Question Words
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson goal
In this lesson you will learn to use Question Words 📖 correctly, to ask clear and natural questions. You will see when and how to use them 🧠, how to avoid the most common mistakes 🚫 and at the end you can test yourself with the quiz at the bottom of the page! 🚀
🌟 What are Question Words?
Question Words are words we use to ask about people, places, things, reasons or ways of doing things. They begin open questions, which are questions you can’t answer with just “yes” or “no”.
🔍 The main Question Words
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| What | Things / information | What is your name? |
| Where | Place 📍 | Where do you live? |
| When | Time ⏰ | When is your birthday? |
| Who | Chi | Who is your best friend? |
| Why | Reason ❓ | Why are you sad? |
| How | Come | How are you? |
📌 Practical examples
- What → to ask for general information or things
What do you want to eat? - Where → to ask about places
Where is the station? - When → to ask about a time
When does the show start? - Who → to ask about people
Who called you? - Why → to ask about reasons
Why are you late? - How → to ask about the way, the amount or the state of something
How do you travel to work?
🧩 Summary table
| Word | What it asks | Example |
|---|---|---|
| What | Objects / Things | What is your favourite food? |
| Where | Places | Where do you live? |
| When | Time / Moments | When is the meeting? |
| Who | People | Who is your teacher? |
| Why | Reasons | Why are you crying? |
| How | Ways / States | How do you cook pasta? |
❓ Frequently asked questions
- Do questions always start with a Question Word?
✔️ Only when you want to ask for detailed information. For yes/no questions we use forms like “Are you…?”, “Do you…?” - Can “How” combine with other words?
✔️ Yes! Here are some common combinations:
How much (what amount or price?), How many (what number?), How long (what length of time?) - Does the verb change after the Question Word?
✔️ Yes, it follows the normal grammar rules:
What do you like? – What does she like? – Why is he crying?
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| Where you live? | Where do you live? |
| What you are doing? | What are you doing? |
| Why he cry? | Why does he cry? |
👉 Remember: after the Question Word, build the question with the rules of the present simple or the correct verb!
Gap Fill & Translation Exercises
Test yourself! In the first 15 sentences, write the correct Question Word (What, Where, When, Who, Why, How). In the last 5, write the question in English from the situation given.