Wh-Questions
There are two main types of questions: Yes/No questions and WH-question. WH-questions are questions starting with WH-words including: what, when, where, who, whom, which, whose, why and how.
Question words are used to ask about specific qualities, times, places, people and so on. Below is a list of question words and example sentences:
| Question words | Usages | Thing |
|---|---|---|
| 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 (object of verb) | Whom did you see in the morning? I saw 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/causes | Why did it happen? I didn’t understand. — Why is he crying? |
| How | Used to ask about manner/ process | How can you explain this problem? Please tell us — How can you get here? |
How to form WH-questions?
With an auxiliary
Nomenclature
Wh-word + Auxiliary + Subject + Main verb ...?
Note: Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs (not main verbs).
Note: Common auxiliary verbs include be, do, have. Others are will, shall, would, can, could, must, should, may, might, etc.
Examples
- What do you do for a living?
- Why should we read books?
- When is she coming?
With any auxiliary
When WH-words replace subjects already.
Wh-word + Main verb ...?
Examples
❓ 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 color is your dress? It’s purple.
2. When
When will the train arrive? The train will arrive in 30 minutes.
3. Where
Where do you live? I live in Washington D.C.
4. Who
Who’s this? She’s my new roommate.
5. Whom
Whom should we talk to? We should talk to the principal. She’s responsible for student issues.
6. Whom
Which shirt do you like? I like the one with the big yellow star on it.
7. Whose
Whose jacket is this? It’s my mom’s.
8. Why
Why do you think that he loves you? Because he’s given me lots of chocolate on Valentine’s day.
9. How
How’s the weather? It’s sunny and hot.
References
Tran, M. (2020, April 17). Wh Questions (Question Words). Basic English Speaking. https://basicenglishspeaking.com/wh-questions/