| 1. WH-question |
| Where |
à ask about places. |
Where is he? At home. |
| When |
à ask about times and dates. |
When will you phone? At 6 o'clock |
| Why |
à ask about a reason. |
Why are they leaving? They are tired. |
| How |
à ask in what way. |
How will she get here? By taxi. |
| Who |
à ask about people |
Who are you going to visit? My sister. |
What
|
à ask about things
(many possible answers). |
What's your father's job?
He's a dentist. |
Which
|
à ask about things
(small number of possible answers). |
Which finger did you break?
My ring finger. |
| |
| 2. Word order |
| Most wh-questions begin with a question word + an auxiliary verb + the subject |
| Question word |
Auxiliary |
Subject |
Verb |
|
|
| What |
is |
Brian |
doing? |
|
|
| Where |
have |
you |
put |
the book? |
|
| When |
can |
we |
travel |
safely? |
|
| How |
does |
the radio |
work? |
|
|
|
Who and What can be the subject of a question. Some examples:
- Who rang you? (someone rang you)
- Who is helping you? someone is helping you) |
| |
| 3. Prepositions with wh-questions |
Prepositions (to, about, with, from, ...) usually go at the end. Here are some examples:
- Where are you from?
- Who do these books belong to?
- What are you talking about?
- Who are you going with? |