Complete 12 English Tenses › Additional content
Learning to form questions with question words is an essential skill in English. Question words help us gather specific information about who, what, where, when, why, how, and more.
| Question Word | Used For | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Asking about a person | Who is calling? |
| What | Asking about a thing or action | What are you doing? |
| Where | Asking about a place | Where do you live? |
| When | Asking about a time | When will they arrive? |
| Why | Asking for a reason | Why did she leave? |
| How | Asking about a method or condition | How are you feeling? How are you going to school tomorrow? How was the movie? |
| Which | Asking to choose from options | Which dress do you like? |
| Whose | Asking about ownership | Whose book is this? |
Once you understand how to form questions with all 12 tenses, forming questions with question words is simple. You can add the question word at the start of the question. For example:
| Tense | Example with "what" |
|---|---|
| Present simple | What do you want for dinner? |
| Past simple | What did she say to you? |
| Future simple | What will they decide? |
| Present continuous | What are they watching on TV? |
| Past continuous | What were you doing at 5 PM? |
| Future continuous | What will you be studying tomorrow? |
| Present perfect | What has she done now? |
| Past perfect | What had they said before the argument? |
| Future perfect | What will you have learned by next year? |
| Present perfect continuous | What have they been working on lately? |
| Past perfect continuous | What had you been practicing for hours? |
| Future perfect continuous | What will you have been doing for so long? |
When the question word is the subject
If the question word acts as the subject, do not use a helping verb.
Example:
- Who wrote the book? ("Who" is the subject, so no "does/did" is needed.)
- What happened yesterday?
Questions with "whose", "what" and "which"
These are often followed by a noun:
Examples:
- What time will they arrive? (instead of "When will they arrive?")
- Whose car is this?
- Which movie do you want to watch?
Questions with "how" variations
"How" combines with other words for specific meanings:
Examples:
- How long have you lived here? (duration)
- How far is the station? (distance)
- How many apples do you have? (quantity)
Fill in the missing word in a sentence to make it complete.
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