What sort of man are you? (M)
• ይህ ምንድን ነው? What is this?
• የትኛው ነው ምርጡ መጽሐፍ? Which is the best book?
• እነዚህ ጓንቶች የማን ናቸው? Whose are these gloves?
• እነዚህ አጥንቶች የምንድን ናቸው? Whose are these bones?