MAGANGA SECONDARY SCHOOL

Name…………………………………………………………………….. stream……

YES/NO QUESTIONS AND WH-QUESTIONS

Yes/no question can be answered yes or no.

Eg: Do you sell rail tickets? ~ Yes, we do./Certainly.

Eg: Will I need to change? ~ No, it’s a direct service./I don’t think so.

The question begins with an auxiliary (do, will).

A WH-question begins with a question word.

When are you going? What shall we do? How does this camera work?

There are nine question words: who, whom, what, which, whose, where, when, why and how.

Question words: more details

What, which and whose before a noun. These questions words can be pronouns, without a noun
after them.

Eg: What will be the best train?

Eg: There are lots of books here. Which do you want?

Eg: Whose was the idea?

They can also be determiners, coming before a noun.

Eg: What train will you catch? (You will catch a train.)

Eg: Which books do you want? (You want some of the books.)

Eg: Whose idea was it? (It was someone’s idea.)

Which can come before one/ones or before an of-phrase.

Eg: Which ones do you want? Which of these postcards shall we send to Angela?

The use of who, what and which

Who always refers to people. Which can refer to people or to something not human. What
refers mostly to something not human, but it can refer to people. When it comes before a noun
human Non-human.

Eg: Who is your maths teacher?

Eg: Which teacher do you have? Which supermarket is cheapest?

Who is a pronoun and cannot come before a noun or before an of-phrase.

NOT Who teacher do you have? And NOT Who of the teachers do you have?

There is a difference in meaning between what and which.

Eg: What do you do in your spare time? What sport do you play?

Eg: Which is the best route? Which way do we go now?

We use what when there is an indefinite (and often large) number of possible

Answers. We use which when there is a definite (and often small) number of

Possible answers. What relates to the indefinite word a, and which to the definite

The choice of what or which depends on how the speaker sees the number of possible answers.
In some contexts either word is possible.

Eg: What newspaper/Which newspaper do you read?

Eg: What parts/Which parts of France have you visited?

Eg: What size/Which size do you take?

Who and whom

When who is the object, we can use whom instead.

Eg: Who/Whom did you invite?

Whom is formal and rather old-fashioned. Who is more common in everyday Speech.

When who/whom is the object of a preposition, there are two possible patterns.

Eg: Who were you talking to?

Eg: To whom were you talking?

The pattern with whom is formal.

How

How can express means or manner.

Eg: How do you open this bottle? (You open this bottle somehow.)

Eg: How did the children behave? (The children behaved well/badly.)

When it expresses degree, how can come before an adjective or adverb.

Eg: How wide is the river? (20 metres/30 metres wide?)

Eg: How soon can you let me know? (very soon/quite soon?)

We also use how as an adjective or adverb in friendly enquiries about someone’s Well-being,
enjoyment or progress.

Eg: How are you? ~ Fine, thanks.

Eg: How did you like the party? — Oh, it was great.

Eg: How are you getting on at college? ~ Fine, thanks. I’m enjoying it.

A special pattern with why

Why (not) can come before a noun phrase or a verb.

Eg: Why the panic? (= What is the reason for the panic?)

Eg: Look at our prices – why pay more? (= Why should you pay more?)
Eg: Why not stay for a while? (= Why don’t you stay for a while?)

EXERCISE
Answer the questions about yourself below using word (Yes or no).
1. Do you like pumpkin?
2. Do you want to be a teacher after finishing school?
3. Did you travel last year?
4. Are you Mozambican?
5. Have you ever gone to china?

Fill in the gaps the correct answer.

1. ___________________do you like to drink?

A_ Which B_ What C_Whose

2. ________________________is this book?

A_ Who B_ When C_ Whose

3. __________________are you talking to?

A_ Who B_How C_ When

4. ________________________ your day?

A_ Whom B_ How C_ Whose

5. ________________colours do you like more?

A_ What B_ Which C_ When
6. ___________________did you born?
A: Which B_ What C_ When

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns can be singular or plural.

Eg: House(s) telephone(s) problem(s)

Uncountable nouns are neither singular nor plural.

Eg: Music happiness butter

Eg: We cannot use an uncountable noun with a/an. NOT a butter but we can say a pound of
butter.

Some nouns can be either countable or uncountable, depending on the context.

Eg: Peel an onion/a pizza with onion

The plural of nouns

We use the plural for more than one, and for a negative or unknown quantity.

Eg: I’ve been here three weeks. Have you got any cassettes?

Countable nouns can be singular or plural: book(s), hotel(s), boat(s), day(s), job(s), Mile(s),
piece(s), problem(s), dream(s). Uncountable nouns are neither singular Nor plural: water, sugar,
salt, money, music, electricity, happiness, excitement.

We use countable nouns for separate, individual things such as books and hotels, Things we can
count. We use uncountable nouns for things that do not naturally Divide into separate units, such
as water and sugar, things we cannot count.

Many countable nouns are concrete: table(s), car(s), shoe(s). But some are abstract: Situation(s),
idea(s). Many uncountable nouns are abstract: beauty, love, Psychology. But some are concrete:
butter, plastic…