Subject and object questions
Asking questions
1. Subject and object questions
In English there are two different types of questions using question words:
When we want to know who or what performs the action.
2. Structure of object questions
The object questions are the most common questions in English. They are used to find out where, when, why... the subject performs a certain action, that is, we ask questions about the complements of a sentence.
These types of questions follow the structure below:
Let's imagine we have the following sentence:
We can ask two object questions:
What did Jeremy buy in Ireland?
QW + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb + complement (adverbial of place)
Where did Jeremy buy this nice mug?
QW + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb + direct object
The auxiliary verb depends on the verb tense used. In this case it's did because the verb in the sentence Jeremy bought a nice mug in Ireland is in the simple past tense.
3. Structure of subject questions
Subject questions are used to find out who or what performs the action, i.e. we ask questions about the subject of a sentence.
These types of questions follow the structure below:
We will take the same sentence as above as a reference:
In this case we can only ask one subject question:
Who bought this nice mug in Ireland?
Question word + main verb + direct object + adverbial of place?
If we wanted to use the usual structure (object question), we would see that it's not possible, as the answer would be in the question:
Who did Jeremy buy this nice mug in Ireland?
QW + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb + direct object + adverbial of place?
4. Comments on subject questions
- QWs usually used with subject questions are the following:
Question word Examples WHO? Who answered the phone? WHAT? What happended at the party? WHICH?1 Which car arrived first? WHOSE?1 Whose dog bit you? HOW MANY?1 How many people attended the concert? 1With how many, whose and which, we can put a noun after the question word if necessary.
- Although in object questions we always need an auxiliary verb, in subject questions in present simple and past simple, the auxiliary verb (do / does / did) is omitted.
Who goes to bed early?
How many athletes took part in the race?When the verb tense needs an auxiliary or modal verb in all its forms, it will not be omitted.
Who is eating an apple?
Who should buy a new car?
Remember!
| Use | Structure | |
|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT QUESTIONS | Who or what performs the action | Question word + main verb + (complement)? |
| - Who gave you the sweets? - Grandma. | ||
| OBJECT QUESTIONS | How, when, where... the subject performs an action | QW + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb + (complement)? |
| - Where does you sister live? - In Chicago. |