Subject and Object Questions: Who, What and Word Order
Who called you? and Who did you call? look almost the same, but they ask about different people and one of them has no did. Here is how subject and object questions work and how to choose the right one every time.
By LearnLingo Team · Updated
Form
| Sentence | Subject question | Object question |
|---|---|---|
| Anna called Tom. | Who called Tom? (Anna) | Who did Anna call? (Tom) |
| The dog ate my sandwich. | What ate your sandwich? (The dog) | What did the dog eat? (My sandwich) |
| Mark loves Sara. | Who loves Sara? (Mark) | Who does Mark love? (Sara) |
| The ball broke the window. | What broke the window? (The ball) | What did the ball break? (The window) |
In the subject question, the question word simply replaces the subject, and the rest of the sentence stays the same. In the object question, we need do, does or did (or another auxiliary) and the subject comes after it.
| Tense | Subject question | Object question |
|---|---|---|
| present simple | Who lives here? | Who do you live with? |
| past simple | What happened? | What did you do? |
| present continuous | Who is calling? | Who are you calling? |
| present perfect | Who has taken my pen? | What have you taken? |
| will | Who will win? | Who will you vote for? |
| can | Who can help me? | Who can I ask? |
In subject questions with present simple, use the he, she, it form even if the answer is plural: Who lives here? My parents do. The verb is singular because we don't know the answer yet.
| Word | Example subject question | Example answer |
|---|---|---|
| who | Who wrote this song? | My brother did. |
| what | What made that noise? | The wind. |
| which (+ noun) | Which team won? | The blue team. |
| whose (+ noun) | Whose phone is ringing? | Mine! |
| how many (+ noun) | How many people came? | About fifty. |
What is a subject question?
Every sentence has a subject, the person or thing that does the action. In Emma broke the glass, the subject is Emma.
When we don't know the subject and want to find it, we ask a subject question. We just replace the subject with who or what and keep the rest of the sentence exactly the same: Who broke the glass?
There is no do, does or did, and the word order is the same as in a normal sentence. The verb keeps its tense ending: broke, lives, is calling. The answer is the person or thing that did the action.
Who broke the glass? Emma did.
What happened at the party?
What happened? is the most common subject question in English.
Who lives in that big house?
What makes you happy?
Who wants another coffee?
What is an object question?
The object is the person or thing that receives the action. In Emma broke the glass, the object is the glass.
When we want to find the object, we ask an object question. These use the normal question order you already know: question word + auxiliary (do, does, did, is, have, will...) + subject + main verb. What did Emma break?
In object questions with do, does and did, the main verb goes back to the base form: What did she break?, not What did she broke? Most questions in English are object questions or questions about time, place and reason, which follow the same pattern. See question words for when, where, why and how.
What did Emma break? The glass.
Who did you see at the party?
What do you want for dinner?
Who are you waiting for?
What has he done now?
How to choose: the answer test
The easiest way to choose is to think about the answer.
If the answer is the doer of the action (the subject), make a subject question with no auxiliary. If the answer is the receiver (the object), make an object question with do, does or did.
Try it with this sentence: Paul invited Kate. If you want to know who did the inviting, ask Who invited Kate? (answer: Paul). If you want to know who got the invitation, ask Who did Paul invite? (answer: Kate). The two questions ask about different people, so choosing the wrong form changes the meaning, not just the grammar.
Who invited Kate? Paul did.
Paul is the subject, so no did.
Who did Paul invite? Kate.
Kate is the object, so did is needed.
Who told you? My sister told me.
Who did you tell? I told my sister.
Which, whose and how many as the subject
Who and what are the most common subject question words, but which, whose and how many can also be part of the subject when a noun follows them.
Which team won? asks about the subject (a team won). Which team do you support? asks about the object (you support a team).
The same is true for how many: How many people came to the meeting? (subject, no did) and How many people did you invite? (object, with did).
Who can also be the subject of a question with be: Who's that? Who is your teacher? These questions use the normal form of be, as all questions with be do.
Which bus goes to the airport?
Whose dog is barking outside?
How many students passed the exam?
How many questions did you answer?
Short answers to subject questions
We often answer subject questions with the subject and an auxiliary: Who made this cake? I did. Who wants pizza? We do. Who's coming tonight? Tom is.
The auxiliary in the answer matches the tense of the question: did for the past simple, do or does for the present simple, is or are for the present continuous, has or have for the present perfect. In casual speech, people often give just the name or pronoun: Who made this? Me!
With prepositions, object questions usually end with the preposition in everyday English: Who are you talking to? What are you looking at? Whom are you talking to? or To whom are you talking? is very formal and rare in speech.
Who cooked dinner? Dad did.
Who has seen this film? I have.
Who are you talking to?
In everyday English, the preposition goes at the end.
What is this book about?
In real life
Subject questions are everywhere in daily life, especially What happened?, Who's there?, Who wants...? and What's wrong? Teachers, parents and coworkers use them to find out who did something: Who left the door open? Who's next?
If you add did to a subject question by mistake (Who did call you?), people will usually understand, but it sounds strange, or it can sound like heavy emphasis. Practise the pairs aloud until the difference feels automatic. For more on building all kinds of questions, read asking questions in English, and for questions inside other sentences, see indirect questions.
Who's next?
What's wrong? You look upset.
Who left the lights on?
Who wants to go first?
Common mistakes
Who did call you?
Who called you?
Who is the subject (someone called you), so we do not use did. Keep the normal sentence order and the past form called.
What did happen?
What happened?
What is the subject of happen, so there is no did. Happen is almost always used in subject questions.
Who you saw yesterday?
Who did you see yesterday?
Here who is the object (you saw someone), so the question needs did, and the main verb goes back to the base form see.
Who live in this flat?
Who lives in this flat?
In present simple subject questions, the verb takes the he, she, it form with -s, even if the answer is more than one person.
What did she bought?
What did she buy?
After did, the main verb is always the base form. The past is already shown by did.
Practice quiz
10 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.
1. Someone took my umbrella. ___ my umbrella?
2. You met someone at the station. ___ at the station?
3. Choose the correct question.
4. Sam loves Lucy. Which question has the answer Sam?
5. ___ in this house? My grandparents do.
6. Choose the correct question.
7. ___ you talking to on the phone?
8. Who broke the window? ___
9. What does Who did Anna invite? ask about?
10. How many people ___ to your birthday party?
0 of 10 answered
Show all answers
- Who took
- Who did you meet
- What happened?
- Who loves Lucy?
- Who lives
- Which bus goes to the centre?
- Who are
- Tom did.
- The person Anna invited
- came
See what the A2 English course covers, or test your level first.
People also ask
What is the difference between subject and object questions?+
A subject question asks about the person or thing that does the action: Who called? An object question asks about the person or thing that receives the action: Who did you call? Subject questions have no do, does or did.
Why don't we use did in Who called you?+
Because who is the subject. In normal sentences we don't use did for the subject (Anna called you), and the subject question just replaces Anna with who. Do, does and did are only needed when the subject comes after the auxiliary.
Is Who did call you? ever correct?+
Only with strong emphasis, for example when someone says Nobody called me, and you reply So who DID call you? In normal questions, it is a mistake.
Should I use who or whom in object questions?+
In everyday English, use who: Who did you see? Whom is formal and mostly used in writing, especially right after a preposition (To whom it may concern). Learners can safely use who in speech.
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