Questions to which we can reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ have a form of be or an auxiliary (e.g. can, have, do, would) before the subject:
| SUBJECT | ||
| Is | Mary | here? ∼ Yes, she is. |
| Can | Roger | dance? ∼ No, he can’t. |
| Are | they | going to leave? ∼ Yes, soon. |
| Has | Simon | left yet? ∼ No, he hasn’t. |
If there is a question word (e.g. Where, Who, What), it goes before be or the auxiliary:
| SUBJECT | ||
| Where is | Mary | ? |
| What did | Roger | do on Sunday? |
| Where have | they | gone? |
Who is for people. What is for things:
- Who did you meet yesterday? ∼ I met Peter.
- What do you want for lunch? ∼ Soup, please.
We use Which for a choice between a limited number of people or things. Compare Which and What:
- What sports do you like? ∼ I like football and basketball.
- Which do you like best, football or basketball? ∼ I like football best.
Which (but not Who or What) can have a phrase with of (e.g. Which of them):
- Which of these pictures did you paint?
Here are examples of other question words:
- Where do they live? ∼ In Dublin.
- When do they get up? ∼ a 7 o’clock.
- Why is Tom in bed? ∼ He’s not feeling very well.
- Whose car is that? ∼ It’s my mother’s.
- How do you get to work? ∼ By car?
- How long did he stay? ∼ One or two days?
- How far is it to York from here? ∼ 20 miles.
We use How many with plural nouns and How much with uncountable nouns:
- How many MP3s have you got on your computer? ∼ About 50,000.
- How much milk do you want? ∼ Two litres.
Uncountable nouns
| These are some common uncountable nouns: | ice, water, rain, snow, heat, noise, cotton, glass, petrol, money, luggage information, work, homework, advice, news meat, milk, butter, bread, marmalade, food, tea, coffee, sugar, toast, cheese |
| Uncountable nouns do not have a plural form: | petrol (not petrols) bread (not breads) |
| We cannot use a/an with an uncountable noun, but we can use some/any, the, much (not many), such, and my/your/his etc: | a : I always have an egg, and then toast and marmalade for breakfast. some: I’d like some tea, please. the: Look at the snow outside. much: How much luggage have you got? such: We’ve had such wonderful news. |
|
Some nouns can be countable or uncountable: |
I heard a noise from downstairs. (countable) I can’t sleep. The neighbours are making so much noise. (uncountable) |
If the question word is the subject, then the word order is the same as in a statement:
| SUBJECT | |
| Who | took my pen? ∼ John took it. |
| What | happened? ∼ Nothing happened. |
| Which of them | won the race? ∼ Sue won it. |
| How many people | came? ∼ About twenty. |
PRACTICE
Now it is time to practise what you have learned.
- For each Practice Test, read the instructions carefully.
- Complete the exercise and press 'Check' to get your results.
Practice Test A
Practice Test B
Practice Test C
Practice Test D
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