WH-questions

There are two main types of questions: Yes/No questions and WH- question. WH-questions are
questions starting with WH-words including: what, when, where, who, whom, which, whose,
why and how.

Question
Usages Examples
words
- What are you doing?
What Used to ask about things
- What do you think about the movie?
- When will the meeting start?
When Used to ask about time
- When are you leaving?
- Where is my bag?
Where Used to ask about places
- Where do you live?
- Who do you love the most in your family?
Who Used to ask about people
- Who told you that story?
- Whom did you see in the morning? I saw Mr.
Mark, my English teacher.
Used to ask about people
Whom
(object of verb)
- Whom was Jim talking to? He was talking to Jack,
his new roommate.
- Which one do you choose? The left or right?

Which Used to ask about choices - Of all the drinks in the menu, Which one would
you like?
Which jacket do you want to buy?
Whose - Whose pencil is this? Is it yours?
Used to ask about possession
- Whose books are these?
- Why did it happen? I didn’t understand.
Used to ask about reasons/
Why
causes
- Why is he crying?
- How can you explain this problem? Please tell us.
Used to ask about manner/
How
process
- How can you get here?
I. How to form WH-questions?

1. with an auxiliary

WH-WORD + AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB …?

 Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs (not main verbs).

Common auxiliary verbs include be, do, have. Others are will, shall, would, can, could, must,
should, may, might, etc.

 What do you do for a living?

 Why should we read books?
 When is she coming?

2. without any auxiliary

(when WH-words replace subjects already)

WH-WORD + MAIN VERB …?

 What happened to Peter?

A bad accident happened to Peter.

 Who won the game?

Tim won the game.

 Who gave you this present?

My cousin gave me this present.

II. Responding to WH-questions

1. What

1. It is a table.

What is it?

There is a pen in the box.

 What is in the box?

 2. The colour of my dress is purple.

3. She is cooking in the kitchen.

What is she doing?

Mark regularly works in his garden.

What does Mark regularly do?

2. When

1. The train will arrive in 30 minutes.

When will the train arrive?

2. She gets up at 6am.

When does she get up?

3. The party ended before 8pm.

When did the party end?

4. He is going to see them tomorrow.

When is he going to see them?

3. Where

1. You live in Washington D.C.

Where do you live?

2. You are going to the zoo.

Where are you going?

3. The coffee shop is beside the cinema.

Where is the coffee shop?

 4. He left the jacket in his bedroom.

Where did he leave his jacket?

5. You have been in the library reading books.

Where have you been?

9. How

He left the room in a hurry.

How did he leave the room?

He runs fast.

How does he run?

1. The weather is sunny and hot.

How is the weather?

2. You feel much better now.

How do you feel?

3. His new job is interesting.

How is his new job?

4. I sometimes go to the movie theatre.

How often do you go to the movie theater?

5. He has been waiting for three hours.

How long has he been waiting?

6. There are 30 people in my class.

How many people are there in your class?

4. Who

1. He is my new roommate.
 Who is he?

2. My sister wants to be a scientist in the future.

Who wants to be a scientist in the future?

3. I would like to travel with my best friend, Kim.

Who would you like to travel with?

4. Jenny told me that secret.

Who told me that secret?

5. Whom

1. We should talk to the principal.

Whom should we talk to?

2. I saw Kevin and his friend.

Whom did I see yesterday?

3. He would like to interview Mr.Patrick, the director.

Whom would he like to interview?

4. I agree with Henry’s team.

With whom do I agree?

6. Which

1. I like the yellow shirt.

Which shirt do I like?

2. I choose the colour red.

Which color do you choose?

7. Whose

1.It is my mom’s pen.

 Whose pen is this?

2. It is Jenny’s birthday today.

Whose birthday is today?

3. Will’s team is much better.

Whose team is much better?

4. Our team is much better.

Whose team is..?

8. Why

1. He left early because he did not enjoy the party.

Why did he leave early?

2. You can’t go to the cinema because you haven’t done your homework.

Why can’t you go to the cinema?

3.He is late because he missed the bus.

Why is he late?

Wh Questions Test

Choose the correct wh-word.

1.…….. did you see earlier today?

I saw James, the new football player.

Who
Which
How
2……….. did you do last weekend?

I watched movies and played hockey.

Who
What
Whom

3………… will you leave?

After the meeting.

Who
Whom
When

4…………… is David?

He’s still fine. Thanks for asking.

Who
Whom
How

5………….. ball is this?

It’s Nick’s.

Who
Whose
Whom

6……………. gave you this present?

That was my friend, Harry.

Who
Whom
Whose
7……………. did he not come?

He was busy all day.

How
Why
When

8……….. suitcase is mine?

The blue one. The other is Jane’s.

Who
Whose
Which

9……….. long did it take to make such a big cake?

It took 2 hours.

What
When
How

10………… was the weather like on Monday?

It was raining a lot.

How
When
What

2. Make Wh-questions for each of the following answers. Each question should be formed
based on the underlined words:

1. Tom is at the door.

Who is at….?
2. He has been waiting since morning.

3. They have been living here for 10 years.

4. He finished the work in the morning.

5. She told us to be
quiet.

They have broken the window.

5. She arrives at 10:30.

6. He has gone to Montreal to meet his friends.

He practices yoga everyday.

7. The key was in the

car.

Where was the key?

8. We went to the bank.

9. I could not call as I had lost my cell phone.

10. He should do his work.

11. She is reading the newspaper.

12. He walks slowly.
13. They have gone to Japan.
14. He visited us yesterday.
15. I live in Seaborn Street.

2. Make wh-questions for each of the following answers. Each question should be formed based on
the underlined words:
1x05=05

a) Asif lived in that house.

b) There is a parcel at the door.
c) The plane will arrive in an hour.
d) My brother’s keys were on the kitchen counter.
e) Ryan is going out to buy some snacks.