English-chillout: Wh-Questions

Wh questions (Question Words)

The grammar used with wh- questions depends on whether the topic being asked about is the "subject" or "predicate" of a sentence. For the subject pattern, simply replace the person or thing being asked about with the appropriate wh-word.

Types of questions

There are two types of questions:

Yes or no questions

Wh questions

Question words

Question words are also called wh questions because they include the letters 'W'and 'H'.

Question words	Meaning	Examples
who	person	Who's that? That's Nancy.
where	place	Where do you live? In Boston
why	reason	Why do you sleep early? Because I've got to get up early
when	time	When do you go to work? At 7:00
how	manner	How do you go? By car
what	object, idea or action	What do you do? I am an engineer
which	choice	Which one do you prefer? The red one.
whose	possession	Whose is this book? It's Alan's.
whom	object of the verb	Whom did you meet? I met the manager.
what kind	description	What kind of music do you like? I like quiet songs
what time	time	What time did you come home?
how many	quantity (countable)	How many students are there? There are twenty.
how much	amount, price (uncountable)	How much time have we got? Ten minutes
how long	duration, length	How long did you stay in that hotel? For two weeks.
how often	frequency	How often do you go to the gym? Twice a week.
how far	distance	How far is your school? It's one mile far.
how old	age	How old are you? I'm 16.
how come	reason	How come I didn't see at the party?

Asking questions

1.If you ask about the subject of the sentence, simply add the question word at the beginning:
Example:
James writes good poems. — Who writes good pems?

2.If you ask about the predicate of the sentence (the part of a sentence which contains the verb and gives information about the subject), there are three options:
If there is a helping (auxilary) verb that precedes the main verb ( foe example, can, is, are, was, were, will, would...), add the question word and invert the subject and the helping (auxilary) verb.
Examples:
He can speak Chinese. — What can he speak?
They are leaving tonight. — When are they leaving?

If you ask about the predicate and there is no helping (auxilary) verb and the verb is "to be", simply add the question verb and invert the subject and the verb.
Example:
The play was interesting. — How was the play?

If there is no helping (auxilary) verb in the the predicate and the main verb is not "to be", add the auxilary "do" in the appropriate form.
Examples:
They go to the movies every Saturday. — Where do they go to the movies?
He wakes up early. — When does he wake up?
They sent a letter. — What did they send?

Tense Question about:

Example

Present Simple Place :Where does she play?

Past Simple Time :When did they play?

Present Progressive Manner :How is he playing?

Past Progressive     Direct object     :What was he playing?

Present Perfect     Indirect object     :With who have you played?

Progressive     Choice     :Which game have you been playing?

Past Perfect     Reason     :Why had they played?

Progressive     Frequency     :How often had she been playing?

Future Simple     Number     :How much will I play?

Modals     Possession     :Whose role can he play?

Conditional     Duration     :How long would it take?

Conditional perfect Age :How old would he have been?

Make present simple ‘wh’ questions:

1. (where / you / go to school?) ________________________________________

2. (what / you / do?)
__________________________________________________________________

3. (where / John / come from?)
__________________________________________________________________

4. (how long / it / take from London to Paris?)
__________________________________________________________________

5. (how often / she / go to the cinema?)
__________________________________________________________________

6. (how many children / you / have?)
__________________________________________________________________

7. (when / you / get up?)
__________________________________________________________________

8. (how often / you / study English?)
__________________________________________________________________

9. (what time / the film / start?)
__________________________________________________________________

10. (where / you / play tennis?)
__________________________________________________________________

11. (what sports / Lucy / like?)
__________________________________________________________________

12. (how / they / get to work?)
__________________________________________________________________

13. (how often / I / come here?)
__________________________________________________________________

14. (where / she / live?)
__________________________________________________________________

15. (why / you / eat so much chocolate?)
__________________________________________________________________

16. (what / this machine / do?)
__________________________________________________________________

17. (who / she / meet on Saturdays?)
__________________________________________________________________

18. (how many brothers / she / have?)
__________________________________________________________________

19. (how much / this / cost?)
__________________________________________________________________

20. (where / you / eat lunch?)
__________________________________________________________________

Answers:

1. Where do you go to school?
2. What do you do?
3. Where does John come from?
4. How long does it take from London to Paris?
5. How often does she go to the cinema?
6. How many children do you have?
7. When do you get up?
8. How often do you study English?
9. What time does the film start?
10. Where do you play tennis?
11. What sports does Lucy like?
12. How do they get to work?
13. How often do I come here?
14. Where does she live?
15. Why do you eat so much chocolate?
16. What does this machine do?
17. Who does she meet on Saturdays?
18. How many brothers does she have?
19. How much does this cost?
20. Where do you eat lunch?