WH-questions Exercises - Special Questions Examples

WH-Questions – Exercises

These exercises focus on WH-Questions

WH-Question Words

Here is a table of WH-words, their uses, and examples:

WH-Word	Use	Example
What	Asking about things or actions	What is your favorite animal?
Where	Asking about a place	Where do eagles live?
When	Asking about time	When do penguins hatch their eggs?
Who	Asking about people	Who saw the elephant first?
Why	Asking about reasons	Why do earthworms improve soil?
Which	Asking to choose between options	Which animal can fly, eagle or emu?
How	Asking about manner or method	How do dolphins communicate?

Illustration of WH-questions - Special Questions

Rules for WH-Questions

Question Word + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb

What do you like?
Where does she live?

Use the correct tense in the auxiliary verb:

Present: Where is the emu?
Past: Why did the dodo become extinct?

If the question word is the subject, omit the auxiliary verb:

Who lives in the forest? (Not: Who does live in the forest?)

Common WH-Questions about Animals

Here are some example questions related to animals:

WH-Word	Question
What	What animal is the largest?
Where	Where do emperor penguins live?
When	When do eagles hunt for food?
Who	Who discovered the echidna?
Why	Why do elephants have large ears?
Which	Which is faster, a cheetah or an elk?
How	How do earthworms move through soil?

Everyday Use of WH-Questions

WH-questions are very common in daily conversations:

Asking for Directions: Where is the zoo?
Asking for Choices: Which animal do you like more?
Asking for Reasons: Why do camels live in the desert?
Asking for Details: What do dolphins eat?

Common Errors in WH-Questions

Here are some mistakes ESL learners often make:

Omitting the auxiliary verb:

Incorrect: Where you live?
Correct: Where do you live?

Using incorrect word order:

Incorrect: Why elephants big ears have?
Correct: Why do elephants have big ears?

Confusing WH-words:

Incorrect: How color is the bird?
Correct: What color is the bird?

Forgetting to conjugate the verb:

Incorrect: Where does eagles live?
Correct: Where do eagles live?

Not using subject WH-questions properly:

Incorrect: Who does see the elephant?
Correct: Who saw the elephant?

FAQ

What are WH-questions in English?

WH-questions are questions that start with words like what, where, when, who, why, which, and how to ask for specific information.

What is the difference between "what" and "which"?

What is used for general questions: What is your favorite animal?
Which is used for specific choices: Which do you prefer, a dog or a cat?

How do you form WH-questions in the past tense?

You use the auxiliary verb did:

Where did the eagle go?
Why did the dodo become extinct?

What is the correct word order for WH-questions?

The usual structure is:
WH-word + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb

Example: What do you eat?

Can WH-questions be used without an auxiliary verb?

Yes, when the WH-word is the subject of the sentence:

Who lives in the forest?
What caused the extinction?

WH-questions - Special Questions