Blog about English
Using interrogative words and phrases correctly.
Question words identify the type of information that a speaker is asking for.
Common interrogative words include who, whom, whose, what, which, where, when, why, and how.
Who asks about a person or people.
For example, Who is that? and Who called you?
Whom is the traditional objective form of who and is mainly used in formal English.
For example, Whom did you invite? is formal, while Who did you invite? is standard in most everyday contexts.
Who is now widely used for both subject and object roles, while whom is mainly retained in formal object contexts and after prepositions.
For example, Who did you meet? is ordinary English, while To whom did you speak? is formal.
Whose asks about possession, ownership, or association.
For example, Whose coat is this? and Whose idea was it?
Whose can function as a determiner directly before a noun.
For example, Whose car is that? and Whose book did you borrow?
Whose can also function independently without a following noun when the possessed item is understood.
For example, Whose is this? and Whose are those keys?
What asks about things, information, actions, or identities when the possible answer is not treated as a limited choice.
For example, What happened? What do you need? and What is your name?
What can occur before a noun to ask for information about the type, identity, or nature of something.
For example, What time is it? What kind of music do you like?
Which asks someone to select or identify an item from a defined, known, or limited set.
For example, Which option do you prefer? and Which bus goes to the centre?
Which can occur directly before a noun when the speaker asks the listener to identify one item from a known set.
For example, Which book did you buy?
Which can occur without a following noun when the noun or choice is already understood.
For example, Which do you prefer?
What generally asks about an open range of possibilities, while which generally asks for selection from a limited or identifiable set.
For example, What do you want to eat? versus Which dessert do you want, the cake or the ice cream?
Where asks about place, location, or destination.
For example, Where do you live? Where is the station? and Where did they go?
When asks about time or the point at which an event occurs.
For example, When did she arrive? and When will the meeting start?
Why asks about reason, cause, or purpose depending on context.
For example, Why did you leave? and Why is the system failing?
How asks about manner, method, condition, or degree.
For example, How did you solve it? and How are you feeling?
How can be followed by an adjective to ask about degree or extent.
For example, How old are you? How difficult is it? and How expensive was the repair?
How can be followed by an adverb to ask about the degree or manner of an action.
For example, How quickly can you finish? and How carefully should I check it?
How much asks about the amount of an uncountable noun, price, or degree.
For example, How much water do you need? and How much does it cost?
How many asks about the number of countable plural nouns.
For example, How many students are there?
How long can ask about duration, physical length, or the extent of a period or process.
For example, How long have you lived here? and How long is the bridge?
How often asks about frequency.
For example, How often do you exercise?
How far asks about physical distance or the extent of movement or progress.
For example, How far is the station? and How far have you travelled?
How soon asks about the amount of time before an expected future event.
For example, How soon can you start? and How soon will they arrive?
How old asks about age.
For example, How old is your brother?
How far normally asks about distance, while how long can ask about duration or physical length.
For example, How far is the station? versus How long is the journey?
How much is used with uncountable nouns and how many with countable plural nouns.
For example, How much money? but How many books?
What kind of asks about the type or category to which something belongs.
For example, What kind of music do you like?
What sort of and what type of can ask about category or characteristics, with differences mainly in register and collocation.
For example, What sort of books do you read? and What type of software do you use?
What time asks for a specific clock time.
For example, What time does the train leave?
What for can ask about purpose in informal English and is often equivalent to why or what is the purpose of.
For example, What did you do that for? asks about the reason or purpose of an action.
How come is a conversational expression used to ask why and normally keeps statement word order.
For example, How come you are late?
Question words can combine with prepositions, either with the preposition stranded or placed before the question phrase in formal English.
For example, Who are you talking to? and To whom are you talking?
Some question words can be followed by a to-infinitive when the meaning and understood subject are clear.
For example, what to do, where to go, how to begin, and which one to choose.
Choose the question word according to the information required and use the correct countability, possession, selection, degree, time, place, or manner pattern.
Common mistakes include confusing what with which, how much with how many, whose with who's, how long with how often, and how far with how long.