Questions 1

Word Order in Questions

In questions, the subject comes after the first verb, not before it.

Statement	Question
Tom will be here.	Will Tom be here tomorrow?
You have been working hard.	Have you been working hard?
The office was renovated.	When was the office renovated?

The subject always goes after the first verb:

• *Is Katherine working today?* (not Is working Katherine?)
• *Has the shipment arrived yet?*

Do / Does / Did in Questions

In present simple questions, use do or does:

Statement	Question
You live near here.	Do you live near here?
The meeting starts at nine.	What time does the meeting start?

In past simple questions, use did:

Statement	Question
You sold the equipment.	Did you sell the equipment?
The server stopped working.	Why did the server stop?

Notice that after do/does/did you use the base form of the verb (sell, stop), not the past or -s form.

Who / What as Subject — No Do/Does/Did

When who, what, which, or how many is the subject of the question, do not use do/does/did.

Compare these two patterns:

Who/what is the object	Who/what is the subject
Emma called somebody.	Somebody called Emma.
Who did Emma call?	Who called Emma?

More examples where who/what/which is the subject:

• *Who wants something to eat?* (not Who does want?)
• *What happened at the meeting last night?* (not What did happen?)
• *How many people came to the presentation?* (not How many people did come?)
• *Which department handles payroll?* (not Which department does handle?)

Prepositions at the End of Questions

In questions starting with who / what / which / where, prepositions usually go at the end.

• *Where are you from?*
• *Who do you want to speak to?*
• *Which position has Tina applied for?*
• *What was the weather like?*

In formal writing, you can place the preposition before whom:

• To whom do you wish to speak?

Negative Questions

Use negative questions to show surprise:

• *Didn’t you hear the announcement? I sent it three times.*

Or when you expect the other person to agree with you:

• ”Haven’t we met before?” “Yes, I think we have.”

Watch how yes and no work in answers to negative questions:

Question	Answer	Meaning
Don’t you want to go?	Yes.	Yes, I want to go.
Don’t you want to go?	No.	No, I don’t want to go.

Negative questions are common with why:

• *Why don’t we eat out tonight?* (not Why we don’t eat out?)
• *Why wasn’t the manager at the meeting yesterday?* (not Why the manager wasn’t?)

Quick Self-Check