by Understanding Question Words in English Grammar
Interrogative pronouns are used for nouns to produce the questions
What
It is an interrogative pronoun that is used to know the name of a person, place, thing, and concept or idea.
‘Helping verb’ is used according to the subject, and Action verb is used according to ‘helping verb.’
Examples:
| What are you doing? | What does he do? | What’s the matter? |
| What is his name? | What does it mean? | What are you doing there? |
| What’s your name? | What do you like for breakfast? | What time does he wake up in the morning? |
Which (Question words):
It is an interrogative pronoun to describe the selection. It is used to know the choice. It is not used in multiple-choice. Selection is limited for ‘which’ but ‘what’ is used for multiple choice.
| Which colour do you like? Red or blue | Which is your favourite car? | Which class do you study in? |
| Which perfume do you use? | Which pen do you like? | Which subject do you like the most? Science or mathematics |
When:
It is used to know the time.
| When do you celebrate your birthday? | When do you celebrate the party? |
| I celebrate my birthday on 18th April. | When does your father scold you? |
| When did he die? | When does your father go to school? |
| When were you sent to jail? | When did you use to learn English? |
Where:
it is used to know the name of the place.
| Where have you been? | Where were you going? |
| Where is your school? | Where are they playing football? |
| Where did you find it? | Where do you go for a morning walk? |
| Where does he study? | Where do you learn English? |
| Where has he gone? | Where are you living? |
Why:
It is an interrogative pronoun. It is used to know the reason.
| Why are you laughing now? | Why were you going there? |
| Why has he left the job? | Why did you tell a lie? |
| Why did you beat him? | Why doesn’t he speak with us? |
| Why does your father scold you? | Why did he make you fool? |
Whose: It is used to show the possession of something
| Whose car is this? | Whose phone has been stolen? |
| Whose money is this? | Whose medicine has not come yet? |
How:
It is used to know the manner
| How does it work? | How do you know? |
| How do you go there? | How did you get the highest marks in the class? |
How far: (to know the distance)
| How far is it situated from here? | How far are we going now? |
Exercise (Question Words) :
Find the errors (Question Words)
- Where are he going?
- Where did you found it?
- When do he celebrate his birthday?
- About What are you taking?
- In which class do you study?
- From where are you?
- What color do you like – red or blue?
- What do it mean?
- How far it is?
- How far are you coming from?
How much vs how many
How much (It is used to express quantity- uncountable nouns) cannot count liquid, grains, etc. We want to measure something that time we use ‘how much)
How much coffee do you add to your milk?
How much juice do you take in the morning?
How much rice do you buy from the market?
How much money do you need to complete this task?
How much food do you need for your home’s sake?
How many:
It is used to denote numbers. It is used to count things, persons, or places.
How many boys are there in the class?
How many days are there in a year?
How many students are there in your school?
How many players have come there?
How many books have you read till now?
How many employees are there in your company?
Exercise (Question Words)
Find the errors (Question Words):
- How many money did you spend?
- How much boys were present in the class?
- How many water did you waste?
- How much people are crazy for BMW cars?
- How much water do he need?
- How many girls helps the poor?
- How many Indians is infected with bird flu?
- How much people died in World war I?
- How many day are in a week?
- How many rice did you buy?
Who (subject) whom (object) whose (possession)
Who: it refers to the sentence’s subject in wh- family that is used to know the person or live beings.
| Present indefinite (who + action+es/s) Past indefinite (who + action II) |
| Incorrect | Correct |
| Who teach you mathematics? | Who teaches you mathematics? (Who-subject, you-objective case) |
| Who did go? | Who went? |
| Who want to go? | Who wants to go? |
| Who does run fast? | Who runs fast? |
| Who did say it? | Who said it? |
Present and past and future perfect tense:
Who+ has/had/will have + done?
| Who has sent you this information? | Who has gone to the hospital? |
| Who had done this project before I came here? | Who will have done the project by the end of the month? |
| Who will go there? | Who is your family doctor? |
| Who is your nurse? | Who knows this matter? |
| Who helped you? | Who has done it? |
Passive Voice
Present indefinite and past indefinite
by whom + is/are/am/was/were + action III + object?
| Whom: By whom has she been selected? (present perfect) | By whom was he beaten? |
| By whom is he sent to jail? | By whom is he taught English? |
Who- It is used in the sentence as an object of the verb/preposition.
| Present indefinite tense: whom + helping verb + subject + action) Past indefinite tense: whom + did + subject + action) |
| Whom does he feed food? (He-sub, whom-obj) | Whom do you teach mathematics? |
| Whom did you beat yesterday? (Whom-obj and you-sub) | She wanted to know with whom she would go. (preposition+ whom) |
| Whom do you teach English to? | Whom are you playing with? |
| Whom do you like? | Whom do you want to select for this process? |
Relative pronoun:
Who and whom:
| Antecedent(noun/pronoun-subject) + who + verb + object Antecedent + whom + Subect + verb. |
I know the man who does teach mathematics. (incorrect)
I know the man who teaches mathematics. (correct)
She knew that lady who did help her in the park that day. (Incorrect)
I saw a beautiful lady who was teaching mathematics. (correct)
She has laughed at him, who is standing there. (correct)
That lady helped me whom I had known since 2015.
My friend, whom I liked very much, deceived me.
That boy whom you are talking about is a cheat.
Whose: A thing which belongs to a person
| whose car is this? | Whose bag is yours? |
| Whose is this? | Whose pen is this? |
| Whose wallet was that? | Whose notebook has not been checked yet? |
Exercise (Question Words)
Spot the errors (Question Words)
- Who/whom serves food in your family?
- Whom/who do you know here?
- Who/whom should I select for this post?
- Who/whom speaks English fluently in your school?
- I know the boy whom do I tease.
- I met a boy who did help me last Sunday.
- I didn’t know them whom I helped.
- Who did go to the park yesterday?
- Who does tell you?
- Who taught you reasoning?
- Whose car are this?
- Who book is this?
- Whom flowers are these?
- Whose novels are that?
- Whose pencils is these?
