WH questions (interrogative pronouns)

Introduction and form

When we make a question we put the auxiliary (helping) verb before the subject.

Positive:

Carl	likes	chocolate.
Subject	verb	object

question:

Does	Carl	like	chocolate?
Auxiliary verb	Subject	verb	object

Examples:

Tense	Auxiliary verb	Subject	Main verb	Complement
Present simple	Do	I / you / we / they	watch	television every day?
Present simple	Does	he / she / it	watch	television every day?
Past simple	Did	I / you / he / she / it / we / they	watch	television last night?
Present perfect	Have	I / you / we / they	watched	television yet?
Present perfect	Has	he / she / it	watched	television yet?
present continuous	Am	I	watching	television
	Is	he / she / it
	Are	you / we / they
Past continuous	Was	I / he / she / it	watching	television?
Past continuous	Were	you / we / they	watching	television?
"be going to"	Am	I	going to watch	television?
	Is	he / she / it
	Are	you / we / they
Future simple	Will	I / you / he / she / it / we / they	watch	television?

When the verb "be" is the main verb, we do not need an auxiliary verb, for example:

Are you an accountant?
Was he tired?
Am I late?
Were they at home?

Practice

Complete the questions with the correct verb:
.

1)

you going to the party tomorrow?

2)

he ever been to Italy?

3)

they climb Everest last year?

4)

Where you yesterday?

Sometimes we need to use an interrogative pronoun, or question word, at the beginning of a question:

What
When
Where
Why
Who
Which
Whose
How

The interrogative pronoun represents the thing we are asking about - it is what we want to know.

Examples:

What time do you get up?	I get up at 6 a.m.
Where do you live?	I live in London.
How old is he?	He is 26 years old.
How often does he go shopping?	He goes once a month.
When did they leave?	They left yesterday.
How long have you lived here?	I've lived here for 4 years.
How far is London?	It's 400 miles from here.
Why are you sad?	I'm sad because it's a sad movie.
Who wrote that book?	Stephen King.

In simple tenses, we do not use the auxiliary verb do, does or did if the question word is the subject of the sentence:
"Who left the door open?" not "~~Who did leave the door open?~~"

Practice

Complete the questions with the correct question word:
.

1)

have you studied English? - For 5 years.

2)

were you born? - On 1st January 1955.

3)

did you study English? - At university.

4)

is that woman? - She's my sister.

Further practice

Complete the sentences with the correct answer from a, b, c or d:
.

1)

____ do you start your new job? - I start next week.

Why

When

Who

How

2)

____ ?

You have yet found your keys

You have found your keys yet

Have you found your keys yet

Found have you yet your keys

3)

____ do you have team meetings? - Twice a month.

How long

How old

How often

How far

4)

Is Amanda ____ a new job?

find

going to find

have found

going find

5)

____ the car ____ very fast?

Is / going travel

Were / travelling

Is / travel

Was / travelling

6)

____ in India?

Did married get your parents

Got your parents married

Your parents did get married

Did your parents get married

Intermediate level language point

Indirect Questions

Indirect questions are more polite than direct questions.

They are usually introduced by phrases such as:

Could you tell me…
Do you know…
Do you have any idea…

Example:

Could you tell me what time it is, please?
Do you know how to get to the bus station?
Do you have any idea how much the tickets are?

Note that the introductory phrase contains the question:

"Could you tell me ..." – the subject and auxiliary verb are inverted

The secondary phrase retains normal word order:

"Could you tell me what time it is, please?" not - "~~Could you tell me what time is it, please?~~"

Tag Questions

Tag questions come at the end of a positive sentence and, depending on intonation, are usually used to ask for confirmation of what we are saying, or to encourage agreement with what we are saying.

Tag questions are made using the auxiliary verb and the subject: