What are the rules for “wh” questions in English?

“Wh” questions are one of the most common types of questions in English. Luckily, by learning a few rules, you’ll be able to use these questions with ease!

In this post:

• What are “wh” questions?
• What are the English “wh” words?
• How do you form “wh” questions in English?
  • “Wh” questions that ask about the subject
  • “Wh” questions that ask about the object or an adverb
    • How to form “wh” questions with auxiliaries, modals, and forms of be
    • How to form “wh” questions with forms of do
• Examples of English “wh” questions
  • “Wh” questions with a question word for the subject
  • “Wh” questions with a question word for the object or an adverb

What are “wh” questions?

“Wh” questions are questions that start with a “wh” word (like who, what, or why). For example:

• Who took my jacket?
• What are they eating for dinner?
• Why was your sister not here yesterday?

While yes/no questions are simply asking whether something is true or not, you can find out details like when, where, who, or why using “wh” questions.

What are the “wh” words in English?

There are six common “wh” words in English (though, look out—there’s one English “wh” word that doesn't actually start with "wh"!):

In addition to the question words above, “wh” questions can also start with phrases using how many (like how many books) or which (like which house).

How to form “wh” questions

In English, “wh” questions generally start with a “wh” word followed by a verb. The choice of verb and the word order depend on what the question is asking about. To successfully form “wh” questions, you need to know whether the missing information—and the “wh” word that represents it—is the subject of the sentence or something else.

How to form “wh” questions that ask about the subject

In “wh” questions that ask about the subject, the “wh” word itself is the subject of the question. For example, you might know that someone ate your pizza, but you’re not sure who. You can ask about this using a “wh” word.

As a general rule, “wh” questions that ask about the subject are formed with a “wh” word followed by the verb and the rest of the sentence. In these questions, the word order stays the same as in a statement—you simply put a “wh” word in subject position. For example:

How to form “wh” questions about anything other than the subject

Sometimes in “wh” questions, the “wh” word stands in for the object or an adverb in the sentence. For example, you might know that Lily is calling someone, but you don’t know who. Or you might know that Junior is hiding somewhere, but you’re not sure where. You can ask about this type of information using a “wh” word, too:

“Wh” questions that ask about the object or an adverb look a bit different from those that ask about the subject. They usually begin with a “wh” word followed by an auxiliary, a modal, a form of the verb be, or a form of the verb do, and then the subject. What comes after the subject depends on the type of verb the question uses.

“Wh” questions with auxiliaries, modals, and forms of the verb be

If the answer to your “wh” question will contain an auxiliary verb (like has or will), a modal verb (like should or can), or a form of the verb be (like is or were) as the main verb, you simply use that same auxiliary, modal or form of the verb be to form your “wh” question:

If your “wh” question includes an auxiliary verb or a modal verb in addition to the main verb, the main verb comes after the subject. For example:

If a form of be is the main verb, there is no additional verb after the subject. For example:

“Wh” questions with a form of the verb do

If the answer to your “wh” question won’t contain an auxiliary, modal, or a form of the verb be, use a form of the verb do as the auxiliary in your “wh” question.

The form of do comes after the “wh” word—just like other auxiliaries, modals, or forms of be. If your question is in the present tense, you use do or does, depending on the subject of the sentence. Does is used for third person singular subjects (like he, she, or your cousin), and do is used for all others. If your question is in the past tense, you use did for all subjects. Whether in the present or past tense—the form of do is followed by the subject and the main verb. For example:

In “wh” questions that use a form of do, the main verb always needs to be in its bare form. This means that if the main verb appears in the past tense or has a third person -s in a statement, it will look different in the “wh” question. Anything the main verb tells you about tense or grammatical person in a statement is carried by the form of do in these “wh” questions instead:

(By the way, you’ll see the same pattern in yes/no questions! When they use a form of do, the main verb also has to appear in its bare form.)

Get all the information you need with “wh” questions!

“Wh” questions can help you get the information you need, whether you're on vacation in a new city or taking college classes in another country. They might seem complicated at first, but they’ll get easier with practice!

Examples of “wh” questions in English

“Wh” questions with a question word for the subject

• Who can help me make dinner?
• What is making all that noise?
• Who has never been skydiving?
• What happened to these trees?
• Who runs faster than you?

“Wh” questions with a question word for the object or an adverb

With to be, modals, and auxiliaries

• Why is the cat hungry again?
• When should you receive the answer?
• How can you eat so many fries?!
• Where have you been playing chess with Sarah?
• Who are you looking for?

With to do

• Who did you give the flowers to?
• What does this graph tell us about the data?
• Where do the employees go for lunch?
• When did our parents become cool?
• Why does your roommate wake up so early?