Today we have got a complete list of wh-family question words to give you a concise overview of how they are used, along with some sentence examples.
What if there were no what ifs? Do you remember what kind of conversation you had when you just started talking? Well on the behalf of your mother let me tell you, you were too curious about anything and everything and your questions were endless. It is not always easy to keep up our good habits, so with our lost childhood we lost an era of curiosity… actually instead of asking out loud we thought to keep it to ourselves and that is when our life changed. However asking question is very important.
Think about when we didn’t know anything and asking some lead us know some, and asking more would only make our life better because knowledge is endless and someone who thinks he/she knows everything is considered a fool and nothing more. A wise person always adds up to his knowledge and does not settle for less . With this we would enter to a family living in English, which is very helpful and has never failed to help us throughout our life and we all know it and will, till the end of the time and the family is “wh family.”
“Wh” family Words to Ask Open Question
“Wh words” are used as function words in English grammar and are symbolic for words which are used in wh question. There are two types of questions, yes/no questions and the wh-question.
We call them open questions because the number of possible responses is limitless. This means they must be answered with more data not just with simple “yes” or “no.”
We refer to these words as WH words because they include the letters WH (for example WHy, HoW). Wh-questions are called so because we can see all the words start with wh (except how).
Here is the list of wh- English question words:
- Who/whom
- What
- When
- Where
- Which
- Why
- Whose
- How
1. Who / Whom
The words ‘Who’ and ‘whom’ are used to obtain information about a person or people behind the action.
- Who is at the door?
- Who left the door open ?
- Whom did you give your bag?
2. What
The English word What is used to request information about somebody or something.
- What are you doing here ?
- What did your mom say?
3. When
The word ‘When’ is used to obtain information about the time period in which an action occurs.
- When did you wake up?
- When can I see you again?
4. Where
The English word ‘Where’ is used to obtain information about the location of a person or thing.
- Where are your shoes?
- Where do you live?
5. Which
The English word ‘Which’ is used to obtain information in order to make a comparison between two or more similar things or people.
- Which is your pen?
- Which author do you enjoy?
6. Why
The English word ‘Why’ is used to obtain information about the reason something happens, or the reason somebody does something.
- Why are you sad?
- Why is the university off?
7. Whose
The word ‘Whose’ is used to obtain information about who something belongs to.
- Whose idea it was?
- Whose book is on table?
8. How
The English word ‘How’ is used to obtain information about the way something happens, or the manner or way somebody behaves or does something.
- How has the weather been?
- How was the tea?
List of Wh- Question Words with Examples
To make the things more simple to understand and clear our concepts of question words we have got a nice table for you guys.
| Question Word | Meaning / function | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| what | used asking for gathering data about person, place or thing. ; asking for repeating or confirming | What is your age?; What? She can’t hear you. You did what? |
| what…for | used for asking reason and asking why | What did she do that for? |
| when | used for asking about time | When did she leave? |
| where | to know about a place or position | Where do you live? |
| which | asking about someone’s choice | Which food do you want? |
| who | asking about what or which person or people (subject) | Who opened the door for you? |
| whom | asking about what or which person or people (object) | Whom did she see? |
| whose | used for asking about ownership | Whose are these toys? Whose car is it? |
| why | asking for reason, asking what…for | Why do he say that? |
| why don’t | usually used for making a suggestion | Why don’t they help you? |
| how | asking about manner or process; asking about condition, quality or result | How does this thing works?; How was your race? |
| how + adj/adv | we use it for asking about extent or degree | see following examples |
| how far | to get information about distance | How far is Varanasi from New Delhi? |
| how long | length (time or space) | How long will it take to reach Chennai? |
| how many | to know the quantity (countable) | How many cars do you have? |
| how much | quantity (uncountable) | How much money do they have? |
| how old | to get age data | How old is she? |
| how come (informal) | asking for reason, asking why about something | How come I can’t see him? |
The above table could also be used as a good reference point in case of confusion.
With this we end here and remember don’t let any what if sink! Never quench your thirst of knowing more and more because “If you want the answer- ask the question.” – Lorii Myers
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