Wh Questions
What are WH Questions?
Questions are used to find out about something.
There are two types of questions in English. One is called Yes/No questions and
the other is called wh questions. Yes/No questions can be
answered with Yes or No. To make Yes/No questions, we use auxiliaries at the
beginning of the sentence. To make wh questions, we use wh question words at the beginning of the sentence.
Wh questions are also called information questions. They are used to get information about something, place, time, manner, etc. The question words that are used in wh questions begin with ‘w’ and ‘h’ except how; therefore, they are known as wh questions.
Overview of wh questions
Definitions of wh questions with examples
What
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about something.
Ex:
- What is your name?
- What are you doing right now?
- What are you looking for?
Where
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about a place.
Ex:
- Where are you from?
- Where do you live?
- Where is she going?
- Where is Ali?
When
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about time.
Ex:
- When is your English paper?
- When did she call you about me?
- When will you get up tomorrow?
Why
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about the reason for something.
Ex:
- Why do you come late every day?
- Why did you call them for help?
- Why has she come to the party without an invitation?
Who
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about someone.
Ex:
- Who are you?
- Who is Ali to you?
- Who is calling you?
- Who is plucking the flowers?
Whose
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about the ownership of someone.
Ex:
- Whose car is that?
- Whose wifi network do you use?
- Whose speeches do you listen to?
Whom
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about someone in an objective case.
Ex:
- Whom did you call?
- Whom are they talking about?
- Whom do you want to invite to the party?
Which
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about choices.
Ex:
- Which color do you like?
- Which book have you studied recently?
- Which subject is she teaching you now?
How
It is a wh-question or information question.
We use it to get information about manner or condition.
Ex:
- How does this work?
- How do you drive?
- How was your weekend?
We ask questions with how + adjective/adverb
to show degree or extent.
1. "How far" is used for distance.
Ex:
- How far is it to Karachi?
- How far is Islamabad from Peshawar?
2. We use how long for time or space.
Ex:
- How long did it take from Peshawar to Islamabad?
- How long will it take?
3. We use how many for quantity(countable).
Ex:
- How many friends do you have in your contacts?
- How many cars are there in the parking lot?
4. How much is used for quantity (uncountable).
Ex:
- How much is it?
- How much does this blue shirt cost?
5. We use how old for age.
Ex:
- How old are you?
- When you were in grade 3, how old were you?
6. "How often" is used for asking about the repetition
or frequency of happening an action. We answer with once, twice, three
times, several times, a couple of times, usually or seldom, etc.
Ex:
- How often do you visit your grandparents?
Once a week.
Usually.
7. We also use some other adjectives/adverbs
with how to ask about the degree of that adjective/adverb.
Ex:
- How deep is this lake?
- How sharp is this knife?
WH Questions’ Forms
W+X+S+V
Wh Question word + auxiliary + subject + verb ………
To form the wh question, we use the wh question word at the beginning.
Secondly, we use an auxiliary verb according to the verb tense
in which we want to ask. The auxiliary is followed by a subject and the subject is
followed by a verb. The Form of the verb is used according to the verb tense.
- What did you eat at the party?
- Where has she parked the car?
- Why do you engage yourself in such useless activities?
Subject + Verb
Remember that what, who, which, or whose can be used as a
subject or a part of the subject. In such a case, we use subject + verb to make
a wh question.
- Which team won the match?
- Who brought these from the market?
At the end of a statement
In spoken English, sometimes a question is turned into a statement question. When we want to check the given information or particular
detail, we use wh question in the concerned form.
- I live with my aunt.
- You live with who?
- Whom do you live with? (Formal)
- I live with my aunt.
Prepositions and particles with wh questions
Sometimes wh question words need to have prepositions or
particles to be used with them. In such a case, we use them before wh question words
in a formal way. Informally, we separate them and use prepositions or particles
at the end.
- From where will you arise the funds?
- Where will you arise the funds from?
- For what reason?
- In whose car?
- When do you get up?
- Up when you get? (Incorrect)
In Negative Sentences
As we know that we can make questions with wh question words in every tense. Similarly, we also use auxiliary according to that tense.
To make the wh question negative, we add not with an auxiliary verb. In some cases,
we can use not after subject.
- Who didn’t attend the party?
- Where don’t you want to go?
- Where do you not want to go?
- Which tense haven’t you studied well?
Why + don’t
When we use don’t with the wh question word ‘why’, it shows
suggestion. There is no difference in the meaning of these sentences.
- Why don’t we play?
- Let’s play.
Answers to wh questions
As we know that wh questions are also called information questions, so they are expected to be answered by giving information.
- What are you doing right now?
- I am doing my English homework.
- Where is she going?
- She is going to the shopping mall for shopping.
- When is your English paper?
- It is on next Monday.
- Why do you come late every day?
- Because I am far away.
- Who is Ali to you?
- He is my cousin.
- Whose car is that?
- That’s John’s car.
- Whom are they talking about?
- I think they are talking about us.
- Which color do you like?
- I like the red color but not all the time.
- How do you drive?
- I drive fast and carefully.
