Unit 18: A detective story

Subject-object questions

Meaning and use

A simple way of asking questions in English is by using interrogatives, or question words,

such as who or what. These questions are called wh-questions and are used when asking
for information.
What time is it?
Who ate the biscuits?
Look at this sentence:
Sally met David Beckham.
We can ask about the subject or object of this sentence:
Asking about the subject: Who met David Beckham? Sally met David Beckham.
Asking about the object: Who did Sally meet? Sally met David Beckham.
The first question is a subject question because who refers to the subject. There is no
auxiliary. The second question is an object question because who refers to the object and
comes before the auxiliary did.

Form
Subject questions with no auxiliary are formed with: question word + verb + object, where
the verb agrees with the subject.
Who speaks Japanese? Kento speaks Japanese.
Who rang the doorbell? The milkman rang the doorbell.
What caused the accident? Bad weather caused the accident.
Whose and which ask about possession and choice, and can be used in subject questions
like this:
Whose horse finished the race first?
Which painting cost the most?

Take note: using what or which

As well as which, what is also used to ask about choices. If the choice is limited, we use
which and this is usually followed by a noun.
What social networks do you use?
What happened to your shirt?
Which chair is yours?
Which of these restaurants has the best service?
Which hand do you write with?

Spoken English
In casual speech, who is or who has often becomes who's. This can cause problems for the
listener because it sounds the same as the question word whose, which is used to
show possession. Whose usually comes before a noun.
Whos coming for dinner?
Whose bike got stolen?
Whose hat cost over 100?
Whose mobile phone still has a signal?

From 6 Minute Vocabulary. Job genders

For a man - For a woman - For a man or a woman:

actor - actress - actor
waiter - waitress (sometimes) - waiter
policeman - policewoman - police officer
businessman - businesswoman - (sometimes) businessperson
chairman - chairwoman - chairperson / chair
fireman - (sometimes) firewoman - firefighter
presenter - presenter - presenter
steward - stewardess - flight attendant

Possessive 's

We put 's after a noun to show that something belongs to someone.

The bride's dress = The dress belongs to the bride.
If the noun is plural, we put the apostrophe after it:
The suspects' clothes = The clothes belong to the suspects.
A note about subject questions

Inspector Stone used some subject-object questions.

He asked: Who stole the ring? With questions like this, we're asking who is doing the verb the question word who is the subject of the verb, so we call it a subject question. We
use who because we are asking about a person. We can also use what in subject questions
when we're asking about things. For example, Inspector Stone asked: What will happen
next?
In subject questions, the question word who or what refers to the person or thing that is doing
the verb word. We can also use which plus a noun. He asked 'which guest saw the ring last?'
but in 'what did the bride see?' and 'who can I trust?' the question words 'what' or 'who' are
the object of the verb, so we call these object questions.
We can also use which plus a noun. He asked 'which flowers was she arranging?' Watch
again and find the other subject and object questions. Here's a clue: subject questions never
use auxiliaries like 'does', 'do', or 'did'.

Forming subject questions

Subject questions with no auxiliary are formed with: question word + verb + object, where
the verb agrees with the subject.
Who speaks Japanese? Kenji speaks Japanese.
Who rang the doorbell? The milkman rang the doorbell.
What caused the accident? Bad weather caused the accident.
Whose and which are used to ask about possession and choice, and can be used in
subject questions like this:
Whose horse finished the race first?
Which painting cost the most?

Using 'what' or 'which'

As well as which, what is also used to ask about choices. If the choice is limited, we
use which and this is usually followed by a noun.
What social networks do you use?
What happened to your shirt?
Which chair is yours?
Which of these restaurants has the best menu?

Word order when describing things

In English, describing words usually go in this order before the noun:

size - colour - material - noun
For example: A long white silk dress.
long (size) white (colour) silk (material) noun (dress)
Now Inspector Stone has found a notebook with the mother of the bride's writing in it. She
was possibly making a list of things for the wedding but it's not clear because she hasn't
written in full sentences. It might be useful. Then again, it might not!

6 Minute Vocabulary
Male and female job words
Catherine
First we're going to listen to Joe, talking about how he met his girlfriend, Judith.
Rob
what is Judith's job now?

Joe
Well, I used to be an actor, and I met Judith at work. We were doing a play about a
policeman, who falls in love with a waitress. I played the policeman, and Judith played
the waitress and sure enough, we fell in love! Later, I quit acting, and now I'm
a businessman. But Judith has a successful acting career right now, she's on a film shoot:
she's playing a firefighter!

Rob
the answer is, Judith is an actress. Right now, she's making a film.
Catherine
The first job that Joe mentioned was actor. Now, this is one of those jobs where the word
changes, depending on whether a man or a woman is doing the job. So, we say that a man is
an actor, but a woman is an actress.
Rob
When Joe met Judith, she was playing a waitress. Again, we can say a man is a waiter, and
a woman is a waitress.
Catherine
we've got actor, actress; waiter, waitress. You can hear the pattern, can't you?
Rob
I can, yes. Judith was playing a waitress in the play, but can you remember what Joe was
playing?
We were doing a play about a policeman, who falls in love with a waitress.
Catherine
Right, so Joe was playing a policeman, and we say that a man is a policeman, and a woman
is a policewoman.
Rob
Now, Joe is a businessman because he's a man. But for a woman, we can say
businesswoman.
Catherine
Yeah, so policeman, policewoman; businessman, businesswoman.
Rob
we know that Judith is making a film right now, but do you remember what sort of character
she is playing?

But Judith has a successful acting career right now, she's on a film shoot: she's
playing a firefighter!
Catherine
Judith is playing a firefighter.
Rob
But wait, hold on a minute Catherine, there's something strange about that word, firefighter.
Catherine
A waiter is a man, and a policewoman is a woman. What about a firefighter? Man or
woman? What is it?
Rob
the word firefighter is the same for a man or a woman. More and more, in modern English,
people prefer to use words for jobs which are the same for both sexes.
Catherine
For example, some people prefer not to use the word actress. They just like to use the
word actor for a man or a woman.
Rob
And instead of policeman or policewoman, we can say police officer. That's good for a
man or a woman, too.
Catherine
And that's why we say firefighter. We don't say fireman, firewoman, we just use
firefighter these days for everyone.
Rob
I think it's easier and less complicated, yes, to use those sort of generic words.
Catherine
Yeah, like presenter.
Rob
Like presenter. Not 'presenteress' or anything like that.
Catherine
And some job titles that used to be different for men and women are now being replaced by a
single job title for both sexes. For example on planes, in the past, we used to
have stewards and stewardesses looking after the passengers. Now we just have...
Rob
Flight attendants. And instead of a chairman or a chairwoman in charge of a formal
meeting, these days we often hear the word chairperson.

Catherine
Or just chair.
Catherine
now it's time to see how much you can remember. And we've got three quiz questions for you.
Number one: if the word for a man is businessman, what's the word for a woman?
Rob
And the answer is businesswoman. Second, if the word for a woman is waitress, what's the
word for a man?
Catherine
Waiter! Right, and just one more question: if a man can be a policeman, and a woman can
be a policewoman, what's the word that's equally good for a man or a woman?
Rob
It's police officer! Did you get all those right? Well done if you did!
Catherine
here's a top tip to help you learn your vocabulary more effectively.
Rob
When you're out and about, walking down the street, or sitting on the bus, notice the people
you see, and say the words for them to yourself in English - like waitress or police officer.
Catherine
Or presenter.

6 Minute Grammar
Subject questions
Catherine
In everyday English, the words who, what, which and whose are very common in questions.
Catherine
With an example:

Neil
Who did David meet?
Rob
Now the answer could be:
Neil
David met Victoria.
Catherine
Subject: David; verb: met; object: Victoria. So Victoria is the object of the verb met.
Rob
in the question Who did David meet? The word who is asking about the object.
Catherine
But we can also use question words to ask about the subject, like this:
Neil
Who lives in the White House?
Catherine
we have a question word: who, plus a verb: lives. And it's a subject question because it asks
who is doing the verb. Who lives in the White House?
Rob
Now we don't use do, does or did in subject questions. We don't say Who does live it's
just Who lives. So Catherine Who lives in the White House?
Catherine
I think it's the US president.
Neil
What makes you happy?
Catherine
What makes me happy? Knitting actually makes me happy! So this question word is
what. What is the subject, and the verb is makes. Rob, what makes you happy?
Rob
It's got to be riding my bike, I think. So that's who to ask about people, and what for things.
Catherine
Now, can we have nother one please Neil?

Neil
Which key opens this door?
Catherine
the question word which usually comes with a noun. For example: which key. which key
opens this door?
Rob
The smallest key opens this door. We use which when the choice of possible answers is
limited, like which key, or which day, or which colour.
Catherine
And what if the choice of possible answers isn't limited?
Rob
Well, then we use what without a noun.
Neil
What happened last night? What caused the accident?
.Rob
Neil, can we have one more subject question word please?
Neil
Whose story won first prize?
Rob
The word whose shows that something belongs to someone, and it usually comes with a
noun, so: whose story is the subject; the verb is won. Whose story won first prize?
Catherine
And now: a pronunciation warning. In spoken English, the words who is and the words who
has are often shortened to:
Both
Who's!!!
Catherine
it sounds exactly the same as the question word whose. Who's - whose.
Rob
It's confusing, isn't it? So here's a little tip for you. If you remember that the question
word whose usually comes with a noun, you should be able to tell the difference. Here's Neil
with two questions - but only one of them has a noun after the word whose.

Neil
Who's using my mobile phone? Whose mobile phone has a signal?
Rob
The second question had whose plus a noun so that means it's a subject question: Whose
mobile phone has a signal?
Catherine
now we have four words we can use for subject questions: who, which, what, and whose.
Rob
it's quiz time.
Catherine
But actually, today we're doing a backwards quiz: I'll say the answer, and you at home have to
work out what the subject question is. Here's the first answer: Keiko speaks Japanese.
Rob
So, the subject is Keiko - that's a person. It's who for people, so the question is Who speaks
Japanese?
Catherine
Exactly. Here's another answer: Kate's dog won the competition.
Rob
So it's whose because the dog belongs to Kate. With whose we need the noun dog,
so: Whose dog won the competition?
Catherine
Right, very good. And Kate's dog is a clever dog! No doubt about it. Right, last one:The shop
on the corner sells gloves.
Rob
So it's which with shop because we're asking about a thing - and we can suppose there's a
limited choice of shops in the area - so: Which shop sells gloves?
Catherine
So that's subject questions. They don't need the auxiliary do, does or did...
Rob
...but they all start with a question word. Just remember to choose the right one!