Question Words in English

Overview

Question words (also called WH-words because most start with "wh") are essential tools for gathering information. The basic question words in English are: what, where, when, who, why, how. They allow you to ask about things, places, times, people, reasons, and manner.

At the A1 (Beginner) level, question words are among the most practical vocabulary you can learn. They enable you to have real conversations, ask for help, get directions, and learn about people. Without question words, your communication would be limited to yes/no questions.

English question words always come at the beginning of the sentence, followed by an auxiliary verb (do/does, am/is/are, can, etc.) and then the subject. This word order is different from many other languages.

How It Works

The six basic question words

Word	Asks about	Example
What	Things, actions, definitions	What is your name?
Where	Places, locations	Where do you live?
When	Time	When is the meeting?
Who	People	Who is that?
Why	Reasons	Why are you late?
How	Manner, method	How do you get to work?

Word order

Question word + auxiliary + subject + main verb?

• What do you want?
• Where does she live?
• When is the train?
• Who are those people?

"How" combinations

"How" combines with adjectives and adverbs to ask about degree and quantity:

Combination	Asks about	Example
How old	Age	How old are you?
How long	Duration or length	How long is the movie?
How far	Distance	How far is the station?
How often	Frequency	How often do you exercise?
How tall	Height	How tall is she?

When "who/what" is the subject

When the question word IS the subject, you do not use do/does:

Subject question	Object question
Who lives here? (who = subject)	Who do you live with? (who = object)
What happened? (what = subject)	What did you see? (what = object)

Examples in Context

English	Note
What is your name?	Asking for information
Where do you live?	Asking about place
How old are you?	"How" + adjective
Why are you late?	Asking for a reason
When does the shop close?	Asking about time
Who is your teacher?	Asking about a person
How do you spell that?	Asking about method
What do you do?	Asking about someone's job (idiomatic)
Where are you from?	Asking about origin
How long does it take?	Duration
Who wants coffee?	"Who" as subject -- no "do"
Why don't we go outside?	Suggestion using "why"

Common Mistakes

Wrong word order

• Wrong: Where you live?
• Right: Where do you live?
• Why: After the question word, you need an auxiliary verb (do/does/is/are/can) before the subject. The exception is when who/what is the subject.

Using "do" with "to be" questions

• Wrong: What do is your name?
• Right: What is your name?
• Why: When the main verb is "to be," just invert the subject and "is/are." Do not add "do/does."

Confusing "what" and "which"

• Wrong: What color do you prefer, red or blue? (when offering specific choices)
• Right: Which color do you prefer, red or blue?
• Why: "Which" is used when there is a limited set of options. "What" is for open-ended questions. However, this distinction is flexible in casual English.

Confusing "who" and "what" for jobs

• Wrong: Who is she? (meaning: what is her job?)
• Right: What does she do? or What is she? (for professions)
• Why: "Who is she?" asks for a name or identity. "What does she do?" asks about her profession.

Usage Notes

In informal spoken English, question words sometimes appear at the end of a sentence for emphasis or surprise: "You live where?" "She said what?" This is called an echo question and is used to express disbelief or ask for repetition.

British and American English use question words in the same way. There are no regional differences.

"How come?" is an informal alternative to "why" that uses statement word order: "How come you're late?" (not "How come are you late?"). It is very common in spoken American English.

Practice Tips

• Play the question game: For each question word, try to write three questions you might ask a new friend. This builds a library of useful questions for real conversations.
• Answer and ask back: When someone tells you something, practice forming a follow-up question. "I live in Berlin." -- "How long have you lived there?" or "Where in Berlin?"
• Listen for question patterns: When watching English-language content, notice how questions are formed. Pay special attention to the word order after the question word.

Related Concepts

• Next steps: Which, How much, How many -- additional question words for choices and quantities