Virtuous English AcademyWh- Questions: Question Words in English (A1)
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Wh- questions begin with question words such as who, what, where, when, why and how, and ask for information rather than a yes or no answer. This lesson shows you how to form them correctly and choose the right question word.
Wh- questions ask for information rather than a simple yes or no. They begin with a question word — what, where, when, who, why, which, whose, how — and they expect a real answer: Where do you live? In Madrid. These questions are how conversations actually move forward, which makes them essential from your very first week of English.
The structure is more rigid than in many languages. English puts the question word first, then an auxiliary verb, then the subject, then the main verb. That auxiliary — do, does, did, is, are, can — is compulsory, and forgetting it produces the single most recognisable A1 question error: Where you live? instead of Where do you live?
There is one important exception. When the question word is itself the subject of the sentence, no auxiliary is used and the word order stays exactly as in a statement. Who called you? keeps its normal shape, while Who did you call? needs the auxiliary because there you is the subject. Recognising which of the two you are asking is the key skill in this lesson.
How to form Wh- Questions: Question Words
| Question word | Asks about | Example |
|---|---|---|
| what | a thing or an action | What do you want? |
| where | a place | Where does she work? |
| when | a time | When did they arrive? |
| who | a person | Who is your teacher? |
| why | a reason | Why are you laughing? |
| which | a choice from a limited set | Which bus goes to the station? |
| whose | an owner | Whose jacket is this? |
| how | a manner or method | How do you get to work? |
Wh- Questions: Question Words: the key rules
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The main question words are what, where, when, who, why, which, whose, and how.
What is your name? Where do you live?
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Word order is: question word + auxiliary + subject + verb.
Where does she work? Why did they leave?
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With the verb be, no extra auxiliary is needed — just invert.
Where is the station? Who are they?
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How combines with adjectives and quantities: how old, how much, how many, how often.
How much is this jacket? How often do you exercise?
When to use Wh- Questions: Question Words
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Getting personal information
The foundation of every introduction and every form you will ever fill in.
Where are you from? What do you do? When is your birthday?
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Asking for directions and practical help
The questions you need most in a new city, all built on the same auxiliary pattern.
Where is the nearest bank? How do I get to the airport?
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Asking about quantity, price and time with how
How combines with other words to ask very specific questions — a highly productive pattern.
How much is it? How many people are coming? How long does it take?
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Showing interest in a conversation
Follow-up wh- questions keep a conversation alive far better than yes/no questions do.
Why did you choose that city? What was it like?
Subject questions vs. object questions
This distinction explains why some wh- questions need do or did and others do not. It is the most useful thing you can learn about English questions.
Subject question — no auxiliary
The question word is the one doing the action, so the word order stays the same as a statement.
Who broke the window? What happened yesterday?
Object question — auxiliary required
Someone else is doing the action, so you must add do, does or did and use the base verb.
Who did you meet? What did she say?
Wh- Questions: Question Words in example sentences
- What time does the film start?does + subject + base verb — never starts here.
- Where did you buy those shoes?did carries the past, so buy stays in its base form.
- Who lives in the flat upstairs?Subject question — no auxiliary, and the verb keeps its -s.
- Why are you studying English?With be, the verb itself moves in front of the subject.
- Which colour do you prefer?which is used when the choice is from a limited set.
- Whose keys are these on the table?whose asks about the owner; note the plural verb with these.
- How much does a ticket cost?how + much for an uncountable amount or a price.
- How many brothers do you have?how + many for countable things.
Wh- Questions: Question Words in a real conversation
Track the auxiliaries — every object question has one, and the single subject question does not.
Interviewer:Where do you live at the moment?
Candidate:In Bristol. I moved there last year.
Interviewer:Why did you choose Bristol?
Candidate:My sister lives there, and the work is interesting.
Interviewer:Who recommended this position to you?
Candidate:A former colleague. How long is the training period?
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
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Where you live?
Where do you live?
Wh- questions in the present simple need the auxiliary do/does.
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What means this word?
What does this word mean?
The auxiliary does carries the question; the main verb returns to its base form.
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How many money do you have?
How much money do you have?
Money is uncountable, so it takes how much, not how many.
Practice questions
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"___ is your favourite teacher?" — "Mr. Green is."WhatWhoWhere
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"___ is your school?" — "It is near the park."WhenWhoWhere
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"___ do you eat for lunch?" — "I eat a sandwich."WhoWhatWhere
Practise Wh- Questions: Question Words today
Question formation improves fastest when you build questions for answers you already have.
- Write eight questions you would ask a new classmate, using a different wh- word each time.
- Fix these: Where you work? — What she said? — Why he is late?
- Write the question for each answer: I live in Lisbon. / Because it was raining. / Tom did.
- Identify which of your questions are subject questions and check they have no auxiliary.
Wh- Questions: Question Words: frequently asked questions
Why is it Where do you live and not Where you live?
English needs an auxiliary verb to form a question with an ordinary main verb, and do is that auxiliary in the present simple. Without it you have produced a statement with a question word attached, which English does not accept. Compare the pair: You live in Rome is the statement, and Where do you live? is the question. Many languages form questions by intonation alone, so this is one of the habits that takes deliberate practice.
When do I use who and when do I use whom?
Who is the subject form and whom is the object form: Who called? versus To whom did you speak? In modern English whom has almost disappeared from speech and is rare in ordinary writing, surviving mainly after a preposition — to whom, for whom, with whom. Using who in every position is completely acceptable today, and using whom incorrectly sounds worse than not using it at all.
What is the difference between what and which?
Which is used when the choice comes from a limited, known set, and what when the field is open. Which platform does the train leave from? assumes a station with a fixed number of platforms. What music do you like? leaves the possibilities unlimited. In practice the boundary is soft and native speakers often use what where which would be equally correct, but the reverse — using which for a genuinely open question — sounds wrong.
Why does the verb keep its -s in Who lives here?
Because this is a subject question: who is the person doing the living, so the sentence keeps ordinary statement word order and the verb takes the normal third-person -s. No auxiliary is added. Contrast it with Who do you live with?, where you is the subject and who is the object, so do appears and live returns to its base form. Ask yourself whether the wh- word is doing the action — if it is, no auxiliary.