who

who  (h)

pron.

1. What or which person or persons: Who left?

2. Used as a relative pronoun to introduce a clause when the antecedent is a person or persons or one to whom personality is attributed: the visitor who came yesterday; our child, who is gifted; informed sources who denied the story.

3. The person or persons that; whoever: Who believes that will believe anything.

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[Middle English, from Old English hw; see k^wo- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: The traditional rules for choosing between who and whom are relatively simple but not always easy to apply. Who is used where a nominative pronoun such as I or he would be appropriate, that is, for the subject of a verb or for a predicate nominative; whom is used for a direct or indirect object or for the object of a prepostion. Thus, we write the actor who played Hamlet was there, since who is the subject of played; and Whom do you like best? because whom is the object of the verb like and To whom did you give the letter? because whom is the object of the preposition to.·It is more difficult, however, to apply these rules in complicated sentences, particularly when who or whom is separated from the verb or preposition that determines its form. Intervening words may make it difficult to see that Who do you think is the best candidate? requires who as the subject of the verb is (not whom as the object of think) and The man whom the papers criticized did not show up requires whom as the object of the verb criticized (not who as the subject of showed up). Highly complex sentences such as I met the man whom the government had tried to get France to extradite require careful analysisin this case, to determine that whom should be chosen as the object of the verb extradite, several clauses away. It is thus not surprising that writers from Shakespeare onward have often interchanged who and whom. Nevertheless, the distinction remains a hallmark of formal style.·In speech and informal writing, however, considerations other than strict grammatical correctness often come into play. Who may sound more natural than whom in a sentence such as Who did John say he was going to support? though it is incorrect according to the traditional rules. In general, who tends to predominate over whom in informal contexts. Whom may sound stuffy even when correctly used, and when used where who would be correct, as in Whom shall I say is calling? whom may betray grammatical ignorance.·Similarly, though traditionalists will insist on whom when the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition that ends a sentence, grammarians since Noah Webster have argued that the excessive formality of whom is at odds with the relative informality associated with this construction; thus they contend that a sentence such as Who did you give it to? should be regarded as entirely acceptable.·Some grammarians have argued that only who and not that should be used to introduce a restrictive relative clause that identifies a person. This restriction has no basis either in logic or in the usage of the best writers; it is entirely acceptable to write either the woman that wanted to talk to you or the woman who wanted to talk to you.·The grammatical rules governing the use of who and whom in formal writing apply equally to whoever and whomever and are simililarly often ignored in speech and informal writing. See Usage Notes at else, that, whose.

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who

pron

1. which person: who are you?, he didn't know who had started it

2. used at the beginning of a relative clause referring to a person or people already mentioned: he is a man who can effect change [Old English hwā]

USAGE: See at whom.

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WHO World Health Organization

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

WHO - a United Nations agency to coordinate international health activities and to help governments improve health services World Health Organization UN agency, United Nations agency - an agency of the United Nations

Translations

WHO n abbr (= World Health Organization) → OMS f

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who [huː] pron 1. (interrogative) → quién;

who is it?, who's there? → ¿quién es?;

who are you looking for? → ¿a quién buscas?;

I told her who I was → le dije quién era yo

2. (relative) → que;

the man/woman who spoke to me → el hombre/la mujer que habló conmigo;

those who can swim → los que saben or sepan nadar

WHO n abbr (= World Health Organization) → OMS f (Organisation mondiale de la Santé)

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who [huː] pron → qui

WHO n abbr (= World Health Organization) → Weltgesundheitsorganisation f, WHO f

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who [huː] pron 1. (interrogative) → wer: (acc) → wen: (dat) → wem;

who is it?, who's there? → wer ist da?;

who did you give it to? → wem hast du es gegeben?

2. (relative) → der/die/das;

the man/woman who spoke to me → der Mann, der/die Frau, die mit mir gesprochen hat

WHO n abbr (= World Health Organization) → O.M.S. f (= Organizzazione mondiale della sanità)

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who [huː] pron 1. (interrogative) → chi;

who is it?, who's there? → chi è?

2. (relative) → che;

the man who spoke to me → l'uomo che ha parlato con me;

those who can swim → quelli che sanno nuotare

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who

pron who [huː]

(used as the subject of a verb) what person(s)(?) Who is that woman in the green hat?; Who did that?; Who won?; Do you know who all these people are? wie من؟: ضمير إستِفْهام عن الفاعِل العاقِل кой kdo hvem wer ποιος quién, quiénes kes چه کسى kuka (qui est-ce) qui מִי कौन tko ki(k)? siapa hver chi だれが 누구 kas kas siapa wie hvem kto quem cine кто kto kdo ko vem ใคร kim(i), kimler(i) 誰 хто?; котрий? کون ai 谁

rel pron

1 (used to refer to a person or people mentioned previously to distinguish him or them from others used as the subject of a verb: usually replaceable by that ) (the) one(s) that: The man who/that telephoned was a friend of yours; A doctor is a person who looks after people's health. wat ضَمير صِلَة يَعود إلى العاقِل الفاعل بِمَعْنى: الذي، التي، الذين، اللواتي който který der der/die/das ο οποίος, που que kes که qui שֶׁ- जो koji az aki yang sem, er che ～するところの ...하는 (사람) kuris (tas) kurš yang die som który que care который ktorý ki koji som บุคคลซึ่ง ...-en/an, ki o 的人 який, котрий جو chỉ người đã nhắc tới trước đó 的人

2 used, after a comma, to introduce a further comment on a person or people His mother, who was so proud, gave him a hug. wat ضَمير يأتي في بدايَة جُمْلَة الصِّلَه غَيْر المُحَدِّدَه който který der der/die/das ο οποίος que kes کسیکه که joka qui שֶׁ- जो koja aki yang sem, er che そしてその人は 그리고 그 사람은 kuris, -i kas yang die som który que care тот, кто ktorý ki koji som บุคคลที่ ki o (非限制性關系代詞)他(她)，他(她)們 який, котрий جو bổ nghĩa thêm cho người được nhắc trước đó （非限制性关系代词）他（她），他（她）们

rel pron whoˈever

any person or people that Whoever gets the job will have a lot of work to do. wie ook al كُل من، أيّاً كان който и да е ten, kdo hvem der end wer auch immer όποιος, οποιοσδήποτε quien, quienquiera que, el que kes iganes هر کسی kuka tahansa la personne qui מִי שֶׁ- जो भी tko god akárki, bárki, aki csak barang siapa hver sem chiunque; chi ～する人はだれでも (...하는 사람은) 누구든지 kas, kad ir kas jebkurš, kas sesiapa yang wie... ook den som; alle/enhver som ktokolwiek quem acela care тот кто ten, kto kdorkoli ko god den (de) som, var och en som ใครก็ตาม; ไม่ว่าใครก็ตามที; ผู้ใดก็ตาม; ใครทำก็ตาม (her) kim(i)...-se (引導名詞從句)無論誰 хто б не جو کوءی بھی bất kỳ ai （引导名词从句）无论谁

pron

1 no matter who Whoever rings, tell him/them I'm out. wie ook al أي شَخْصٍ ، لا يَهِمُّ من без значение кой kdokoli hvem, der end; hvem som helst wer auch immer όποιος (κι αν) quienquiera que, cualquiera que ükskõik kes هر کی kuka hyvänsä quiconque מִי שֶלא יִהיֶה जो भी bez obzira tko bárki siapa saja sama hver chiunque だれが～しようとも (...하는 사람은) 누구든지 kad ir kas (ja) kāds; vienalga, kurš siapa saja wie... ook hvem som enn, samme hvem ktokolwiek seja quem for que oricine кто бы ни ktokoľvek kdorkoli bilo ko vem som än ใครก็ตาม; ไม่ว่าใครก็ตามที; ผู้ใดก็ตาม; ใครทำก็ตาม kim olursa olsun 無論誰 хто б не, який би не کوءی بھی bất kỳ ai 无论谁

2 (also who ever) used in questions to express surprise etc Whoever said that? wie ook al تُسْتَعْمَل في الإسْتِفهام للتعْبير عن المُفاجأَه بِمَعنى: مَن هو الذي؟ кой kdopak hvem wer (denn nur) ποιος στην ευχή; quienquiera que, cualquiera que kes küll چه کسی؟ kuka hyvänsä qui donc מִי? जो कोई tko god ugyan ki? siapa hver (í ósköpunum) chiunque 一体だれが 도대체 누가 kas gi kas tad siapa yang wie... in godsnaam hvem i all verden któż quem oare cine кто бы kto kdo vendar ko vem i all sin dar/all (världen) ...? ใครก็ตาม; ไม่ว่าใครก็ตามที; ผู้ใดก็ตาม; ใครทำก็ตาม kim(ler), hangi kişi(ler) 究竟是誰 хто ж? کس نے ai vậy nhỉ 究竟是谁

pron whom [huːm]

(used as the object of a verb or preposition, but in everyday speech sometimes replaced by who) what person(s)(?) Whom/who do you want to see?; Whom/who did you give it to?; To whom shall I speak? vir wie ضَمير إسْتِفْهام للسُّؤال عن المَفعول به العاقِل بِمَعْنى: من кого komu, koho, kým hvem wen, wem ποιον a quién/quiénes kellele, keda چه کسى را kenet, ketä que, qui מִי, לְמִי किसको, जिसको kome kit?, kiket? siapa hvern chi だれを 누구에게[] ką, kam ko; kuru; kam; kuram siapa wie hvem kogo, komu quem pe cine; cu cine; cui кого; кому komu, koho, s kým koga, komu kome vem ใคร ทำหน้าที่เป็นกรรม kimi, kime (賓格)誰 кого, кому کس سے với ai （宾格）谁

rel pron

(used as the object of a verb or preposition but in everyday speech sometimes replaced by who)

1 (used to refer to a person or people mentioned previously, to distinguish him or them from others able to be omitted or replaced by that except when following a preposition) (the) one(s) that: The man (whom/that) you mentioned is here; Today I met some friends (whom/that) I hadn't seen for ages; This is the man to whom I gave it; This is the man (whom/who/that) I gave it to. aan wie ضَمير صِلَه للتَّعْبير عن المَفْعول به العاقِل بِمَعْنى: الذي، التي، الذين، اللواتي когото který der; som; hvem den/die/das, dem/der ποιον que, quien, quienes keda که kenet, ketä que, (à) qui אָשֶר, ש- जिसको kome, kojem aki(ke)t; aki(k)nek yang hvern, sem chi ～するところの 누구에게[] kuris kuru; kuram yang die, wie hvem który que care; pe care; căruia, căreia который ktorý ki koji som ผู้ซึ่ง kimi, kime (關系代詞)他(她)，他(她)們 кого, який جو người mà （关系代词）他（她），他（她）们

2 used, after a comma, to introduce a further comment on a person or people His mother, who was so proud of him, gave him a hug. wat تُسْتَعْمَل في جُمْلَة الصِّلَه غَيْر المُحَدِّدَه който který der den/die/das τον οποίο que, quien, quienes keda, kes کسیکه که jonka, joita qui, que שֶ- जिसको koji akit yang hvern, sem che, (a) cui そしてその人を 그리고 그 사람을 kurį kuru; kuram yang die, wie som którego itd. que pe care с которым ktorý ki koji som ผู้ที่ ki o, ki ona (賓格)他(她)，他(她)們 який جو người mà （宾格）他（她），他（她）们

know who's who

to know which people are important. weet wie's wie يَعْرِف من هو الشَّخْص المُهِم знам кой е важен znát vlivné osoby vide hvem, der er hvem wissen, wer wichtig ist έχω υψηλές γνωριμίες saber qué personas son importantes teadma kes on kes قابلیت تشخیص افراد مهم tietää kuuluisat henkilöt connaître les personnes influentes לַדָעָת מִי חָשוּב महत्वपूर्ण लोग znati tko je tko tudja, hogy ki kicsoda mengenal orang yang penting vita hverjir eru merkilegir (conoscere le persone importanti) 誰が偉いか分かる žinoti, kurie žmonės naudingi zināt/pazīt īsto[] cilvēku[] orang yang penting de weg weten vite hvem som er hvem wiedzieć kto tu rządzi conhecer os importantes a şti care persoane sunt im­por­tante знать кто есть кто poznať vplyvné osoby vedeti, kdo je kdo znati ko je ko veta vem som är vem ผู้ที่มีความสำคัญ kim kimdir bilmek 名人錄 знати, хто є значною персоною یہ جاننا کہ کون کتنا اہم ہے những nhân vật quan trọng 名人录