WH Questions

  

WH- words - Easy Learning Grammar

The WH- words are also called interrogatives. They are used for WH- questions. They can be determiners, adverbs, or pronouns.

WH- determiners

When used as determiners, what, which, or whose can be used to ask questions:

• about nouns

• What book are you reading?
• Which plane is he catching?
• Whose jacket is this?

• or about the pronoun one or ones.

• Which one would you like?
• Which ones did Ruth want?

• The determiner which can be used in questions about selecting. It can also be used together with the preposition of for the same purpose.

• Which colour shall we use?
• Which book sells the most copies?
• Which of these colours shall we use?
• Of all your novels,which of them did you enjoy writing the most?

• The determiner whose asks about possession with reference to a person as the possessor.

• Whose mother did you say she was?
• Whose bag is this?

WH- adverbs

The adverb WH- words, when, where, how, and why, always make the sentence follow the interrogative word order.

• When asks about time.

• When will they arrive?
• When shall I see you again?

• Where asks about place.

• Where are you going?
• Where have you been?
• Where is your coat?

• How asks about manner.

• How did you get here? – We came by train.
• How does this thing work?

• Why asks about reasons and purpose. Questions with why are usually answered with a clause containing because to express reason, or with the to infinitive to express purpose.

• Why is the baby crying? – Because she’s hungry.
• Why are you saving your money? – To buy a bike.

• How much implies reference to a quantity; how many implies reference to an amount or a countable number of things but may leave out the noun referred to.

• How much money did they take? – All of it.
• How much does it cost? – £4.20.
• How many packs do you want? – Twelve, please.
• How many do you want? – Twelve, please.

• How can also be used with adjectives such as old, big, far, or with adverbs such as often, soon, quickly to ask about degree, rate, or timing.

• How far is it to the station? – About five kilometres.
• How often does he come? – Not very often.

WH- pronouns

The pronouns who, whose, which, and what can be the subject or object of a verb.

• Who can help me?
• Whose is the new sports car outside?
• Which was your best subject at school?
• What happened next?
• What have you got to take with you to camp?

The interrogative pronoun whose is used when the question is asked about a person as the possessor of something. See also Pronouns on interrogative and relative pronouns.

• Whose is the motorbike parked outside?
• Whose is this?

• The form whom is used as the object of a verb or of a preposition in very formal or old-fashioned English.

• Whom did you talk to?
• Whom would you rather have as a boss?

Modern English usage prefers who instead of whom in all but the most formal contexts.

• Who did you talk to?
• Who would you rather have as a boss?

When whom is used as the object of a preposition, it normally follows the preposition.

• To whom did you speak?
• With whom did she go?

When who is used, the preposition is placed at the end of the clause.

• Who did you speak to?
• Who did she go with?

The WH- subject pronouns are found in the same sentence order as statements:   WH- subject pronoun + the main verb.

• Who can help me?
• Whose is that motorbike parked outside?
• Which was your best subject at school?
• What happened next?

The WH- object pronouns make the sentence take the word order of a question:   WH- object pronoun + primary or modal auxiliary + subject + base form of the verb.

• What do you have to take with you to camp?
• What has Jonathan done now?

• The exception to this is in informal spoken English, when the speaker wants to show shock or disbelief.

• You did what?

Comma Rules

  

Comma Rules (,) When to Use Commas in English

 

A comma (,) is a punctuation mark used to denote a pause in the sentence (shorter than a colon or a semicolon). A comma is used to show the difference between two separate ideas or elements within a sentence. Commas have other users as well, as they can be used to separate numbers, and write dates.

 

Comma Rules

 

1. We use commas to separate a series of words
2. To separate a series of phrases
3. To connect two independent clauses
4. To set off introductory phrases or clauses
5. Used after certain words that introduce a sentence
6. To separate the parenthetical elements
7. To separate coordinate adjectives
8. To separate the quoted parts
9. To set off phrases to express contrast
10. To avoid confusion
11. To set off expressions that interrupt the sentence flow
12. To separate dates, years, addresses…
13. To separate a statement from a tag question

 

When to Use Commas with Example Sentences

Separate a Series of Words

 

We use commas between words in a series. Notice that a comma does not follow the last word in the series.

 

Examples

 

• See, listen, and be silent, and you will live in peace.
• He was tall, dark, and handsome.
• Do you want some cakes, candies or ice cream?

 

Separate a Series of Phrases

 

Examples

 

• I like reading books, listening to music, watching TV, and studying English.

 

Connect Two Independent Clauses

 

We use commas to separate two complete statements.

 

Examples

 

• It’s an old car, but it’s very reliable.
• I was feeling hungry, so I made myself a sandwich.
• Although she is very poor, she has not lost her dignity.
• He walked all the way home, and he shut the door.

 

Set off Introductory Phrases or Clauses

 

We use a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence.

 

• Having finally arrived in town, we went shopping.
• As the day came to an end, the fire fighters put out the last spark.
• Talking with her, you’d try to head off your happy marriage.

 

After Certain Words that Introduce a Sentence

 

Examples

 

• Well, I’m not going home on foot, at any rate.
• Hey, don’t tell me what to do.
• Yes, I’ll be there. Thanks for reminding me.

 

Separate the Parenthetical Elements

 

A parenthetical element adds extra information and can be removed from the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence.

 

Examples

 

• Football, which is a popular sport, is very good for health.
• My grandmother, old and sick, never goes out of the house.
• We visited Sydney Opera House, Australia, last week.

 

Separate Coordinate Adjectives

 

We place commas between adjectives, if two ore more adjectives modify a noun in the same way. These are called coordinate adjectives which can be identified by the fact that the word and can be inserted between them and their order can be reversed.

 

Example

 

• Followers feel energetic, confident and happy.
• He is a competent, efficient worker.

 

Separate the Quoted Parts

 

Examples

 

• He asked,”Do you want to go with me?”
• The teacher asked, “Do you love English?”
• “I don’t think you should do that,” he said.

 

Set off Phrases to Express Contrast

We also use commas to set off contrasting expressions beginning with not, but…

 

Examples

 

• Money is a good servant, but a bad master.
• The golden age is before us, not behind us.
• Adversity makes a man wise, not rich.

 

Avoid Confusion

 

We also add a comma in some cases to make a sentence clear.

 

Examples

 

• For most, the year is already finished.
• I saw that she was busy, and prepared to leave.

 

Set off Expressions that Interrupt the Sentence Flow

 

Examples

 

• This, after all, is a company which is awash with cash.
• On the other hand, many women choose to go out to work.
• We all tried our best. However, we lost the game.

 

Separate Dates, Years, Addresses…

 

Examples

 

• We will meet Friday, July 15.
• I was born in August 26, 2001.
• The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500.

 

Separate a Statement from a Tag Question

 

We use this punctuation mark to set off a tag question which is used at the end of the statement to ask for confirmation.

 

• There weren’t any problems when you talked to Jack, were there?
• Let’s take the next bus, shall we?
• We have never seen that, have we?
• You’re moving to London, are you?
• This will work, won’t it?
• There‘s nothing wrong, is there?

Grammar Vocabulary

  

Active voice

In the active voice, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President). See also Passive Voice.

 

Adjective

A word like big, red, easy, French etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.

 

Adverb

A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb.

 

Article

The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the.

 

Auxiliary verb

A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary verbs.

 

Clause

A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he arrived).

 

Conjunction

A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if).

 

Infinitive

The basic form of a verb as in to work or work.

 

Interjection

An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!).

 

Modal verb

An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb".

 

Noun

A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept, person or place. A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car. An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness. A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar). An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music, money).

 

Object

In the active voice, a noun or its equivalent that receives the action of the verb. In the passive voice, a noun or its equivalent that does the action of the verb.

 

Participle

The -ing and -ed forms of verbs. The -ing form is called the "present participle". The -ed form is called the "past participle" (for irregular verbs, this is column 3).

 

Part of speech

One of the eight classes of word in English - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection.

 

Passive voice

In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb (eg The President was killed). See also Active Voice.

 

Phrase

A group of words not containing a subject and its verb (eg on the table, the girl in a red dress).

 

Predicate

Each sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The predicate is what is said about the subject.

 

Preposition

A word like at, to, in, over etc. Prepositions usually come before a noun and give information about things like time, place and direction.

 

Pronoun

A word like I, me, you, he, him, it etc. A pronoun replaces a noun.

 

Sentence

A group of words that express a thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question, exclamation or command. A sentence contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).

 

Subject

Every sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the main noun (or equivalent) in a sentence about which something is said.

 

Tense

The form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future.

 

Verb

A word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state.