Question Words

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Lesson Twenty-one

Question Words

This page lists all the question words that you need to know when asking a question for information.
How: method / manner / situation
Q: How do you know her? A: I know her from school. Her name is Nella.	Nella
Q: How did you figure out that problem? A: I worked it out on the blackboard.
Q: How do I get to Lake Street from here? A: Go straight and take a left.
Q: How did you make the crust for this pie? A: I used flour, shortening, salt, and ice water.
Q: How do you like your coffee? A: I like it with a little bit of cream.
How about:	Do you want to.....?
John: How about going to a movie later? (Do you want to go to a movie) Ying: Okay. What do you want to see? John: How about an action movie? Ying: No, I don't want to see that. How about a comedy instead? John: Okay.	John
	Ying
How about:	What is your opinion of ____?
Q: How about those Twins? (What do you think about the team?) A: Yeah, they're doing great this season.
How about this weather? (What's your opinion on the weather?)
How come: why
Sandra: How come you didn't call me? Javier: I was busy. or Sandra: Why didn't you call me? Javier: I was busy.	Sandra
	Javier
A: Norbert didn't show up at the party. B: How come? A: He had tickets to a basketball game.	Norbert
How far: distance / extent
Q: How far is it to the nearest town? A: It's about 20 miles.
Q: How far is it from the earth to the moon? A: It's about 240,000 miles away.
How high: height
Q: How high is that mountain A: It's about half a mile high.
How long: length
Q: How long is the ski trail? A: It's about five miles long.
Q: How long was the movie? A: It was about 90 minutes long.	film reel
Q: How long is her hair? A: It goes down to her shoulders, but she usually wears it in a pony tail.
How tall: height
Q: How tall are you, Caner? A: I'm six feet tall.	Caner
A: How tall is that building? B: It's 15 stories high.
How old: age
Q: How old are you? A: I'm 31 and she's 29.
Q: How old is your baby? A: She's nine months old.
How many: amount (count nouns)
Q: How many knives are in that knife block? A: There are ten knives.
How much: amount (noncount nouns)
Q: How much lettuce do we need to get? A: Not very much. We just need one head.
What: general information
Q: What time is it? A: It's ten minutes before two.
Q: What's that? A: It's a marshmallow.
Q: What are those? A: They're tortilla chips.
What about: consider this
Mother: What are you going to do this afternoon? Daughter: I'm going to go play basketball. Mother: What about your homework. Daughter: I'll do it later. Mother: No, you should do it now and play basketball later. Daughter: Okay.
What...for: purpose / reason
Q: What do you use this for? A: You use it for cutting the grass. It's a lawnmower.
What kind of: type / category
Q: What kind of a musical instrument is that? A: It's an accordion.
Q: What kind of fruit do you like to eat? A: I like to eat kiwi.
When: time / date
Student: When were you born? Teacher: I was born in 1963.
Where: location
Paul: Where did you go yesterday? Daniya: I went to a coffee shop to meet some friends.	Daniya
Which: choice of two or more
Q: Which do you prefer, red peppers or green peppers? A: I like them both, but I prefer red peppers because they're sweeter.

Who: subject for a person
Q: Who is she? A: Her name is Natalia. She's my classmate.	Natalia
Whom: object for a person
Q: Whom did you go fishing with last week? A: I went fishing with Michael. (Note: Although "whom" is the correct choice, many Americans use "who" instead.)	Michael
Whose: possessive form for a person
Q: Whose motorcycle is that? A: It belongs to Luiz.
Why: reason
Q: Why does she look so sad? A: Her dog died.
Why not: reason
Q: Why doesn't he hire someone to paint his house? A: He can't afford it.

Next: Lesson Twenty-two