Wh questions (Question Words)

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 who where why when how what which whose Meaning Person Place Reason Examples

Who's that? That's Nancy. Where do you live? In Boston Why do you sleep early? Because I've got to get up early Time When do you go to work? At 7:00 Manner How do you go? By car object, idea or action What do you do? I am an engineer Choice Which one do you prefer? The red one. Possession Whose is this book? It's Alan's.

whom what kind what time how many how much how long how often how far how old how come

object of the verb Description Time quantity (countable) amount, price (uncountable) duration, length Frequency Distance Age Reason

Whom did you meet? I met the manager. What kind of music do you like? I like quiet songs What time did you come home? How many students are there? There are twenty. How much time have we got? Ten minutes How long did you stay in that hotel? For two weeks. How often do you go to the gym? Twice a week. How far is your school? It's one mile far. How old are you? I'm 16. 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?

Open Questions What - When - Where - Why - Who - How I. Choose the correct alternative.

1) ................ are my keys?

2) ................ is the problem?

3) ................ is your favourite singer?

4) ................ is your birthday?

5) ................ old are you?

I'm ten years old.

6) ................ is your telephone number?

7) ................ are you from?

8) ................ is your best friend?

9) ................ is your e-mail?

10) ................ are you?

I'm fine, thanks.

11) ................ is your graduation?

Next week.

12) ................ is she crying?

Because she is sad.

13) ................ is your last name?

Gonzalez.

14) ................ is your favourite actor?

Anthony Hopkins.

15) ................ old is your cat?

Two years old.

II. Choose the right option.

1) ................. is the concert? What Who Why When

2) ................. is Cristiano Ronaldo from? How When Where Why

3) ................. are you so happy? When How What Why

I'm getting married!

4) ................. is your brother? Why How Where What

He is still sick.

5) ................. are you late? Where When Why How

Because of the traffic.

Question Words
There are a number of words in the English language that are used primarily to make questions; these words are question words, sometimes known as WH question words owing to the fact that all of them contain the letters w and h. Here are the question words and their functions: What What is used when asking for information about something, as in What did you do last evening? What would you like for dinner? What did you say when you were caught? When When is used when asking for time, as in When do you arrive? When is the show? When did that happen? Where Where is used when asking for place, as in Where do we go now? Where have you kept the book? Where do you go for your tuitions? Who Who is used when asking for identity of person or persons, as in Who is that? Who wrote Moby Dick? Who called earlier? Note: For the differences between who and whom (a variation of the former), see the article. Whose Whose is used when asking about possession, as in Whose car is this? Whose place are you staying at? Whose are these shoes?

Which Which is used when asking about choice, as in Which flavour of ice cream would you like? Which route do you think we should take? Which of the two is better? Why Why is used when asking for reasons, as in Why would you say something like that? Why does the food smell bad? Why did you not go for work today? How How is used when asking about manner or quality/condition, as in How did you do that? How was the movie? How is life?

WH questions ask for information. They are different than Yes/No questions. There are 6 different WH question words: Question What When Who Where Why How Thing Time Person Place Reason Answer Example What is that? When is the game? Who do you live with? Where do you live? Why are you happy?

Directions/Feelings How are you?

STRUCTURE WH questions in simple present use do or be: WH Questions with "do" WH + DO/DOES + SUBJECT + VERB

Examples:

Where do you work? Where does she live? When do you wake up?

WH Questions with "be" WH + BE + SUBJECT

Examples:

Where are you from? Who is that man?

When is your class?

WH Questions are similar to YES/NO questions except they have WH words at the start. Examples:

Are you from Canada? Where are you from?

Here are some example questions and answers:

Where are you from? I am from Japan.

What is your name? My name is Jacob.

When do you wake up? I wake up at 7:30 am.

Why are you angry? I am angry because I did not pass my exam.