Questions (wh)

1. What Are WH Questions?

WH questions ask for specific information, not just yes or no.

They usually begin with a question word, such as who, what, where, when, why, which, or how.

Examples:

• “What is your name?”
• “Where do you live?”
• “Who is your teacher?”

2. Common WH Question Words

Each WH word asks about different information.

Question word	Used to ask about	Example
Who	a person	Who is your teacher?
What	a thing or action	What is your favourite colour?
Where	a place	Where do you live?
When	time	When is your birthday?
Why	a reason	Why are you tired?
Which	a choice	Which shirt do you want?
How	manner or method	How do you go to school?
How + be	health or state	How are you?
How + adjective/adverb	age, length, or degree	How old are you? / How long is the film?
How many	number of countable things	How many books do you have?
How much	amount or price	How much water do you drink?
What time	exact time	What time does the lesson start?
Whose	who owns something	Whose bag is this?

3. How to Make WH Questions

The structure depends on the main verb.

With most verbs

Use this pattern:

WH word + do/does + subject + base verb + ...?

Remember:

• Use does with he, she, it.
• Use do with I, you, we, they.
• The main verb always stays in its base form.

With the verb be

The verb be works differently.

Use this pattern:

WH word + am/is/are + subject + ...?

You do not use do or does with be.

Past Questions with Most Verbs

For past simple questions with most verbs, use did + base verb:

WH word + did + subject + base verb + ...?

• “Where did you go yesterday?”
• “What did she eat for lunch?”

Past Questions with Be

Use was/were before the subject. Do not use did with be.

• “Where were you yesterday?”
• “Why was she late?”
• ✗ Where did you were? → ✓ Where were you?

With can

With can, put the modal before the subject. Do not use do/does:

WH word + can + subject + base verb + ...?

• “What can you do?”
• “Where can we sit?”

4. Special Rule: "Who" or "What" as the Subject

Sometimes who or what is the subject — it is the person or thing doing the action, not the person or thing being asked about.

When this happens, do and does are not used.

Compare these two questions.

Question	Who or what does the action?	Use do/does?
Who called you?	Who	✗ No
Who do you like?	You	✓ Yes
What happened?	What	✗ No
What did you do?	You	✓ Yes

5. Answering WH Questions

WH questions ask for information, not yes or no.

6. Common Mistakes

Incorrect	Correct
Where you live?	Where do you live?
What she likes?	What does she like?
Who your teacher?	Who is your teacher?
Who did called?	Who called?
Where you are from?	Where are you from?
What time lesson starts?	What time does the lesson start?

7. Quick Summary

Situation	Pattern
Most verbs	WH + do/does + subject + base verb
Verb be	WH + am/is/are + subject
Past verbs	WH + did + subject + base verb
Past be	WH + was/were + subject
Can	WH + can + subject + base verb
Who/what is the subject	WH + verb (e.g. Who called? / What happened?)