English Grammar Lesson for Homeschool and ESL on Which to Use: "Who is" or "Who are"
by Simple lesson on when to use "are" or "is" with ‘who.
The pronoun ‘who’ can be a single pronoun, or a plural pronoun. The speaker’s intended subject of the statement will determine if ‘who’ is particular to one person, or multiple people.
Review these sentences:
Who is here? They are here. (Do not say ‘who are here?’)
Who are they? They are the neighbor’s grandchildren. (Do not say ‘who is they?’)
Who is she? She is the new teacher.
Abigail, who is fifteen, will also go with us.
Matt and Scotty, who are both twelve, will stay with their parents.
Who is twelve? Matt and Scotty are twelve. (’is’ is used with ‘who’ here because the sentence can be used to mean a singular person is being asked about.)
Who are the twelve year old children? (’are’ is used with ‘who’ here because there are definitely more than one person being spoken about. This is known because of the plural noun ‘children’.)
Who is the twelve year old child? (’is’ is used with ‘who’ here because the singular noun ‘child’ is used.)
Contractions
Who is = who’s (hoos)
Who are = who’re (hoo-er)
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