Interrogativeimpersonal

Interrogative impersonal is a term used in linguistics to describe a subtype of interrogative clauses in which the grammatical subject is either absent, indefinite, or realized only as a non-specific element. In these constructions, the interrogative content targets the state, event, or circumstance rather than the identity or action of a particular agent.

In practice, interrogative impersonal sentences often rely on impersonal verb forms or on expletive or dummy subjects, so the focus of the question is on what is the case rather than who performs an action. They are frequently discussed in cross-linguistic typology and syntax as a way to differentiate questions about existence, occurrence, or general conditions from personal interrogatives that seek information about a specific actor.

Typical functions include asking about events or states (What happened? What caused this?), about existence or presence (What exists here?), or about circumstances (How long does it take? What is the matter?). The exact realization of the impersonal strategy varies across languages; some rely on impersonal verb paradigms, others on subject-less constructions or extraposed structures with a non-specific logical subject.

Cross-linguistically, interrogative impersonal forms illuminate how languages encode inquiry without a clear agent and how this interacts with broader impersonal or existential constructions. They are often contrasted with personal interrogatives (who, which agent) and with existential or expletive constructions (there is/it is).

See also: interrogative sentence, impersonal sentence, expletive it, existential there.