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τίς

tís

G5101 interrogative pronoun

SILEX Entry

Root τι- to ask who, what, which

Definition

Interrogative pronoun asking about identity, nature, or kind; primarily 'who?' (of a person), 'which?' (of alternatives), or 'what?' (of things or circumstances). Also used in indirect questions to introduce uncertainty or inquiry about subject, object, or characteristic. In some idioms and negative statements, approximates indefinite or negative sense (e.g., 'anyone,' 'anything,' 'no one,' 'nothing').

Semantic Range

who?, which?, what?, what sort of?, who (anyone) in negative or conditional clauses, any (thing, one), no one, nothing, why (in some constructions), indirect question marker, interrogative pronoun for person or thing

Root / Etymology

Unrelated to the verb root; forms an element of Greek interrogative stems (τι-, τιν-) for 'who?'/'what?' (τίς) and 'someone' (τις, enclitic, with different accent). Derived from Proto-Indo-European *kwi-, echoing cognates found throughout Indo-European languages as interrogatives (Latin quis, Sanskrit kaḥ). Distinguished by the acute accent to mark the interrogative (τίς) from the indefinite (τις).

Historical & Contextual Notes

τίς is the standard interrogative pronoun in Greek, used from the earliest archaic and classical attestations through to Koine, including the Septuagint and New Testament texts. It functions both as a stand-alone question ('who?') or embedded in indirect queries ('He asked who...') and can reference persons or things depending on context. Unlike the English 'who' and 'what,' τίς covers both animate and inanimate referents. The form regularly appears with the acute accent (τίς/τί) to differentiate from the indefinite enclitic τις/τι ('someone,' 'something'), which lacks the accent on the first syllable. In certain contexts, τίς occurs in phrases yielding a sense akin to 'anyone'/'anything' or, with a negative, 'no one'/'nothing' (e.g., οὐδεὶς = 'no one'). English translations rarely render the full nuance of τίς, particularly when it shades into indefinites or functions in idiomatic expressions. The word is foundational for questions and inquiry in Greek, with a flexible usage extending to both persons and things; this breadth is sometimes flattened in translation.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

probably emphatic of τὶς; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions):--every man, how (much), + no(-ne, thing), what (manner, thing), where (-by, -fore, -of, -unto, - with, -withal), whether, which, who(-m, -se), why.

Root Family

τίς (tis) — who, what, which; interrogative inquiry about identity or kind

Word Forms

9 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
G5101-01 τί ti DET ACC N SG what what? 339
G5101-08 τίς tis PRO.Q NOM M SG who who? 145
G5101-02 τίνα tina DET ACC M SG whom whom? 24
G5101-05 τίνι tini PRO.Q DAT N SG what to whom? 19
G5101-07 τίνος tinos PRO.Q GEN M SG whose of whom? 13
G5101-04 τίνες tines PRO.Q NOM M PL who some people 5
G5101-06 τίνων tinon PRO.Q GEN M PL what of whom? 3
G5101-03 τίνας tinas PRO.Q ACC M PL what some 2
G5101-09 τίσιν tisin PRO.Q DAT M PL to some 2

Occurrences in Scripture

552 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
G5101-08 Matthew 3:7 τίς tis PRO.Q NOM M SG who who?
G5101-05 Matthew 5:13 τίνι tini PRO.Q DAT N SG to whom?
G5101-02 Matthew 5:46 τίνα tina DET ACC M SG whom?
G5101-01 Matthew 5:47 τί ti DET ACC N SG what?
G5101-01 Matthew 6:3 τί ti PRO.Q ACC N SG what?
G5101-01 Matthew 6:25 τί ti PRO.Q ACC N SG what?
G5101-01 Matthew 6:25 τί ti-2 PRO.Q ACC N SG what?
G5101-01 Matthew 6:25 τί ti-3 PRO.Q ACC N SG what?
G5101-08 Matthew 6:27 τίς tis PRO.Q NOM M SG who?
G5101-01 Matthew 6:28 τί ti PRO.Q ACC N SG what?
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