'Wh'-questions

4.17 When you ask someone a 'wh'-question, you want them to specify a particular person, thing, place, reason, method, or amount. You do not expect them to answer 'yes' or 'no'.

'wh'-words 4.18 'Wh'-questions begin with a 'wh'-word.

'Wh'-words are a set of pronouns, adverbs, and determiners which all, with the exception of 'how', begin with 'wh-'. Here is a list of the main 'wh'-words:

how what when

where which who

whom whose why

'Wh'-word as subject 4.19 When a 'wh'-word is the subject of a verb, or when it forms part of the subject, the word order of the clause is the same as that of a clause in the declarative mood, i.e. the subject is put first, followed by the verb.

Who invited you?

And then what happened?

Which mattress is best?

'wh'-word as object or adverb 4.20 When a 'wh'-word is the object of a verb or preposition, or when it forms part of the object, or when it is an adverb, the position of the subject is the usual one in the interrogative mood; that is it comes after the first verb in the clause.

What am I going to do without you?

Which graph are you going to use?

Why has Cherubini written this?

When would you be coming down?

If you are using the simple present tense or the simple past tense of any verb except 'be', you put 'do', 'does', or 'did' in front of the subject.

What do you really think?

Which department do you want?

Where does she live?

How do you know what it's like?

When did you last see John Cartwright?

If you are using the simple present tense or the simple past tense of 'be', the main verb goes in front of the subject. You do not use 'do', 'does', or 'did'.

Where is the station?

How was your meeting?

When was the last time you cleaned the garage?

4.21 In conversation, a 'wh'-question sometimes consists of a 'wh'-word on its own. For example, if you say to someone 'I'm learning to type', they might say 'Why?', meaning 'Why are you learning to type?'.

'He saw a snake.'—'Where?'

'I have to go to Germany.'—'When?'

'I knew you were landing today.'—'How?'

A 'wh'-question can also consist of a noun group containing a 'wh'-word. For example, if you say to someone 'I gave your book to that girl', they might say 'Which girl?', meaning 'Which girl did you give my book to?'.

'He knew my cousin.'—'Which cousin?'

'Who was your friend?'—'What friend?'

4.22 The pronoun 'who' is used to ask questions about a person's identity. 'Who' can be the subject or object of a verb.

Who discovered this?

Who were her friends?

Who are you expecting?

Who did he marry?

In more formal English, 'whom' is sometimes used instead of 'who' as the object of a verb.

Whom shall we call?

Whom did you see?

'Who' and 'whom' can also be the object of a preposition. When 'who' is the object of a preposition, the preposition is put at the end of the clause.

Who did you dance with?

Who do I pay this to?

When 'whom' is the object of a preposition, the preposition is put at the beginning of the clause, in front of 'whom'.

For whom were they supposed to do it?

To whom is a broadcaster responsible?

4.23 'Whose' is used as a determiner or pronoun to ask which person something belongs to or is associated with.

Whose babies did you think they were?

Whose body was it?

Whose is that?

4.24 'Which' is used as a pronoun or determiner to ask someone to identify a specific person or thing out of a number of people or things.

Which is the best restaurant?

Which is her room?

Which do you like best?

Which doctor do you want to see?

When 'which' is a determiner, it can be part of the object of a preposition. The preposition is usually put at the end of the question.

Which station did you come from?

Which land will they have passed over?

'when' and 'where' 4.25 'When' is used to ask questions about the time something happened, happens, or will happen.

When did you find her?

When do we have supper?

Ginny, when are you coming home?

'Where' is used to ask questions about place, position, or direction.

Where does she live?

Where are you going?

Where do you go to complain?

'why' 4.26 'Why' is used to ask a question about the reason for something.

Why are you here?

Why does Amy want to go and see his grave?

Why does she treat me like that when we're such old friends?

'Why' is sometimes used without a subject and with the base form of a verb, usually to ask why an action is or was necessary.

Why wake me up?

Why bother about me?

Why make a point of it?

'Why not' can be used with the base form of a verb, in order to make a suggestion or to ask why a particular action has not been taken.

Why not end it now?

Why not read a book?

If it was Haldeman, then why not say so?

'how' 4.27 'How' is usually used to ask about the method used for doing something, or about the way in which something can be achieved.

How do we open it?

How are you going to get that?

How could he explain it to her?

How did he know when you were coming?

'How' is also used to ask questions about the way a person feels, about the way someone or something looks, or about the way something sounds, feels, or tastes.

How are you feeling today?

'How do I look?'—'Very nice.'

How did you feel when you stood up in front of the class?

'how' with other words 4.28 'How' can be combined with other words at the beginning of questions.

'How many' and 'how much' are used to ask what number of things there are or what amount of something there is.

'How many' is followed by a plural count noun.

How many people are there?

How many languages can you speak?

How many times have you been?

'How much' is followed by an uncount noun.

How much money have we got in the bank?

Just how much time have you been devoting to this?

'How many' and 'how much' can be used without a following noun when you do not need to make it clear what sort of thing you are talking about.

How many did you find?

How much did he tell you?

How much does it cost?

How much do they really understand?

'How long' is used to ask about the length of a period of time.

How long have you lived here?

How long will it take?

How long can she live like this?

How long ago was that?

'How long' is also used to ask questions about distance, although this use is less common.

How long is the side of that triangle there?

'How far' is used in questions about distance and extent.

How far can we see?

How far is it to Montreal from here?

How far have you got with your homework?

You can combine 'how' with an adjective when you are asking to what extent something has a particular quality or feature.

How big's your overdraft at the moment?

How old are your children?

4.29 'What' can be a pronoun or determiner, or it can be used in combination with 'if' or 'for'.

'What' is used as a pronoun to find out various kinds of specific information, for example details of an event, the meaning of a word or expression, or the reason for something.

What's wrong with his mother?

What has happened to him?

What is the Cup Final?

What keeps you hanging around here?

'What' can be used to ask someone's opinion of something.

What do you think about the present political situation?

'What' is often used as the object of a preposition. The preposition usually goes at the end of the question.

What are you interested in?

What did he die of?

What do you want to talk about?

'What' is used as a determiner to find out the identity of something or to ask what kind of thing it is.

What books does she read?

What church did you say you attend?

'What if' goes in front of a clause in the declarative mood. It is used to ask what should be done if a particular difficulty occurs.

What if it's really bad weather?

What if they didn't want to part with it, what would you do then?

You put 'what' at the beginning of a question and 'for' at the end of it when you want to know the reason for something or the purpose of something. 'What are you staring for?' means the same as 'Why are you staring?'. 'What is this handle for?' means 'What is the purpose of this handle?'.

What are you going for?

What are those lights for?

'What' can also be used in combination with 'about' or 'of'. This use is explained in paragraph 4.41.

'whatever', 'wherever', and 'whoever' 4.30 If you want a question to sound more emphatic, you can use 'whatever' instead of 'what', 'wherever' instead of 'where', or 'whoever' instead of 'who'.

Whatever is the matter?

Wherever did you get this?

Whoever heard of a bishop resigning?