How to ask a question to a subject in English. Examples

Good afternoon dear friends!

One of the most important skills in English language is the ability to ask questions. It will be useful to you in any situation: if you want to meet someone, ask for directions, buy something in a store. Therefore, today I will tell you about a whole separate group - about questions to the subject in English.

From this article you will learn:

Let's understand the terms

First, let's define what a subject is. This is the subject who performs this or that action. It can be expressed in different parts speeches:

1. Nouns. The cat is sleeping (The cat is sleeping).
2. By proper name. Cindy likes oranges (Cindy loves oranges).
3. Pronoun. He is wearing a jacket (He is wearing a jacket).
4. Gerund. Talking on the phone is forbidden here.
5. Infinitive. To go jogging in the morning is very healthy (Going for a jog in the morning is very healthy).

We need this knowledge when this subject is not known or we want to clarify something about him. For example, someone broke a mug and you want to know. You will say angrily: Who broke the cup?

For this type of sentence, we only need two question words: Who (who), What (what). Remember the last lesson about?

Something is missing

Looking at their diagram, you may notice that the word order is not the same as in the special questions we are used to. Or rather, it looks more like a statement. How to ask a question to the subject in English? The rule is simple. Want to modal verbs?

There is no need to remember auxiliary verbs here, as in other questions. They simply aren't here. All you need to do is replace the known subject with the word who or what. For example, Steve has got the keys. Steve is a subject. But if it is unknown to you, we get: Who has got the keys? (Who has the keys?). As you can see, only one word has changed. main parts of a sentence in English?

The difference between a subject question and a special question

Let's look at examples of questions to the subject in different grammatical tenses in the table:

How to answer them?

There are two ways to answer: short and full. The first contains only one word - the subject. For example, Who is talking on the phone? (Who's on the phone?) The answer is David. Have you repeated about articles for numerals?

The second contains the subject and auxiliary verb of the tense in which the sentence is constructed.

We get: David is.
Another example: Who sings this song? (Who sings this song?) Sandra/ Sandra does. By the way, remember about pronouns?

Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss anything and receive a phrase book in English, German and French as a gift. It has Russian transcription, so even without knowing the language, you can easily master colloquial phrases.

To remember

Now, so that everything is finally remembered, we will practice the acquired knowledge in the exercise. Translate the sentences into English:

1. What's in the bag?
   For example, What is in the bag?
2. Who will call Jim?
3. What happened to the computer?
4. Who turned off the light?
5. Who wants to go to the theater with me?
6. What's in the refrigerator?
7. Who broke the glasses?
8. Who watches football?

That's all. If you are interested in learning more about the English language, subscribe to the Viva Europe blog.

I was with you, a philologist of the English language, Ekaterina Martynova.
I wish everyone a good mood!

Subject Question, or a question to the subject in English, is one of five possible types of interrogative sentences. In terms of their structure, such phrases are among the simplest and most understandable. Therefore, it is important for foreign language learners to master them perfectly and ask their interlocutors correctly. Errors in this case show that the person is only at the initial stage of learning.

What it is?

So-called question to the subject in English– this is a clarification with the word Who (denotes people) or What (denotes inanimate things and animals). “Who told you?”, “What are you doing”?

Subject – the main subject or active living person. It is being talked about, or it is fulfilling active actions. May be absent (implicitly implied) in Russian speech. But in affirmative and exclamatory English sentences it is necessarily present explicitly. Moreover, it occupies a clearly designated place among other words. Usually expressed by a pronoun or noun, less often by a complex phrase. And only when questions are asked about the subject in English, the subject is replaced with a question word.

How to ask a question?

The order of words is preserved, and this is the simplicity of such phrases. Instead of a noun or pronoun denoting the subject, substitute what or who. Question words accompanied by verbs usually in the singular , although the answer may be multiple. Accordingly, verbs, modal and semantic, remain the same or change. If in an affirmative (exclamatory) sentence they were in the plural, they should be replaced with their analogues in the singular. The exception is to be in certain cases discussed below. For better understanding will be given different times. They will help you place it correctly question to the subject in English examples which are given in the text.

Present Simple

Here are the declarative sentences:

• Child plays football - a child plays football;
• The sun shines every day - the sun shines every day;
• Children play tennis – children play tennis;
• Clouds close the sun – clouds cover the sun;
• I stand here - I stand here;
• He stands there - he stands there;
• They walk anywhere - they walk everywhere.

Notice that the subject the sun consists of two separate words. In the simple present actions occur “in general” or regularly, not necessarily at the current moment . If asked, the corresponding questions to the subject in English would be:

• Who plays football?
• What shines every day?
• Who plays tennis?
• What closes the sun?
• Who stands here?
• Who stands there?
• Who walks anywhere?

The plural was replaced by the singular everywhere. Animate persons are designated by the word Who, inanimate objects - What.

Past Simple

Any question to a subject in English in the past tense is drawn up according to the same pattern as in the present, only instead of the first dictionary form of the verb, the second is used. For correct ones - with the standard ending -ed. For incorrect ones, you should look at the table if your memory fails.

• Who played today? – Who played today?
• Who ran yesterday? -Who was running yesterday?
• What prevented You from coming? -What stopped you from coming?

Future Simple

In the future tense, the scheme of a question to a subject in English is the simplest, since the modal verb will is not inflected for numbers and persons.

Eg:

• Who will play today? – Who will play today?
• What will remain here? – What will remain here?

A small nuance should be noted: the main verb is used here without the ending -s (-es), characteristic of the third person unit. numbers . This is not surprising, even in Russian “lies” and “will lie” are different word forms.

Present tense with to be

To be is used just like any other verb when put question to the subject in English. But it has many different forms, different from each other in spelling and pronunciation. They should be chosen and substituted correctly.

For example:

• Who is here?
• Who is rich?
• What is bread?
• Who are You?

As a rule, to be is used in the form is. The characteristic phrase “What is” is translated as “What is” and is often used in search engines. An exception is a direct question to the subject in English, addressed to one or many interlocutors - Who are You? Are is also substituted if there are obviously many persons or things in the subject.

Past tense with to be

When asking about a state or action that happened in the past, use the construction Who (What) + was + ...?

In the second person they ask in this way questions with who in English: Who were You? -Who were you? It is also necessary to substitute were if it is known in advance that the subject is numerous or, in principle, cannot be single.

Future tense with to be

Without options, will be is used:

• Who will be...?
• What will be...?

Features of use

Use with to be

Although questions to the subject in English are most often asked in the 3rd person singular, the answer varies. To "Who's There?" (Who is here?) you can answer: I am, She is, We are. In the past tense - I was, He was, They were.

With modal verbs

All modal verbs are the same when using different persons and numbers, so they are very easy to use.

For example: Who can come for a breakfast? – Who can come for breakfast?

With there is or there are

In this case, the order of words changes, first comes is (or are, was, were), then there. Who is there? or What is there?

Negative form of the question

The position of the negating particle not remains the same, as usual, only the subject is replaced by a question word:

• What does not bring good luck? – What doesn’t bring good luck?
• Who will not come home? – Who won’t come home?

How to answer?

Answer to question to the subject in English can be short and complete. Even a short, competent answer must contain a verb, not just a subject.

For example:

• Who came yesterday? -Who came yesterday?
• Your brother John did.

• Who plays today? – Who is playing today?
• Manchester United does.

• Who may enter? -Who can come in?
• All the people may.

Complete (long) answers to similar questions in English with who constructed by substituting the subject in place of the question word:

• Your brother John came yesterday.
• Manchester United plays today.
• All the people may enter.

Bottom line

Surely you already understand how they are formed in English questions to the subject, examples clearly demonstrate this process. Asking and answering this way is really easy. Some difficulties arise only when choosing a number for an interrogative sentence. When in doubt, it is always better to use the only one.

Different types of questions in English not only require different information that the interlocutor wants to receive in response. Each type of question is composed according to certain grammatical rules. Some questions are more difficult to ask, others easier, but all of them are necessary for competent and confident language proficiency.

Question to the subject - what question is this?

A question to the subject in English is necessary in situations where you need to clarify or find out who (or what) performs some action (predicate). Compared to other types of questions, subject questions in English are the simplest. In order to ask it, you do not need to change the order of words in the sentence.

Lima is browsing the Internet. Lima is surfing the Internet.

Who is the browsing Internet? - Who is on the Internet?

How to ask a question to a subject in English.

An affirmative sentence turns into a question to the subject when the subject is replaced with the question word Who (who) or What (what). In other types of questions, auxiliary verbs “do/does”, “did” are used in the Present and Past Simple tenses. They are not present in affirmative sentences, but for correct questions (with the exception of questions to the subject) they are necessary.

In questions to the subject, auxiliary verbs are not needed. It is enough to replace subject on question word, put a question mark at the end of the sentence and use interrogative intonation.

Mr. Stone hates chips. - Mr. Stone hates chips.

Who hates chips? - Who hates chips?

This book makes women cry. - This book makes women cry.

What makes women cry? - What makes women cry?

Features of predicates in questions to the subject.

In some tense forms of the English language, subject and predicate agreement is required. When forming a question to the subject in such tenses, you need to take into account that Who and What by default correspond to the 3rd person singular (the same as he, she, it). This means that, even if the statement was different, in the question to the subject:

1) in Present Simple an ending will be added to the predicate -s

They usually gather__ beautiful bouquets of sweet-smelling roses. - They usually collect bouquets of fragrant roses.

Who usually gather s beautiful bouquets of sweet-smelling roses? - Who usually collects bouquets of fragrant roses?

2) in Present Continuous the auxiliary verb would be is

We are meeting in the leaving room. - We meet in the living room.

Who is meeting in the living room? - Who meets in the living room?

3) in the Past Continuous the auxiliary verb will be was

They were getting the work done. - They did the job.

Who was getting the work done? - Who did the work?

3) in the Present Perfect the auxiliary verb will be has

I have always had a fear of heights. - I've always been afraid of heights.

Who has always had a fear of heights? -Who has always been afraid of heights?

When asking a question to a subject in the passive voice, you will also have to pay attention to the form of the auxiliary verb of the predicate:

1) in Present Simple Passive - is

All the sorrows are left behind. - All sorrows are left behind.

What is left behind? - What is left behind?

1) in Past Simpe Passive - was

These kids were seen in the hospital. - These children were seen in the hospital.

Who was seen in the hospital? -Who did you see in the hospital?

As with all rules, there is an exception to this one too. There are cases when Who and What refer to plural nouns. Sometimes you need to ask who (what) someone (something) is, and initially it is clear that they are asking about several objects (or people). Then the predicate (usually the verb to be) in the question to the subject is put in the plural form.

Those men are dentist s . - Those people are dentists.

Who are dentist s ? - Who are the dentists?

My father's tools were my favorite toy s . - My father's instruments were my favorite toys.

What were your favorite toy s ? - What were your favorite toys?

Questions to the subject - how to answer.

The correct answer to this type of question is:

• At first subject word to whom the question is asked
• Then auxiliary, corresponding to the form of the predicate.

This is where the answer can end. This is its short form. Of course, you can always use the full answer.

My cousin has helped them tremendously. - My cousin helped them tremendously.

Who has helped them tremendously? My cousin has. - Who helped them tremendously? My cousin.

Mrs. Stone reach ed into her handbag for the mirror. - Mrs. Stone reached into her purse for the mirror.

Who reach ed into her handbag for the mirror? Mrs. Stone did. - Who reached into the purse behind the mirror? Mrs Stone.

Examples of questions to the subject in English show that if you have no difficulties in composing affirmative proposals, asking such a question will also not be difficult.

The essence of any communication is the exchange of information. If you want to know something specific from your interlocutor, then you need to ask an informational question. In order for the interlocutor to understand exactly what information you want to receive from him, the correct question word plays an important role. In an information question, the question word should come first.

All question words, with the exception of How, begin with the letters Wh, so information questions are often called Wh-Questions. Question words can be one word, two words, or a whole phrase. Some words (what, how) form a series of interrogative combinations, which we will also pay attention to.

Many people find it difficult to remember all the question words at once, because at first glance they seem very similar. In addition, most of the question words have nuances in use that simply cannot be ignored.

I decided to introduce you to question words gradually, in doses, because I know from myself how difficult it is to quickly perceive a large amount of information. In my explanations, I will not limit myself to the translation of the question word and examples of questions with it, but will try to tell you as much as possible. Today we will look at the words who, whom and whose.

Who? - Who? (Who? To whom? By whom?)

This word is only used in questions about a person. When we ask a question with the word who , we want to get the person's name in response, or information about who that person is:

Who is it? - Who is this?
Who will help you? - Who will help you?
Who did you invite to the party? -Who did you invite to the party?
Who did they travel with? -Who did they travel with?

Questions with who can be of two types: questions to the subject and questions to the object. Depending on what exactly we want to ask, the structure of the question will change:

Who called you? - Who called you?
(question to the subject)
Who did you call? - Who did you call?
(question for addition)

I explained the difference between these questions in great detail in the article. If you find it difficult to understand the difference between these types of questions, I highly recommend that you read and understand.

Whom - Whom? By whom? To whom?

The interrogative word whom is very similar to who, even translated the same way, but is not used as often as who. If who can ask questions to the subject (Who?), then questions with whom imply a question only about the object: Whom? To whom? Rarely seen in modern colloquial speech, this word is more typical of the formal style:

Whom did you meet yesterday? -Who did you meet yesterday?
Whom is she calling? -Who is she calling?

Whom is often used in questions with verbs that require the preposition to, for, with, and others after them. For example: give, speak, talk, buy, send and many others. Therefore, questions with whom at the beginning can have a preposition at the end:

Who(m) did you talk to? - Who did you talk to?
Who(m) did he buy it for? - Who/for whom did he buy it?
Who(m) did you send the letter to? - Who did you send the letter to?

In all the examples above, you can replace who with whom. But if you have a very formal tone, then the preposition can come at the beginning of the sentence, before whom:

To whom did you talk to? - Who did you talk to?
With whom will you meet? -Who will you meet?

Whose? - Whose?

If you need to ask a question about who owns something, you will need the question word whose. Most often whose is used with a noun. If the question is about an object (whose object?), and from the communication situation it is clear what exactly the question is about (for example, you point to an object), then the noun may be omitted:

Whose (book) is this? - Whose book is this?
Whose (pencils) are those? - Whose pencils are they?

If you are asking about people, then the noun after whose cannot be removed:

Whose brother is he? -Whose brother is he?
Whose children are they? - Whose children are these?

The noun about which the question is being asked can also go to the end of the sentence. Then the auxiliary verb comes directly after the question word whose:

Whose is this book? - Whose book is this?
Whose are those pencils? - Whose pencils are they?
Whose are these children? - Whose children are these?

Since the owners of something are usually people, in response we expect to hear the person’s name in the possessive case, or a possessive pronoun. We discussed in detail how to answer questions with whose in the articles and.

Whose can also be used with prepositions. The preposition can appear at the very beginning of the question (more formal option) or at the end (less formal option):

With whose plan do you agree? -Whose plan do you agree with?
In whose house did you stay? - Whose house did you stay in?

And one last point. You can confuse the question word whose with the form who's, because they sound exactly the same. Who's is from who is or who has, so there is no auxiliary verb after it (it is shortened), and after whos e there is a regular, unabridged auxiliary verb:

Who's this? - Who is this?
Who's got a pen? -Who has a pen?
Who's done that? - Who did it?
Whose is this? - Whose is this?

In the next article on questions, I will tell you about question words. And the next article will be devoted to the question words where, when, how. If you have any questions, write to us and leave comments.

One of the most difficult topics in class is consideredquestions with who in English. But in fact, everything is quite simple, since in these questions you don’t even need to use auxiliary verbs. And the word order remains exactly the same as in a regular declarative sentence. Questions withwhoare quite common in English, so it is important to learn how to formulate them correctly.

Questions with who in English. Construction scheme

Regarding word order in questions with who in English, then it is universal. Pay attention to the following diagram:

Who + main verb (often in the 3rd person singular) + other parts of the sentence

Why don't these questions use an auxiliary verb? For the reason that the question is addressed to a person or thing, instead of which in our question we use who. Let's look at examples:

1. A: Who wrote that novel? – Who wrote that novel?

B: Anna did. - Anna.

2. A: Who is speaking? - Who is speaking?

Q: Tom is. - Volume.

It should be noted that such questions occur not only with the word who. Can be applied which, what, whose and even how many. How to figure it out then? You can simply try replacing the question word or phrase with who. If the meaning of the sentence does not change, you need to use the rules for questions with who in English.

For example:

A: How many people came to the meeting? – How many people came to the meeting?

Q: Six people came to the meeting. – Six people came to the meeting.

Questions with who in English. Examples

Below are other examples questions with who(which, what, whose…) in English.

There is another interesting question that always sounds without an auxiliary verb. This What happened? (What's happened?)

Why are questions starting with who so important?

Is it worth focusing on this topic? Why so important questions starting with who? Let's try to figure it out using the following suggestions.