Basic Grammar 6.

2
QUESTIONS INFORMATION QUESTIONS
These are some of the question words (Wh-words) we can use to ask questions. We put these
question words at the beginning of a question (except in the case of formal questions with
initial prepositions). Notice that all questions end with a question mark.

MEANINGS
What? (things)

What do your children eat for breakfast?

What? (actions)

What is Grace doing?

Who? (people/subject)

Who knows you?

Who / Whom? (people/object)

Where ? (places)
When ? (time)

Where is Patrick going?

When do they have classes?

What time? (hour)

What time does the show start?

What color? (color)

Why...? (reason)

What color are the walls?

Why are you late?

Whatfor? (reason)

What are you doing that for?

Whose...? (possession)
Which? (choice)
How...? (manner)

Who / Whom do you know?

Whose book is it?

Which bus do you usually take?

How does your father drive?

How + adjective / adverb ? (degree)

How + adverb? (intensity)
How old? (age)

How fast can you run?

How old are you?

How often? (frequency)

How many? (number)
How much? (price)

How often do you play tennis?

How many books do you have?

How much is it?

How much? (amount)

How much water does this hold?

What kind / type / sort of? (class)

What size? (size)

How big is that room?

What kind of movies are we going to rent?

What size shoes do you wear?

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Basic Grammar 6.2

USE
Unlike yes / no questions, in question words, the answers give information.
Examples:

Whats your name?

Its Carmen
Where are you from?
Im from Santiago.
How often do you have your guitar lessons?
Every other day.
Why are you here?
Because Im learning English.

FORM

Subject Questions with the verb BE

To ask about the subject with the verb BE, we use the following formula:
WH-WORD + BE + COMPLEMENT + ?
Who
What

is
is

in the living room ?

in the drawer
?

Notice that the verb in the question always goes in third person singular, and the answer can
be singular or plural.
Examples:

QUESTION

ANSWER

Who is at the door?

What is on the table?
Who was in the garden?

Jason is (at the door).

My books are (on the table).
The children were (in the garden).

Sometimes questions words go along with a noun, in which case the verb form goes according
to the noun, singular or plural.

WH-WORD (+ NOUN) + BE + COMPLEMENT + ?

Whose
book
is
on the desk
?
How many people
are at the conference
?

Examples:

QUESTION

ANSWER

Whose bike is at the door?

How many girls are here?
How much money is in the safe?

My sons bike is (at the door).

Only twelve girls are (here).
A lot of money is (in the safe).

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Basic Grammar 6.2

Object Questions with the verb BE
To ask about objects with the verb BE, we use the following formula:
WH-WORD + BE + SUBJECT + COMPLEMENT + ?
Who
What

is
that girl
are those things

on the floor

?
?

Notice that the verb in the question can be singular or plural according to the subject.
Examples:

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

Who is that man in the photo?

What is there on the desk?
Who are those over there?

Hes my uncle.
There is an old typewriter.
They are students.

Again, question words go along with a noun, in which case the verb form goes according to
the noun, singular or plural.

WH-WORD (+ NOUN) + BE + SUBJECT + COMPLEMENT + ?

Whose
book
is
that
on the desk
?
How many people
are
there
at the conference
?

Examples:

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

Whose cell phone is this?

How many pens are there?
Which shoes are those?

It is Georges.
There is only one.
Theyre my old ones.

Subject Questions with other verbs

To ask subject questions with other verbs, we use the following formula:
WH-WORD + VERB (PHRASE) + COMPLEMENT + ?
Who
What

knows
is going on

the answer

?
?

Notice that the verb in the question always goes in third person singular, and the answer can
be singular or plural.
Examples:

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

Who was working yesterday?

Who likes this game?
What is going to happen?

Paul was (working yesterday).

The children like it.
Nothing is going to happen.

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Basic Grammar 6.2

Sometimes questions words go along with a noun, in which case the verb form goes according
to the noun, singular or plural.
WH-WORD (+ NOUN) + VERB (PHRASE) + COMPLEMENT + ?
Whose
dog
has
the best trainer
?
How many
boys
are playing
?

Examples:

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

Whose son is playing the violin?

How many people are coming?
Which woman hates them?

My son is (playing it).

Around 20 people are (coming).
The tall one hates them.

Object Questions with other verbs

To ask about objects with other verbs, we use the following formula:
WH-WORD (+ NOUN) + AUX + SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT + ?
What
How much

Examples:

wine

do
are

you
they

eat
buying

for breakfast

?
?

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

What is she drinking?

Whose car do you like?
How much money can you get?

Shes having a coke.

I like Hanks.
We can get a thousand dollars.

We can use who or whom in the case of people. Who is preferred; whom is too formal:
(Normal case) Who do you like?
(Formal case) Whom do you like?

I like the first contestant.

I like the first contestant.

When we use who or whom with a preposition, we have three possibilities:

Very Formal Case:
PREPOSITION + WHOM + AUX + SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT + ?
For
From
Examples:

whom
whom

is
does

she
he

working
borrow

?
?

money

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

To whom are you writing?

With whom does she live?
For whom do you work?

Im writing to Karen.
She lives with her aunt.
I work for my uncle.

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Basic Grammar 6.2

Formal case:
WHOM + AUX + SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT + PREPOSITION + ?
Whom
Whom

is
does

Examples:

she
he

working
borrow

money

for
from

?
?

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

Whom are you writing to?

Whom does she live with?
Whom do you work for?

Im writing to Karen.
She lives with her aunt.
I work for my uncle.

Colloquial (Normal) Case:

WHO + AUX + SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT + PREPOSITION + ?
Who
Who

is
does

Examples:

she
he

working
borrow

for
from

money

?
?

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

Who are you writing to?

Who does she live with?
Who do you work for?

Im writing to Karen.
She lives with her aunt.
I work for my uncle.

Adverbial Questions

To ask about adverbs, we use the following formula:

WH-WORD (+ NOUN) + AUX + SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT + ?
Examples:

QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

Where does your son live?

When is she coming?
How well do you dance?
Why is he in bed?
What time does the show start?

He lives near my house.

Shes coming next week.
I dance fairly well.
Because he is terribly sick.
In a few minutes, sir.

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Basic Grammar 6.2

PRACTICE: INFORMATION QUESTIONS
I. Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list.
What Where When Whose Who How much How many How Which Why
1. ........Where..............is Paris?
2. ..................................is Christmas?
3. ..................................is the capital of Canada?
4. .................................is the best student in your class?
5. ..................................students are there in the classroom?
6. ..................................money do you spend on shopping?
7. ................................. car is Tom driving?
8. ..................................arent you in class today?
9. ................................. one is yours?
10. ................................are you feeling now?

II. Match the answers to the questions.

1. How old are you?
2. Where do you live?
3. When were you born?
4. How much does the soda cost?
5. Whose books are those?
6. How many bottles of water do we need?
7. When do you have guitar lessons?
8. Who likes computers?
9. What do you want?
10. Where is Berlin?
11. Who do you want to see?
12. Whose car is it?
13. Whos in the kitchen?
14. What color are the T-shirts?
15. Why are you studying in the yard?
16. When is the concert?
17. What time is the class?
18. What room are the paintings in?
19. What are the boys doing?
20. How old is Mr. Simmons?
21. Wheres the barbecue?
22. How many tennis players are there?

B 6.2 QUESTIONS Information Questions

......
......
......
......
..1..
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......
......

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
t.
u.
v.

I live in Orlando.
About 50 cents.
Three.
Its Alberts.
Im 34.
Some apples, please.
Theyre Bettys.
In 1974.
Its in Germany.
Miss Smith, please.
On Saturdays.
Dave does.
There are ten.
Its at Georges place.
I think hes 60.
Theyre watching TV.
Rose Mary is.
Theyre yellow.
Because Ann is playing in our room.
Its at 5:30.
Theyre in the Golden Room.
Its this evening.

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Basic Grammar 6.2

III. Fill in the blanks with question words.
1. ...........................is your name?

Its Barbara.

2. ...........................do you come from?

Berlin.

3. ...........................does he go shopping? On Saturdays.

4. ...........................is your father?

In the office.

5. ...........................is that over there?

Its my friend, Eddie.

6. ...........................friend are you?

Im Irinas friend.

7. ...........................bread is there?

A lot.

8. ...........................do you eat dinner?

At 8:30.

9. ...........................children are there?

Twenty.

10. ..........................is this?

Its an eraser.

IV. Write questions for these sentences. The underlined words are the
answers. Use the cues in parentheses.
1. She is reading a novel. (Marlene)
What is Marlene reading?
2. Its hiding under the bed. (the dog)
...................................................................
3. He can speak six languages. (Billy)
...................................................................
4. Veronica and Greg are coming. (to your party)
...................................................................
5. He is writing on the board. (Hank)
...................................................................
6. Shes taking a nap. (Mrs. Stevens)
...................................................................

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Basic Grammar 6.2

7. Im going to borrow Janes. (camera)
...................................................................
8. We get up at 6:00 oclock. (you and your brother)
...................................................................
9. Im going to wear the brown ones. (boots)
...................................................................
10. She goes out three times a week. (Irene)
...................................................................
11. They are playing with Gary. (the kids)
...................................................................
12. Hes going to call next Wednesday. (Paul)
...................................................................

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Basic Grammar 6.2

ANSWERS: Practice B 6.2
Exercise I:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Where
When
What
Who
How many
How much
Whose
Why
Which
How

Exercise III:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Exercise II:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

e
a
h
b
g
c
k
l
f
i
j
d
q
r
s
v
t
u
p
o
n
m

What
Where
When
Where
Who
Whose
How much
What time
How many
What

Exercise IV:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

What is Marlene reading?

Where is the dog hiding?
How many languages can Billy speak?
Who is coming to your party?
Where is Hank writing?
What is Mrs. Stevens doing?
Whose camera are you going to borrow?
What time do you and your brother get up?
Which boots are you going to wear?
How often does Irene go out?
Who are the kids playing with?
When is Paul going to call?

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