2.2.11: How to Make Information Questions
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How to Make Information Questions
Another name for information questions is WH questions because most of the time the question words begin with the letters WH. Teachers sometimes say information questions and other times WH questions. There is no difference; they are the same.
Information questions ask for more than just a yes or no answer. For example, when I say, “Are you listening to me now? I expect you to answer either yes or no. However, if I ask, Who are you listening to now? I expect an answer to the question Who. That answer would be, for example, Don, you, the teacher. All of these would be correct; yes or no would not be correct. For another example, if I ask Which room are you sitting in right now? I expect you to say We are sitting in room CAS 210. If you answered that question with yes or no, I would laugh because I am expecting some information, not yes or no.
Information questions always begin with an interrogative word. Below is a list of the interrogative words and their meanings in English:
Who replaces people in the subject position
Whom replaces people in the object position in formal English
Which replaces a choice of more than one possibility
What replaces things in the subject and object positions
Whose replaces a possessive noun or a possessive adjective
Where replaces a place
When replaces time
What time asks for a specific time
Why asks for a reason
How much asks for a non-countable quantity
How many asks for a countable quantity
How asks for a method or means of doing something
What kind of asks for a description of something
Be careful when making questions with these words. Many times foreign speakers of English when making questions ask for some information using the WH word and then answer using BOTH the WH word and the information in the answer. DO NOT give the information in the answer.
Examples:
Where are you living in America now? In America is the answer, so don’t ask for it by name in the question. Don’t make the mistake of asking “Where are you living in America now?”
What is the woman buying a refrigerator? A refrigerator is the answer, so don’t say it in the question. Don’t ask a WH question and give the answer in the question.
Examples of Correct Answers to WH Questions
This class is over a 10:45.
Question: What time is this class over? The answer is 10:45. Don’t ask “What time is the class over at 10:45?”
My friends are cleaning their house today.
Question: What are my friends cleaning today? The answer is their house. Don’t ask “What are my friends cleaning today their house?”
Note how the following questions are asked.
My son is playing with two of his friends.
Question: How many of his friends is my son playing with? Answer: two
The boy’s family is sitting in the kitchen.
Question: Where is the boy’s family sitting? Answer: in the kitchen
The dog is burying a bone in the back yard.
Question: What is the dog burying in the back yard? Answer: a bone
Bob is using Paul’s book.
Question: Whose book is Bob using? Answer: Paul’s
The plane is arriving at 6:00 tonight.
Question: What time is the plane arriving? Answer: at 6:00 tonight
My father is speaking to the man in the blue suit.
Question: Which man is my father speaking to? Answer: the man in the blue suit