Question Words: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How and More
Question words like what, where and why open the questions that ask for information, not just yes or no. Learn what each one asks about, the word order that follows, and the How phrases you will use every day.
By LearnLingo Team · Updated
Form
| Word | Asks about | Example |
|---|---|---|
| What | things, actions, information | What's your name? What do you do? |
| Who | people | Who is that? Who did you call? |
| Which | a choice from a limited group | Which bus goes to the airport? |
| Whose | the owner | Whose phone is this? |
| Where | place | Where do you live? |
| When | time | When does the film start? |
| What time | clock time | What time is it? |
| Why | reason | Why are you late? |
| How | manner, method, condition | How are you? How do you spell it? |
Whom is a formal object form of who (Whom did you invite?). In everyday English people use who instead, and whom is mainly used after a preposition in formal writing: To whom should I send this?
| Question word | Auxiliary or be | Subject | Main verb and rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | are | you | from? |
| What | do | you | want for dinner? |
| When | does | the shop | open? |
| Why | did | they | leave early? |
| How long | have | you | lived here? |
| What | are | you | doing? |
| Where | can | I | buy a ticket? |
Remember the order QUASI: Question word, Auxiliary, Subject, Infinitive (main verb). The tense is shown by the auxiliary, so the main verb stays in the base form after do, does and did.
| Phrase | Asks about | Example |
|---|---|---|
| How much | price, or amount of an uncountable noun | How much is this? How much milk do we need? |
| How many | number of a countable noun | How many brothers have you got? |
| How old | age | How old is your son? |
| How long | length of time or length | How long is the flight? |
| How often | frequency | How often do you go swimming? |
| How far | distance | How far is the station? |
| How big, tall, fast | size and other qualities | How tall are you? |
Yes or no questions and wh- questions
There are two main kinds of question in English. Yes or no questions start with an auxiliary or be and can be answered with yes or no: Are you hungry? Do you like jazz?
Wh- questions start with a question word and ask for information: Where are you going? What time is it? You cannot answer them with yes or no. Most question words begin with wh (what, who, which, whose, where, when, why), and how belongs to the same group.
The pattern is simple: take a yes or no question and put the question word in front of it. Do you live here? becomes Where do you live? Is she angry? becomes Why is she angry?
What's your phone number?
Where do your parents live?
When is your birthday?
Why are you laughing?
How do you say this word in English?
What, which, who and whose
Use what for things and general information, and who for people. Use which when there is a small, clear set of choices: Which colour do you want, red or blue? What colour is your car? asks an open question with many possible answers.
What and which can go before a noun: what kind, what size, which one. Who cannot: say Which student or What student, not Who student.
Whose asks about the owner: Whose bag is this? The answer often uses a possessive 's or a possessive pronoun: It's Ali's. It's mine. Do not confuse whose with who's, which means who is or who has.
What kind of music do you like?
Which platform does the train leave from?
A station has a limited number of platforms, so which is natural.
Who is your favourite actor?
Whose keys are these?
Word order: do, does, did and be
After the question word, English needs be or an auxiliary (do, does, did, have, can, will) before the subject. With the verb be, just swap the subject and the verb: Where are you? With other verbs in the present simple and past simple, add do, does or did: Where do you work? What did she say?
The main verb after do, does and did is always in the base form: Where does he live?, not Where does he lives? With continuous and perfect tenses, the auxiliary is already there: What are you reading? Where have you been?
For a full guide to word order in all kinds of questions, read how to ask questions in English and English word order.
Where does your sister work?
What did you have for breakfast?
Why is the shop closed?
What are you watching?
How can I help you?
Subject questions: who and what without do
When who or what is the subject of the question, there is no do, does or did, and the word order is the same as a normal sentence: Who lives here? What happened? Here we are asking about the person or thing that does the action.
Compare: Who called you? (someone called you; who was it?) and Who did you call? (you called someone; who was it?). This difference is explained in detail in subject and object questions.
Who wants more cake?
What happened to your car?
Who broke the window?
Who is the subject, so there is no did.
Who did you see at the party?
Who is the object (you saw someone), so we use did.
How questions and prepositions at the end
How on its own asks about manner, method or condition: How are you? How do you get to work? It also combines with an adjective or adverb to ask about amount, age, time, distance and size: how much, how many, how old, how long, how often, how far. Use how many with countable nouns and how much with uncountable nouns and prices; see much, many and a lot of.
In everyday English, a preposition that goes with the question word usually comes at the end of the question: Where are you from? Who are you talking to? What are you looking for? Putting the preposition first (To whom are you talking?) is very formal.
How come is an informal way to ask why, and it keeps normal sentence order: How come you're here? Compare Why are you here?
How many people work in your office?
How long does it take to get there?
Where are you from?
What is this cake made of?
How come you didn't call me?
Informal. How come keeps normal sentence order: not How come didn't you call me?
In real life
When you meet someone new, a handful of wh- questions keep the conversation going: Where are you from? What do you do? How long have you lived here? What do you do in your free time? See small talk in English for more.
In fast speech, question words often join with the next word: What's (what is, what has), Where's, How's it going? You will also hear What about you? and How about coffee? to make suggestions or return a question. Ask open questions, listen to the answer, then ask a follow-up with why or how.
How's it going? Not bad, thanks. What about you?
What do you do? I'm a software developer.
How about a walk after lunch?
How about + noun or -ing makes a suggestion.
Why did you choose that course?
Common mistakes
Where you live?
Where do you live?
Questions with most verbs need do, does or did after the question word. Many languages show a question only with intonation, but English needs the auxiliary.
What does she wants?
What does she want?
Does already shows he, she or it, so the main verb stays in the base form with no -s.
Who did call you?
Who called you?
When who is the subject (the person who called), we do not use did. Use the normal verb form: Who called you?
How much people came?
How many people came?
People is a countable plural noun, so use how many. How much is for uncountable nouns and prices.
From where are you?
Where are you from?
In everyday English, the preposition goes at the end of the question. Putting it first sounds very formal or unnatural.
Practice quiz
10 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.
1. ___ do you live? In a small town near Izmir.
2. Choose the correct question.
3. ___ is your brother? He's twenty-five.
4. ___ bag is this? It's Maria's.
5. Who ___ the last piece of cake?
6. ___ coffee do you drink every day?
7. I've got tea and juice. ___ would you like?
8. Choose the most natural question.
9. ___ do you go to the gym? Three times a week.
10. ___ were you late? My bus broke down.
0 of 10 answered
Show all answers
- Where
- What time does the film start?
- How old
- Whose
- ate
- How much
- Which
- Who are you waiting for?
- How often
- Why
See what the A1 English course covers, or test your level first.
People also ask
What are the wh- question words?+
They are what, who, whom, which, whose, where, when and why, plus how, which works in the same way. They ask for information, so the answer is not just yes or no.
What is the difference between what and which?+
Use what for open questions with many possible answers: What music do you like? Use which when the choice is from a small, known group: Which do you prefer, the red one or the blue one? Sometimes both are possible with little difference in meaning.
Do I always need do or does after a question word?+
You need it with most verbs in the present simple and past simple: Where do you work? What did he say? You do not need it with be (Where is she?), with modal verbs (What can I do?), or when who or what is the subject (Who called?).
Is How come the same as Why?+
They have similar meanings, but how come is informal and often shows surprise. It also keeps normal sentence order: How come you're so tired? compared with Why are you so tired?
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