The need for question words in any language is undeniable. How else to ask and learn about specific places, objects and people, time and direction? From this article you will learn everything about special words in English questions. Most of them start with wh, but there are other variations.
Types of questions
In total, there are 5 types of interrogative sentences in English: alternative, disjunctive, general, questions to the subject and special. It is the last two types that use special words that have become the subject of this article.
Interrogative words in English are always placed at the beginning of a sentence. This is followed by a verb: semantic (if it is a question to the subject) or auxiliary (when a special question is asked). For example:
What makes you happy? − What makes you happy? (this is a subject question).
What have you seen? − What did you see? (special issue).
In the given sentences what is the question word. Next, you will see a list of the rest of the members of this group.
Interrogative words in English
The table below contains all the special words that appear at the beginning of questions.
| Question word | Transcription | Translation | Example in a sentence |
| who? | [huː] | who? | Who are you? Who are you? |
| whom? | [huːm] | who? who? | Whom does she call? Who is she calling? |
| whose? | [huːz] | whose? | Whose is that car? Whose car is this? |
| what? | [wɔt] | what? | What did he buy? What did he buy? |
| which? | [wɪʧ] | which one? | Which house is ours? Which house is ours? |
| where? | [wɛə] | where? where? | Where do you live? Where do you live? |
| when? | [wen] | when? | When does the shop open? When does the store open? |
| why? | [waɪ] | why? | Why is it so cold? Why is it so cold? |
| how? | [hau] | how? | How do they work? How do they work? |
As you can see from the table, almost all interrogative words in English begin with the letter combination wh (although it is read differently in different words).
It should also be said that the question word whom is now almost never used and has been replaced by who:
Who does she call?
Now consider combinations of words that also have an interrogative meaning and are placed at the beginning of sentences.
Combinations
Sometimes question words in English are combined with other words to form interrogative phrases.
What kind of? − Which one?
What kind of music do you like? What kind of music do you like?
What kind of person is she? What kind of person is she? What is her personality?
Most often such combinations can be found with the word how (how).
How many? − How much? (for countable nouns)
How many people live there? − How many people live there?
How much? − How much? (for uncountable nouns)
How much does it cost? − How much does it cost?
How long? − How long?
How long do you know him? − How long have you known him?
How long ago? − How long ago?
How long ago did she leave? −How long has she been gone?
How often? How often?
How often do you meet? − How often do you meet?
How old? −How much?
How old is he? − How old is he?
Cliche
Quite often, question words in English can be found in phrases with a stable structure and meaning. These clichés cannot always be translated and understood literally, so you just need to know them so that when you meet them in someone else's speech or in the text, you won't get lost.
What is going on? / What is happening? − What's going on?
What is the point of…? − Does it make sense to…?
What is taking so long? − Why is it taking so long?
What took you so long? − Why are you (you) taking so long?
What are you? – What is your profession?
What's up? − How are you?
How are you doing? − How are you(s)?
How can you tell…? − How do you (you) know (those) that…?
Place in the sentence
In a special question, the interrogative word (or phrase) is put first, then comes the auxiliary verb, followed by the subject, then the predicate, and then the secondary members of the sentence.
Why do you stay here?
When asking a question to the subject, it is necessary to put the interrogative word first, then the predicate (semantic verb), then the subject and the rest of the sentence.
Who lives here?
The answer to the question to the subject will be an almost identical sentence, only without the question mark at the end and withnoun (pronoun) in place of the question word: Jack (he) lives here.
How to learn?
Question words are difficult for English learners. Exercises will help you remember them gradually. You can start with simple tasks, where question words from the existing list are substituted into gaps in sentences. Then you need to gradually complicate the work: passes with self-selection of an option, answering questions, compiling dialogues, completing audio tasks, and much more.
