78 wh- questions AEF ‘Which way do you want to go? 1 Form and Use Wh- questions always start with a wh- word (who, what, when, where, how, which, why, whose) Which way do you want to go? Who are you going to invite? statement The paper is here. It starts at 8.00. They ate pizza. They can see het. question Where is the paper? When does it start? What did they eat? Who can they see? AX We form simple wh- questions with be, an auxiliary verb or a modal verb BEFORE the subject X Where you-live? Y Where do you live? X Where you are going? Y Where are you going? X When-they-willarrive? Y When will they arrive? X How-old-heis? Y How old is he? Wh. questions ask for information: ‘Where does the bus stop?’ ‘Outside the post office. ‘Which book are you reading?’ ‘Its the new John le Carré book.’ We can also use negative questions with wh- question words: ‘don't understand this question.’ ‘What don’t you understand?” Rowan didn’t come to my party.’ Why didn’t he come?’ We usually say wh- questions with a falling intonation (~3): What's the time? A Pronunciation > 1.30Practice 1 Read the information about a new DVD recorder. Then complete the questions with the phrases from the box. (DEEZ Listen and check. How can How many What can Where can Whyis Why-should 2 _un films can the Generation x Generation Xo wiizsce = About 100. It depends on how long the films are, 0 Why.should | buy the Generation x 3 |luse my old videos with this DVD recorder? machine? — If you have a video recorder, you can connect it to = That's simple — because it's the mast modern ndibestnew DVD fecorder] the DVD recorder and record your videos. 1 the Generation X recorder 4 | do if something goes wrong? more expensive than most ofthe others? You can Send ito us or take it back to the shop Wel, its oni alte more expensive. andit is whete you bought it better than most others, for example, it can store 5 | buy the Generation X recorder? more films. — In all good department stores and electrical shops. 2 Make questions from the statements. 0 I'm not sure where the nearest bank is. Where. is. the nearest, bank? I'm not sure where we're staying. I'm not sure how we get to the station. Y'm not sure what time the plane arrived. Y'm not sure what kind of computer she wants. You didn’t phone me. I don't know why. Vm not sure which class I'm in, DOR eRe 2 Complete the job interview with questions. Use the words in brackets (). Listen and check. ‘A Right. Do you have any questions about the job? B Yes, Ido, actually. (0) ....... What. time. 0, you. staré....... (what time / you / start) in the morning? We open at 9.30 and the assistants have to be here at 9.00 or 8.30 on Thursdays. Oh, (1) (why / they / not start at 9.00) on Thursdays? ‘Well, it’s because we have staff training from 8.30 to 9.00. Oh, OK, thanks, And (2) (when / the shop / close)? It closes at 5.30 most evenings, but it’s 6.00 on Friday and Saturday. @) (how long / be / the lunch break)? It’s an hour, with a 15-minute coffee break in the morning and afternoon. () (how much / be / the staff discount)? We give our staff a discount of 20% on all our clothes and shoes. That's good. If I get this job, (5) P (who / be / my manager)? One of the senior staff will be your manager, and will train you. OK. (6) (when / you / tell me) if I've got the job? We'll try to contact everyone by the end of next week. Pe r>wrarwreroe79 202 who, when, where, why (Where can we put it? ‘When did you get it? who, when, where, why “Wh- WORD USE a EXAMPLE : who sks about a person or people Who's your teacher this year? when asks about time When did you get it? where asks about place Where can we put it? why asks for a reason Why do we need it? After who, when, where or why in questions, we need a verb: Who is the best actor in the film? Why did the Romans come to Britain? We cannot put a noun after them: 4 - ¥ Where does the president live? Wh- questions + prepositions If there is a verb + preposition in a statement, we often need to use the preposition at the end of a wh- question: They're talking about the director. -* Who are they talking about? " ‘eng, % WheisAngelo-writing? Angelo is writing to his iiend. 1 Wn angelo writing to? But with when and where questions, we don’t usually put a preposition at the end of the question: Twas born in London. Where were you born? Twas born on 30 August. When were you born? I'm going to the cinema. Where are you going? But we say: ‘Where are you from?’ ‘I'm from Moscow."Practice Complete the questions in the conversation with a suitable wh- word. isten and check. A I'm calling about your home cinema, Ms Jenkins. (0)....here..... shall we deliver it? Is it the same address as on the receipt? B Yes, that's right. A And (1) is it best to deliver, morning or afternoon? B Oh, afternoon, definitely. A And (2) will be at the address to receive it? B I'l probably be there. A. Ifno one is at home, (3) can our driver leave it? Can he put it in the garage? B Oh, no. If I know the date, I'll definitely be there. A OK, so (4) would you like it? Would next Friday be OK? B Yes, that's fine. Oh, (5) should I give the cheque to? Shall I give it to the driver? A. Yes, that’s fine. Finally, for our records, (6) did you choose this product? B Well, because it looks good and it wasn't too expensive, Write a wh- word in each question. Then match the questions and answers A-F. Whw...... was the first woman in space? .... did dinosaurs live on the Earth? did Arthur Conan Doyle write about? 0 1 2 3 did Christopher Columbus sail to America? 4 do giant pandas come from? 5 didn’t Magellan finish his round-the-world journey? A Sherlock Holmes. B Because he died in a fight in the Philippines. C From China. () Valentina Tereshkova F In 1492. F Millions of years ago. 0 (the film) When des the film. staré? It starts at 8.15. 1 (your manager) He works in the off 2 (the kitten) It belongs to my sister. 3. (my address) Because I need it for our records. 4 (my homework) I want it on Friday. 5 (the letter) Send it to the Managing Director. 20380 what, which, whose ‘Which button do | press?, ‘What does this thing do?) ma Whose car is it? 1 204 what, which, whose Wh-worD USE EXAMPLE what asks about things or ideas What does it do? which asks for a choice between a few things Which programme do you want to watch? whose asks about possession/relationships Whose bag is this? Whose sister is she? which or what? Which and what both ask about things and ideas. © We use which when we are thinking of a small number of things: Which colour do you want for the bedroom, blue, green or grey? Which languages do you speak? We can also use which (but not what) to ask about people: Which member of the band do you like most? We do not need a noun if it is clear what we are asking about: ‘T speak four languages.’ ‘Really? Which do you speak?’ ‘© What asks about more things than which, We often use what without a noun: What's your favourite colour? What's on at the cinema this week? What does this thing do? We can also use a noun after what: What instrument do you play? Common uses of what toaskabouta — What +do+ person'swork nounedo?”_ What does your husband do? He's a builder. to ask for a What +be + What's the weather like? It's cold and rainy. description noun + like? What's Jonathan like? He's very clever and he's quite shy. toaskabout — What-+do + What kind of films does Jonathan like? likes and dislikes noun 1 like? He likes South American films. We don’t use like in the answer to What is he like?: X He'stikevery-clever, J He's very clever. who or whose? We use who to ask about people: Who did you see at the party last night? We use whose (with or without a noun) to ask about possessions and relationships: Whose is that bag on the table? (= Who does the bag belong to?) Whose sister is she? (= Who is her sister?) Who's and whose sound the same, but they are different. Who's means who is or who has: Who's washing up today? (who is) Who's seen the latest copy of ‘Hello’ magazine? (who has)2 Practice These questions all come from a conversation at a party. Choose the correct wh- word in each one. 0 (Whoy What was your favourite teacher? 5 Whose / What was she like? 1 What / Which did you study? 6 What | Which year did you graduate, 2007 2 Which / What is your name? or 2009? 3. Which / What do you do now? 7 Who | Whose was your tutor for maths? 4 Which / Who university did you go to? 8 Whose | Who's group were you in for physics? Now complete the conversation with questions from Exercise 1. Listen and check. JANP_ I'S a good party, isn’t it? JANE. Ididn’t have her. (3) BETH Yes, Alison always has good parties. BETH She was really good. (4) Jane How long have you known her? JANE. It was Jack Granger. I didn’t BETH. For years. We met at university. like him. JANE. Really? (0)... ser No, Thad him, too. He wasn’t beTH Kent University. very good. (5) JANE That's interesting. I went there, too. (1) JANE. [ teach now - I work in a school BETH Maths and physics. in London. How about you? JANE | studied physics, too. (2) BETH I write computer programs ~ BETH. Simone Allen's group mostly for games. Read about Penny Knight. Then write questions for the answers below. Use the wh- word in he brackets (). Listen and check. ae / Tim Lucy and the person I admire most is Penny Knight, j H Shes my aud bud sue only five years older than. me Ph a 0‘ ' youngest daughter. She's great pee aie, tity and suet very clove, C6 She works for the games company Nintendo and designs camputer games. She's married to Ryan — he's a sports teacher so she keeps fit. ne ee © Who.is Peway Knight? She's Lucy's aunt. (who) 1 She's Lucy’s grandparents’ daughter. (whose) 2 She's very friendly and clever. (what) 3) : Nintendo. (which) 4 She designs computer games. (what) 5 A sports teacher called Ryan. (who) Correct the What " Which do you do? Inna student, ‘Who's class are you in? Who school/college do you go to? Which are you studying now? fakes i these questions. Then write true answers. Whose do you live with? wReneo h do you like doing? 20581 how ow much 51) How fast does it ao?) How do you open the doors?) how ‘The wh- word how can ask about a lot of different things. We use it to ask about © the way we do something: How do I open this bottle? How do we get to your house? How do you open the doors? © other things, eg: How are you? I'm fine, thanks. health (how + be) a How's your father now? He's feeling better, thanks, How’s the soup? It’s delicious. opinion (how + be) = How was the party? —_ It was great. Jenjoyed it How's it going? Fine, everything's OK. news abauit 4 person's life ls How did the exam go? Fantastic! | passed! how + adjective We use how before adjectives to ask about age, measurements and size: How old is Tracey? She's seven. / She’s seven years old. How long is the Nile? It’s 6650 kilometres long. How tall is the CNN Tower? It's $53 metres tall. How deep is the swimming pool? It’s two metres deep. How big is the village? Not very big, only about 4000 people live there. With exact measurements, we include the adjectives tall, high, long, wide, deep in the answer. Look at the word order: X The CNN Tower is tall SS3-metres. J The CNN Tower is 553 metres tall. The answer to a question asking How old ... ? is different X My-danghteris sever-old—X My-danghteris seven years: ¥ My daughter is seven. / My daughter is seven years old. Other common questions with how We also use how to ask about: length of time How long is the fight? It four hours. distance How far isthe station from here? It’ half a mile. speed How fast does it go? Very fast, 250 kilometres an hour! frequency Howoften should I take the medicine? Twice a day number How many people live on the island? Three thousand, amount How much water is left? Five bottles price How much was the car? Itwas really expensive! A We don't use adverbs (e.g. fast, often) after measurements in answers 206 X H goer at 250-kilometres-an-hourfast / It goes at 250 kilometres an hour. how much? or how many? > Unit 8.33. Write questions starting with How. Practice Write questions for the answers. Use how + adjective and a place name from the box. 0 How high is Mount Everest? wren It is 8848 metres high. 1 It is 6400 kilometres long. It is 300 metres tall. It is 150 metres wide. It is 1637 metres deep. Itis nearly six hundred years old. the Amazon River Lake Baikal the Eiffel Tower Moust ied Machu Picchu the Panama Canal Complete this magazine interview. Use how, and add an adjective/adverb if necessary. Listen and check. GORDON LAWRENCE has worked on maglev trains for nearly 30 years. In this interview he talks to Chris Anderson. CA Gordon, everyone has heard of maglev trans, but we don't know much about them. (0). Han. fase, ‘can a maglev train go? ‘GL They can go at nearly 600 kilometres an hour. A And (1) actualy work? GL Wel, it traves afew centimetres above the ground — it uses a new type of scientfic technology. i (2) does a maglev train are there in use now? GL Well, there's only one system in use — in Shanghal, China It goes from the city tothe airport. I want to know au? 0 if you are well. , ow. 1 the price of this book. 2 the age of your baby. 3 the length of the flight. 4 the distance to the airport. 5. if your interview went well. A $0 (3) is that? § GL Only about 30 kilometres. | (A And (4) des that take? ; GL The train does that in about seven minutes. } A Oh, that’s fast (5) do they leave? GL There are four trains an hour. € A Tknow it's new technology that quite a lot of countries are developing. (6) isthe development going now? GL It's going well. There are lots of plans for more maglev trans across the word. A Really? (7) ‘GL That's dificult to say. The Shanghai project cost over a bilion US dollars. does each train cost? Listen and check. 207 v282 > b 208 Subject and object questions There's a problem with my computer. Who helped you yesterday, Mandy? twas Robin Histop A from the IT department. helped ‘Mandy? happened? Which band sang “Take me out’? Whose mobile phone has an MP3 player? How many friends called you? In subject questions, the wh- word is the subject of the verb. The order of the question is subject + verb + object. Notice the answer: Who helped Mandy? Robin. or Robin did. Object questions OBIECT. Who What Which band does Alex Kapranos sing with? Whose mobile phone has the teacher found? How many friends did you all? In object questions, the wh- word is the object of the verb, The order of the question is object + auxiliary + subject + verb. Notice the answer: Who did Robin help? Mandy Subject and object questions Compare these subject and object questions: Subject — object Cats eat birds. Whtae do cats eat? ats eat itd. What eats birds? Cats . Birds. Cats. do. Don't confuse subject and object questions: X What-meansstatement? J What does ‘statement’ mean? We use a singular verb after who, what and whose in subject questions: X Who-live-in-thatold-house2 / Who lives in that old house?Practice Choose the correct words in italics. (BEMED Listen and check. 0 WhatGeppenedy did happen last night? _ | saw a robbery from my bedroom window. 1. Who robbed T did rob the shop? Two men. 2 What stole they / did they steal? They stole several TVs. 3. What / Who broke the window? ‘The robbers. 4 Who did you call | called you? called the police. 5. Who did you call | called you? The shop manager called me. 6 Who recognised you | did you recognise? 1 recognised one of the robbers. Match the questions 1 and 2 with the answers A and B. 0 1 Who saw Amy? ——______> A Matt saw Amy. 2 Who did Amy see? —_________> B Amy saw Matt. Nee EE Ne What do birds eat? What eats birds? How many people saw him? How many people did he see? What book did 1 Who wrote Lord of the Rings? Who invited Isabel to the party? Who did Isabel invite to the party? Whose cousin did you call? Whose cousin called you? Cats eat birds, Birds eat worms. Ten people saw him, He only saw one person, Lord of the Rings. Tolkien. Isabel invited James Shelley invited Isabel. Mike's cousin called me. Icalled Mike’s cousin. Ikien write? eb wh oh eS aD Complete the police interview with questions from the box. There are three extra questions. Listen and check. which factory do you mean who saw you which factory makes cars what happened whose face who heard you what-di-yousee what did you fighten what di oFFicer LEWIS OFFICER Lewis OFFICER Lewis, OFFICER LEWIS OFFICER Lewis OFFICER Lewis OFFICER Lewis OFFICER Lewis you hear who did you see what are you frightened of So, Mr Lewis. (0) What. did you..s8¢. yesterday evening outside the club? Well, there was a fight, a big fight. qQ 2 I’m not sure. I came out of the club to go home, and then I heard something @ > eecee? Someone was shou Them? (3) ’ 2 The men who started the fight - the men from the factory. And I think they saw me. I'm sorry - (4) ? ‘Those men. The men who work at the factory. 6) - 2 ‘The car factory in Bolton. You see, | work there, too — and I saw his face! © ease My boss’s face - he was there, he was in the fight, and now I'm really frightened. I'm not sure | understand — (7) ? Well, he knows I’ve told you everything. I’m frightened Til lose my job. CYS eee 20° ing, then I heard other voices, so I turned round and saw them ... 12