Questions: wh-questions

Wh-questions begin with what, when, where, who, whom, which, whose, why and how. We use them to
ask for information. The answer cannot be yes or no:

Question Usages Examples

words
What Used to ask about things - What are you doing?
- What do you think about the movie?
When Used to ask about time - When will the meeting start?
- When are you leaving?
Where Used to ask about places - Where’s my bag?
- Where do you live?
Who Used to ask about people - Who do you love the most in your family?
- Who told you that story?
Whom Used to ask about people - Whom did you see in the morning? I saw
(object of verb) Mr. Mark, my English teacher.
- Whom was Jim talking to? He was talking to
Jack, his new roommate.
Which Used to ask about choices - Which one do you choose? The left or
right?
- Of all the drinks in the menu, which one
would you like?
Whose Used to ask about possession - Whose pencil is this? Is it yours?
- Whose books are these?
Why Used to ask about reasons/ - Why did it happen? I didn’t understand.
causes - Why is he crying?
How Used to ask about manner/ - How can you explain this problem? Please
process tell us.
- How can you get here?

Forming wh-questions

With an auxiliary verb

We usually form wh-questions with wh- + an auxiliary verb (be, do or have) + subject + main
verb or with wh- + a modal verb + subject + main verb:
Be: When are you leaving? Who’s been paying the bills?
Do: Where do they live? Why didn’t you call me?
Have: What has she done now? What have they decided?
Modal: Who would she stay Where should I park?
with?

Without an auxiliary verb

Warning:

When what, who, which or whose is the subject or part of the subject, we do not use the
auxiliary. We use the word order subject + verb:
What fell off the wall? Which horse won?
Who bought this? Whose phone rang?
Compare

Who owns this bag? Who is the subject of the sentence and this bag is the object. We use no
auxiliary verb.
Who do you love Who is the object of the sentence and you is the subject. We use the auxiliary
most? verb do.

 What happened to Peter?

A bad accident happened to him today.

 Who won the game?

Tio won the game.

 Who gave you this present?

My cousin gave me this present.

Responding to wh-questions

1. What

 What is it?
It’s a table.
 What color is your dress?
It’s purple.
 What is your mom doing?
She’s cooking in the kitchen.
 What do you think about the party?
Well. It’s fun. I like the music best.
 What will happen if our team loses this time?
We’ll be out of the game.

2. When

 When will the train arrive?

The train will arrive in 30 minutes.
 When does she get up?
She gets up at 6 am.
 When did the party end?
It ended before 8 pm.
 When are you going to visit James?
I’m going to see him tomorrow.

3. Where

 Where do you live?

I live in Washington D.C.
 Where are you going?
I’m going to the zoo.
 Where’s the coffee bar?
It’s between the supermarket and the cinema.
 Where did you leave my jacket?
I left it in my bedroom.
 Where have you been?
I’ve been in the library reading books.

4. Who

 Who’s this?
She’s my new roommate.
 Who wants to be a scientist in the future?
My sister does. I don’t.
 Who would you like to travel with?
I would like to travel with my best friend, Kim.
 Who told you that secret?
Jenny did. She told me everything.
 Who do you like the most in this class?
I like Henry. He’s so friendly.

5. Whom

 Whom should we talk to?

We should talk to the principal. She’s responsible for student issues.
 Whom did you see yesterday?
 I saw Kevin and his girlfriend.
 Whom would you like to interview?
I would like to interview Mr.Patrick, the director.
 Whom do we have to contact?
We have to contact the representative of that company.
 Whom did you meet in front of the building last week?
That was Annie, my secretary.
 Whom do you know in this class?
I only know Danny.
 Whom are you going to invite?
I’m going to invite all of my classmates
 With whom do you agree?
I agree with Henry’s team.

6. Which

 Which shirt do you like?

I like the one with the big yellow star on it.
 Which color do you choose?
I choose red.
 Which part do you like the most in this story?
I love the 2nd part when the prince came and proposed to the princess.
 Which is the longest river in the world?
That’s the Nile.
 Which one is yours?
Mine is the biggest one.

7. Whose

 Whose jacket is this?

It’s my mom’s.
 Whose birthday is today?
It’s Jenny’s.
 Whose pencil is on the floor?
That’s mine.
 Whose team is better?
Will’s team is much better.

8. Why

 Why don’t we visit him now?

It’s a good idea.
 Why did you leave so early?
Because I didn’t enjoy the party.
 Why do you think that he loves you?
Because he’s given me lots of chocolate on Valentine’s day.
 Why do people celebrate Thanksgiving?
Because it’s a special day.
 Why can’t I go to the cinema now?
Because you haven’t done your homework.
 Why are you so late?
Sorry, teacher. I missed the bus.

9. How

 How’s the weather?

It’s sunny and hot.
 How do you feel?
I feel much better now.
 How did you know him?
We were old friends.
 How’s your new job?
It’s interesting. I enjoy it.
 How often do you go to the movie theater?
I sometimes go there. I’m quite busy.
 How far is it from your house to school?
Not too far. I walk to school every day.
 How much did it cost?
It cost $4.
 How many people are there in your class?
 There are 30 of them.
 How come you lost the game?
I couldn’t answer the first question well enough.

Adding emphasis to wh-questions

We can add emphasis to wh-questions in speaking by stressing the auxiliary verb do. We usually
do this when we have not already received the information that we expected from an earlier
question, or to show strong interest.
When the wh-word is the object of the sentence, the do auxiliary is stressed to make it more
emphatic:
A: How was your weekend in Edinburgh?
B: I didn’t go to Edinburgh.
A: Really. Where did you go?
B: We decided to go to Glasgow instead.

When the wh-word is the subject of the sentence, we can add the auxiliary do to make it
emphatic. We stress do:
A: Ronald Price lives in that house, doesn’t he?
B: No. He moved out.
A: So who does live there? (non-emphatic question: So who lives there?)
B: Actually, his son is living there now.

Negative wh-questions
When we ask negative wh-questions, we use the auxiliary verb do when there is no other
auxiliary or modal verb, even when the wh-word is the subject of the clause:
Affirmative with no Negative with auxiliary do
auxiliary
Who wants an ice cream? Who doesn’t want an ice
cream?
Which door opened? Which door didn’t open?

Adding a wh-word at the end of a statement to make a question

Spoken English:

In speaking, we can sometimes turn wh-questions into statement questions:

What’s today’s date? or Today’s date is what?
We do this especially when we are checking information that we have already been given or
when we want to quickly check a particular detail. These are less formal than full wh-questions:
A:So we’re all going to be there at eight?
B:Right, I’m travelling with Larry.
A:You’re travelling with who? (more formal: Who are you travelling with?)
B:With Larry. We’re actually going on our bikes.
A:Is your sister here too or just your mother?
B:Just my mother.
A:And she’s here until when? (more formal: And when is she here until? or even more formal: Until
when is she here?)

Intonation and wh-questions

The intonation of wh-questions is normally falling. The falling intonation is on the most
important syllable:
Where are the keys to the back do↘or?
Why are the lights re↘d?
When we ask wh-questions to check or clarify information that has already been given, we may
use rising or fall-rising intonation:
Wh↗at did you say the time was? (I know you’ve told me before but I’ve forgotten.)
Wh↘o p↗aid for the meal?

Prepositions and particles with wh-questions

We can use wh-words and phrases after prepositions in more formal questions:
Where will the money come from?
From where will the money come? (formal)
Spoken English:

In informal styles, especially in speaking, the preposition may be separated and placed at the end
of the question clause:
What will I talk to her about?
Who should we send the invitation to? (informal)
Whom should we send the invitation to? (formal)
To whom should we send the invitation? (more formal)
For what reason did she leave him? (formal: preposition + wh-phrase)
When we make questions shorter, we usually put the preposition and its complement together:
A:We’re all meeting up tonight.
B:At what time?

Not: What time at?