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If an information question is about the verb or words that
the verb, the form is different: it uses do, does, or did:
Wh + do / does / did + subject + main verb +
other words?
Examples:
He has ???. --->
What does he have?
They ??? last night. --->
What did they do last night?
They had ??? food last night. --->
What kind of food did they have last night?
Bill went ???. ----->
Where did Bill go? / Why did Bill go?
The meeting begins ??? ----->
When does the meeting begin? /
What time does the meeting begin?
He saw ??? at the party. ----->
Whom did he see at the party? [formal / careful]
Who did he see at the party? [informal]
She likes ??? books. ----->
What kind of books does she like?/
What books does she like?
Ya-Wen studied ??? in Taiwan. ----->
What did Ya-Wen study in Taiwan? /
How long did Ya-Wen study in Taiwan?
Where did Ya-Wen study in Taiwan?
Jae-Hoon traveled to ??? countries. ----->
To how many countries did Jae-Hoon travel? [formal / careful]
How many countries did Jae-Hoon travel to? [informal]
They eat ??? for breakfast. ----->
What do they eat for breakfast?
Lucinda works ???. ----->
How often does Lucinda work? /
Where does Lucinda work?/
How much does Lucinda work?
He likes his job ??? well. ----->
How well does he like his job?
Pablo brought ??? food to the picnic. ----->
How much food did Pablo bring to the picnic? /
What kind of food did Pablo bring to the picnic?
The twins celebrated their ??? birthday. ----->
Which birthday did the twins celebrate?
She becomes upset ???. ----->
When does she become upset? /
Why does she become upset? /
What does she become upset for? /
How come she becomes upset? / *
She wrote a letter to ???. ----->
To whom did she write a letter? [formal / careful]
Who did she write a letter to? [informal]
Sílvia made that cake for ???. ----->
For whom did Sílvia make that cake? [formal / careful]
Who did Sílvia make that cake for? [informal]
* Questions with "How come" do not use normal word order.
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Special Notes:
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Notice that do may be both a main verb and
an auxiliary verb:
Does Bob always do his homework?
Bob doesn't always do his homework.
What do you do on weekends?
Why did you do that?
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| 2. |
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In formal, careful writing and speaking, the
"Wh-" word who is used to ask about subjects.
For questions about subjects, the "artificial"
auxiliaries do, does, and did not used:
??? likes Bill. ----->
Who likes Bill?
(not *Who does like Bill?)
??? talked to Bill. ----->
Who talked to Bill?
(not *Who did talk to Bill?)
??? married Rosanna. ----->
Who married Rosanna?
(not *Who did marry Rosanna?)
??? has nine brothers. ----->
Who has nine brothers?
(not *Who does have nine brothers?)
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| 3. |
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In formal, careful writing and speaking, the
"Wh-" word whom is used to ask about objects.
For questions about objects, the "artificial"
auxiliary do is used:
Bill likes ???. ----->
Whom does Bill like?
Bill talked to ???. ----->
Whom did Bill talk to?
Rosana married ???. ----->
Whom did Rosanna marry?
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| 4. |
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In informal, friendly speaking (and sometimes
writing), the "Wh-" word who is used to ask about
both subjects and objects. It may seem strange
that who can be used in such different ways,
but the two uses are always clear because of
differences in grammar.
Who lives with Bill? (subject)
Who does Bill live with? (object)
Who loves Junichi? (subject)
Who(m) does Junichi love? (object)
Who did a favor for Ahmed? (subject)
Who(m) did Ahmed do a favor for? (object)
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| 5. |
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In formal, careful writing, ending a question (or
a statement) with a preposition is considered
awkward (though ending with a preposition is,
in fact, very common in speaking. In careful
written work, ending with a preposition should,
therefore, be avoided.
Examples:
better in writing:
To whom were you speaking?
common in speaking:
Who(m) were you speaking to?
better in writing:
To which page were you referring?
common in speaking:
Which page were you referring to?
better in writing:
In whose class are you studying?
common in speaking:
Whose class are you studying in?
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| 6. |
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When prepositions are combined with "Wh-"
words, whom must be used:
not this:
*To who did Mariam write a letter?
but this:
To whom did Mariam write a letter?
not this:
*Beside who does Hyun-sook sit?
but this:
Beside whom does Hyun-sook sit?
not this:
*With who does Shu-Wen study?
but this:
With whom does Shu-Wen study?
not this:
*For who did the injured man ask?
but this:
For whom did the injured man ask?
not this:
*From who do they take piano lessons?
but this:
From whom do they take piano lessons?
Note: Questions such as these are very formal
and careful.
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