Question words in English The main question words are:

Question use example

word
WHAT Asking for information What is your name?
Asking for repetition or What? I can’t hear you.
confirmation You did what?
What kind description What kind of music do you like?
What time time What time did you come home?
WHICH for a choice, thing, Which colour do you want?
WHEN Asking about time When did he leave?
WHO For a person Who is your boss?
Who is she?
WHERE For a place or position Where do you live?
WHY For a reason Why do you say that?
Why don’t Making suggestion Why don’t I help you?
WHOSE To ask about possession or Whose are these keys?
ownership
HOW For a method , manner, How does this work?
condition or quality How do you go? = By car.
How was your exam?
How much Amount, price (uncountable) How much money do you have?
How many Quantity (countable) How many cars are there?
How many students are there?
How long Duration, length How long did you stay in that hotel?
How often frequency How often do you go to the gym?
How far distance How far is your school?
How old age How old are you?

Remember to use the same word order:

question word + auxiliary + subject + verb

Frequency words in English

There are lots of ways we can use to talk about how often we do something.

For example:

How often do you go to the gym?

Once a week
Twice a week
Once a fortnight (fortnight = 2 weeks)
Every day
Every two or three days

You can also use adverbs of frequency:

Always (100% of the time)

Often (80% of the time)
Usually (80% of the time)
Sometimes (50 – 50% of the time)
From time to time (30 – 50% of the time)
Hardly ever (5 – 10% of the time)
Never (0% of the time)

I never go to the gym – I hate it!

I go there from time to time.
I hardly ever go.

Remember the word order rule: these adverbs go after the verb to be and other auxiliaries,
and before other verbs.
He is never sad.
She often gets up early.

For more information about adverbs of frequency, see our page on English
adjectives and adverbs.
Duration in English
We use “How long…?” to ask about the length of time.

With the verb “to be”

How long is the lesson?
How long was your journey?
With the verb “take”
You need the auxiliary do / does to ask a question with take:

How long does it take to fly to Rome? (Use “it” because you are talking about a
thing, not a person)
How long did the journey take? (You don’t need “it” because you have the subject
“journey”)
When you ask a person about the time they need to do something, there are three
possibilities in English:
How long does it take you / him / her / them to …
How long does it take to…
How long do you / they take to…

How long did it take you to read the book? (“did it take you” = the time you needed)
Or
How long did it take to read the book?
How long do you take to eat dinner? (you take the time – no “it”)
Or
How long does it take you to eat dinner)?
Or
How long does it take to eat dinner? (you are asking about the duration of dinner,
not the time you need to eat dinner)
Examples
How often do you play football?
How long does it take to fly from London to Paris?
How much does a ticket cost?
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
What kind of car do you drive?
Which type of sport do you play: team sports or individual sports?

Question Words Exercise

Choose the correct answer.

1. __ is that man over there?

  What

  What
  Where

  Where
  Which
3. __ does your train leave?
  Who
2. __ are you studying English?
  What
   When   How long

  Why   How many

4. __ do you make an English breakfast?
  How often
  How 6. __ is the flight?

  Which   How long

  Who   What kind

5. __ do you go swimming?
  Why

7. __ of books do you like? 9. __ cars do you have?

  How much   How long

  What   How many

  What kind   How much

8. __ does he earn? 10. __ do you want to go to the concert?

  How long   How long

  How many   What

  How much   Why

Fill in the gaps with the correct wh (or how) question.

1. __________ are you going to the zoo? On Thursday.

2. __________are you going with to the park? I’m going with Tim.

3. __________ are you buying at the store? I’m buying bread.

4. __________ are the crayons? In the crayon bin.

5. __________ are you? I’m fine.

6. __________ are you crying? Because I’m sad.

7. __________ is that? It’s a marker.

8. __________ are you going home? At 3 p.m.

9. __________ do you live? On Main Street.

10. __________ old are you? I’m 6 years old.

DIRECTIONS: Choose the correct interrogative pronoun to complete each sentence.

1. ________ sits behind you?

2. ________ dress do you have your eye on?

3. ________ scores were the highest?

4. ________ dirty socks are these?

5. ________ did you plan to tell me?

6. ________ is the book you borrowed?

7. ________ idea was this?

8. ________ are you working with?

9. ________ jacket is in the hallway?

10. With ________ do you want to play?

11. ________ package has my name on it?

12. With ________ am I speaking?

13. ________ kite flew the highest?

14. ________ dog do you like best?

15. ________ story did they tell you?