What are Wh-Questions?
A question is a special sentence used to find out particular information. It is always structured in interrogative form, addressed to someone intending to get information in reply. In English there are six types of questions, commonly used in systematic ways:
WH-questions are the questions beginning with Wh-words like what, who, why, where, when, whom, whose, which and how. Wh-questions are also known as Open Questions, used to ask about definite people, places, times, qualities and so on. Wh-words are always presented in a functional or operational ways, conveying a grammatical and structural association with other words in a sentence.
| Wh-words: Uses & Examples |
| what To ask for information and affirmation What is the problem now? What were you doing there? What are you afraid of? |
| who To ask for the people or subject Who is your room partner? Who is responsible for war? Who will look after your son? |
| why To ask for reason, cause or intention Why are you looking nervous? Why didn’t you call me yesterday? Why don’t you drive slowly? |
| where To ask for place, position or location Where is your school? Where can I get my ticket? Where are your documents? |
| when To ask for time When did he go to Africa? When should I return this book? When would you like to go there? |
| whom To ask for people or the object of verb Whom are you going to invite? Whom will you blame for this? Whom did he appoint for job? |
| whose To ask for possession or belongings Whose mobile is ringing here? Whose book is this? Whose camera was stolen in the party? |
| which To ask for option or choice Which subject do you like most? Which book should I read now? Which of them is your sister? |
| how To ask for manner, quality or condition How is he feeling now? How do you study Mathematics? How long will the battery last? |
Framing Wh-questions so as to get the underlined / highlighted parts an an answers
To frame a Wh-question that targets an underlined / highlighted part of a sentence as the answer, you need to focus on what information the underlined part provides (e.g., time, place, person, reason, etc.). Here are some examples:
She visited the museum last weekend.
Where did she visit last weekend?
The book on the table is mine.
Which book is mine?
John gave Mary the keys.
Who gave Mary the keys?
They moved to New York in 2010.
Where did they move in 2010?
She bought a new car last week.
What did she buy last week?
The seminar will be held next Friday.
When will the seminar be held?
The research paper is due next month.
When is the research paper due?
The library closes at 8 PM.
What closes at 8 PM?
The library closes at 8 PM.
When does the library close?
The students organized a protest against the new policy.
What did the students organize a protest against?
The Biology lab was renovated over the summer.
What was renovated over the summer?
She chose to study psychology as her major.
What did she choose to study as her major?
The conference took place in London City.
Where did the conference take place?
The scholarship was awarded to a deserving student.
What was awarded to a deserving student?
They conducted the experiment in the chemistry lab.
Where did they conduct the experiment?
The president announced the new policy.
Who announced the new policy?
The meeting was scheduled for tomorrow.
When was the meeting scheduled?
She lives in the dormitory on campus.
Where does she live on campus?
The project is due by the end of the semester.
When is the project due?
Her thesis was accepted by the committee.
What was accepted by the committee?
Exercise:
Choose a correct alternative to frame a Wh-Type question to get the underlined part as an answer.
| 1. Mary and John had been quarreling for many years due to some misunderstandings.
a. Why Mary and John had been quarreling for many years? |
| 2. Through the instrumentality of Launcelot, Jessica conveyed her message to Lorenzo. a. How Jessica conveyed her message to Lorenzo? b. How had Jessica conveyed her message to Lorenzo? c. How did Jessica convey her message to Lorenzo? d. How Jessica had conveyed her message to Lorenzo? |
| 3. Simon received an e-mail from a company. a. What Simon received from a company? b. What Simon had received from a company? c. What did Simon receive from a company? d. What had Simon received from a company? |
| 4. Children were playing in the garden. a. Where children were playing? b. Where had been children playing? c. Where were children playing? d. Where children was playing? |
| 5. She had been constantly eavesdropping. a. What had been she constantly doing? b. What had she been doing constantly? c. What was she doing constantly? d. What she had been doing constantly? |
| 6. The students were making noise in the classroom. a. Who were making noise in the classroom? b. Who had been making noise in the classroom? c. Who are making noise in the classroom? d. What were making noise in the classroom? |
| 7. The Board Examinations are going to be conducted from tomorrow. a. When are the Board Examinations going to be conducted? b. When the Board Examinations are going to be conducted? c. When are going to be the Board Examinations conducted? d. When the Board Examinations going to be conducted? |
| 8. Portia disguised herself as a male lawyer in the play. a. What Portia disguised herself as in the play? b. What did Portia disguise herself as in the play? c. Who did Portia disguise herself as in the play? d. Who Portia disguised herself as in the play? |
| 9. Mary baked a cake for her 20th birthday. a. Why did Mary bake a cake? b. Why Mary baked a cake? c. What did Mary bake a cake for? d. Why had Mary baked a cake? |
| 10. She was reading an autobiography of M.K. Gandhi. a. Whose autobiography she was reading? b. Whose autobiography was she reading? c. Who autobiography were she reading? d. What autobiography was she reading? |
| 11. William was retrained as a mountaineer. a. What was William retrained as? b. What was William retrained? c. What did William retrain as? d. What was retrained William? |
| 12. An exceptional battle had begun inside the train on the move. a. Where had an exceptional battle begun on the move? b. When had an exceptional battle on the move begun? c. Where had an exceptional battle begin on the move? d. Where an exceptional battle had begun on the move? |
| 13. With the help of the technology, I started responding the treatment. a. How I started responding the treatment? b. How did I started responding the treatment? c. How I start responding the treatment? d. How did I start responding the treatment? |
| 14. Jacob invites my family members for birth celebration. a. When Jacob invites my family members? b. Why does Jacob invite my family members? c. When do Jacob invite my family members for celebration? d. Why do Jacob invite my family members? |
| 15. The man tried to snatch her gold chain. a. What the man tried to snatch? b. What did the man tried to snatch? c. What was the man try to snatch? d. What did the man try to snatch? |
also read:
| ONLINE GRAMMAR QUIZZES with CERTIFICATES |
| ENGLISH GRAMMAR_1 |
| ENGLISH GRAMMAR_2 |
| GRAMMAR: SPOT THE ERROR |
| USEFUL EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING |
| WORD FORMATION PROCESSES |
| PHONETICS |
I like it
Very useful