Asking Questions in English (Full Information)

First of all, some necessary information:

SUBJECT	VERB	OBJECT
Paul	works	in an office
I	love	pizza

Subject: this is the main topic of the sentence

Verb: the action word

Object: who or what is affected by the action word

Subject / Object Questions:

Using the auxiliary verbs: do / does (present simple tense). Also: did is used in the simple tense) depends on whether you ask a subject or an object question:

Object questions:

Object questions ask for information about the object of the sentence. The Present Simple verb uses and starts a sentence with do or does for object questions.

NOTE: you can use the Present Simple Verb to talk about permanent situations and things that happen regularly or all of the time.

For example:

Do you like living in London? (Living in London is the object)

Does Mike work in the same office as you? (In the same office as you is the object)

You can also start a question with why and then use do or does. Here do or does is in the negative (negative is not). For example:

Why don’t you want to eat? Why doesn’t this machine make a noise? She doesn’t think (she does not think). why don’t you eat at home?

Subject questions:

Subject questions use the verb to be and these questions are about the subject. for example: Mike / his name / my glasses. A subject question asks for information about the subject of the sentence. For example:

Are you coming to the cinema?

Who lives in a blue house?

In English you find different types of questions:

How is also used as a wh question: How many books do you have? The questions above use an auxiliary verb: do or does (for the present tense) or did for the past tense. Also, wh questions often use the auxiliary verbs; do, does, did.

Wh questions: Where do you live? What’s your name? Who are your favourite singers? How does Irene get to work? Did you get the letter?

Yes / no questions: Does Irene go to work by bus? Is your surname Jones? Do you live in Newcastle? (these are the questions you ask to get the answer yes or no).

Past Simple Verbs. How to use them for questions:

The Past Simple Verb changes the main verb in a sentence to an irregular verb. But irregular verbs (which end in ed) often change to the past tense without the ed. For example: questions about the past use did. Note: some irregular verbs are auxiliaries and they also have irregular past tense forms. You can use the Past Simple Verb to talk about something that happened in the past which is finished. It started in the past and it finished in the past.

do become did (did is in the past)

have becomes had (had is in the past) but have is used for questions

be becomes was / were (use was or were for the past)

Examples:

did you see that video about robots. No, I was too busy

was the year 2000 a good year?

were you good at maths when you were at school?

did you like the cities in Australia?

The Present Continuous verb for questions: be + subject + verb: ing

You can put the auxiliary verbs: am, is, are, was, were, in front of the subject: I, we, they, you:

TO BE	SUBJECT	VERB + ING
is	she	talking
are	you	getting on alright
what	are	you doing

The form for the Present Continuous verb (not questions) is:

SUBJECT	BE	VERB + ING
he	is	coming
they	are	going
I	was	looking
we	were	waiting

wh questions

Pronouns:

who

whom

what

which

whose

Adverbs:

how

why

where

when

How to form wh questions:

If the wh word is not (part of) the subject, you place the auxiliary verb or be in front of the subject (this is inversion)

SUBJECT	VERB	OBJECT	ADVERBIAL
who	eats	pasta	regularly

OBJECT	AUXILIARY	SUBJECT	VERB	ADVERBIAL
what	does	John	drink	usually

ADVERBIAL	AUXILIARY	SUBJECT	VERB	OBJECT
how often	does	he	run	the marathon

It’s necessary to answer wh questions with information. It is not correct to say just yes or no!

Example: Why did the plants die? Answer: because they didn’t get enough water

Examples of using wh words:

Which asks you to make a choice from a given amount of possibilities. Also, which is often followed by of

Example: which of these books would you like? Which asks you to make a choice. However, if the possibilities available are obvious then you don’t need of. For example: Which house did you buy? Which shoes might be comfortable? (this refers to cars everywhere). But; which of the shoes refers to a limited choice of shoes.

NOTE: which often goes before a noun. For example: which house did you buy? which book should I buy? which carpet is best? which ice cream has the best flavour?

What. This word is often used to ask for specific information about things or objects. For example: what are you looking for? What time is your session booked for? What are you going to buy for his birthday? What is the best car in the world? What often goes before a noun: what + noun.

More examples:

What time is it? What colour is her hair really? What job does he do? What would you like to drink?

Who asks about a person. For example: who was his first wife? Who’s that (who is that)?

When introduces questions about time. When usually means: (at) what time? For example: When did you go to London? When is it time for the security check? When will he ever learn? When did you leave?

Where (adverb). Where is a wh word which asks questions about a place. For example: where’s my raincoat (where is my raincoat)? Where are you going? Where do you come from?

Why (adverb). If you want to know a reason or cause. For example: Why did the plants die? Why does it always seem to rain on a Monday? Why are you always late?

Whose. If you want to identify (find out) the person who is the owner of something. For example: Whose camera is this? Whose sock is this? Whose car was the fastest during the race?

How (adverb). If you want to ask a question about how or the way or manner in which something happens or is done? For example: How did you manage to keep going? How did it happen? Or: If you want to ask about a length of time: How long are you staying in Scotland? How often do you drink coffee? Or: the degree or extent: How old are your sons? Or: if you want to ask about the degree or quantity: How many books do we have? How much do I owe you?