Wh questions

 

There are two main types of questions: Yes/No questions and WH- questions.

WH-questions are questions starting with WH- words including: where, when, why, what, who, whom, which, whose and how.

Let’s have a look at the different types of question words:

WHERE:

WHERE is used when asking about a place or location.

Examples:

• Where did you buy that book?
• Where were you born?
• Where are you going this weekend?

WHEN:

WHEN is used when asking about time, an occasion or a moment.

Examples:

• When will I see you again?
• When did they get married?
• When does your bus leave?

WHY:

WHY is used when asking for a reason or explanation.

Examples:

• Why are you always late?
• Why are you so fabulous?
• Why is the receptionist so shy?

WHY DON’T … is used for making a suggestion.

Examples:

• Why don’t we go play outside?
• Why don’t I help you with that?
• Why don’t you do something about it?

WHAT:

WHAT is used when asking information about a specific thing or object.

Examples:

• What is she wearing to the concert?
• What do we need to buy at the supermarket?
• What did the doctor say is wrong with you?

WHAT is also use when asking for a confirmation or repetition.

Examples:

• What did you say?
• What was that? Please repeat.
• What? Are you sure?

WHAT … FOR? Is used when asking for a reason, explanation or asking why.

Examples:

• What will you use the camera for?
• What is Sarah looking for?
• What did Ben ask for?

WHO:

WHO is used when asking about a person or people (often the subject of the answer)

Examples:

• Who is the best teacher in the world? Sally is the best teacher.
• Who should work harder? All the employees should work harder.
• Who will cook dinner tonight? My cousin will cook dinner tonight.

WHOM:

WHOM is used when asking about a person or people (the object of the answer)

Examples:

• Whom are they going to visit? They are going to visit their grandparents.
• Whom is she looking after? She is looking for the nurse.
• Whom did you see at the party last night? I saw Jane at the party last night.

WHICH:

WHICH is used when asking about a choice or decision between different alternatives or options.

Examples:

• Which restaurant did you eat at?
• Which colour do you prefer – red or blue?
• Which house is yours, the big one or the small one?

WHOSE:

WHOSE is used when asking about ownership or who something belongs to.

Examples:

• Whose car is parked in my parking space?
• Whose money was that on the table?
• Whose house did you have the party at?

HOW:

HOW is used to ask about the way, manner, condition or quality.

Examples:

• How was the class yesterday?
• How did you go to the park without your car?
• How is the magician doing that?

HOW COME: (Informal) is informally used when asking why or asking for a reason.

Examples:

• How come Jack is the only person with blue eyes in his family?
• How come Karen didn’t complain about the bad service?

HOW + (ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB):

HOW + (Adjective or Adverb) is used to ask about different expressions or specific qualities of many different things.

Here are some examples:

• HOW MUCH (Uncountable Quantity)
• How much water is in the Mediterranean Sea?
• HOW MANY (Countable Quantity)
• How many brothers does your father have?
• HOW FAR (Distance)
• How far is the hotel from the beach?
• HOW LONG (Time Duration or Space)
• How long did you take to get home from work yesterday?
• HOW OLD (Age)
• How old was she when she got married?
• HOW OFTEN (Frequency)
• How often does he go to the theatre?

Ex.