Collins Cobuild

Unit 6
‘Wh’-questions
Main points
You  use  ‘who’,  ‘whom’,  and  ‘whose’  to  ask  about  people,  and
‘which’ to ask about people or things.
You  use  ‘what’  to  ask  about  things,  and  ‘what  for’  to  ask  about
reasons and purposes.
You use ‘how’ to ask about the way something happens.
You use ‘when’ to ask about times, ‘why’ to ask about reasons, and
‘where’ to ask about places and directions.
1
You use ‘who’, ‘whom’, or ‘whose’ in questions about people. ‘Who’ is
used to ask questions about the subject or object of the verb, or about
the object of a preposition.
Who discovered this?
Who did he marry?
Who did you dance with?
In  formal  English,  ‘whom’  is  used  as  the  object  of  a  verb  or
preposition. The preposition always comes in front of ‘whom’.
Whom did you see?
For whom were they supposed to do it?

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You  use  ‘whose’  to  ask  which  person  something  belongs  to  or  is
related to. ‘Whose’ can be the subject or the object.
Whose is nearer?
Whose did you prefer, hers or mine?
2
You use ‘which’ to ask about one person or thing, out of a number of
people or things. ‘Which’ can be the subject or object.
Which is your son?
Which does she want?
3
 You  use  ‘what’  to  ask  about  things,  for  example  about  actions  and
events. ‘What’ can be the subject or object.
What has happened to him?
What is he selling?
What will you talk about?
You  use  ‘what…for’  to  ask  about  the  reason  for  an  action,  or  the
purpose of an object.
What are you going there for?
What are those lights for?
4
You use ‘how’ to ask about the way in which something happens or is
done.
How did you know we were coming?
How are you going to get home?
You  also  use  ‘how’  to  ask  about  the  way  a  person  or  thing  feels  or
looks.
‘How are you?’ – ‘Well, how do I look?’
5
‘How’ is also used:

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• with adjectives to ask about the degree of quality that someone or
something has
How good are you at Maths?
How hot shall I make the curry?
• with adjectives such as ‘big’, ‘old’, and ‘far’ to ask about size, age,
and distance
How old are your children?
How far is it to Montreal from here?
Note that you do not normally use ‘How small’, ‘How young’, or ‘How
near’.
• with adverbs such as ‘long’ and ‘often’ to ask about time, or ‘well’ to
ask about abilities
How long have you lived here?
How well can you read?
•  with  ‘many’  and  ‘much’  to  ask  about  the  number  or  amount  of
something
How many were there?
How much did he tell you?
6
You use ‘when’ to ask about points in time or periods of time, ‘why’ to
ask about the reason for an action, and ‘where’ to ask about place and
direction.
When are you coming home?
When were you in London?
Why are you here?
Where is the station?
Where are you going?

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You can also ask about direction using ‘which direction…in’ or ‘which
way’.
Which direction did he go in?
Which way did he go?

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