Question words help us ask for information. They are essential for everyday English conversations, classroom communication, travel, work and writing.
The main English question words
Who
Used to ask about a person.
Who is your teacher?
What
Used to ask about a thing, information or activity.
What are you doing?
Where
Used to ask about a place.
Where do you live?
When
Used to ask about time.
When are you coming?
Why
Used to ask for a reason.
Why are you late?
Which
Used when choosing between people or things.
Which book do you want?
Whose
Used to ask about ownership.
Whose phone is this?
How
Used to ask about the way something happens or a condition.
How are you?
How did you do that?
Common expressions with “how”
- how much — asks about an amount or price
- how many — asks about a number
- how often — asks about frequency
- how long — asks about duration or length
- how far — asks about distance
- how old — asks about age
- how soon — asks about the time before something happens
- how well — asks about ability or performance
Examples
How much is this?
How many people are coming?
How often do you study?
How long will you stay?
How far is the station?
How old are you?
Question-word sentence structure
Many English questions use:
Question word + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb
For example:
Where do you live?
Why did she leave?
When will they arrive?
However, when the question word is the subject, the structure can be different:
Who called you?
What happened?
Common mistakes
Incorrect: Where you live?
Correct: Where do you live?
Incorrect: Why you are late?
Correct: Why are you late?