We use subject questions when we are asking about who, what, etc., did the action. We do not use an auxiliary
verb after the question word if the question word (who, what, etc.) is the subject of the sentence.
o Who did win the match?
o Who won the match?
o What did happen last night?
o What happened last night?
o How many people did go to the party?
o How many people went to the party?
When we are asking about the object (after the verb), we use the normal order of the English question: auxiliary
verb + subject. These types of questions are called object questions.
Object question vs subject question
Jack called Teresa . (Teresa = object) Jack called Teresa. (Jack = subject)
Who did Jack call? (Who = object) Who called Teresa? (Who = subject)
La diferencia entre subject questions y object questions
sujeto de la frase es la parte activa – la que desarrolla la acción.
objeto es la parte que recibe la acción
Básicamente, los “subject questions” preguntan por el sujeto de la frase – quieren saber quién o qué hizo la
acción de la frase. Los subject questions, no tienen verbo auxiliar en los tiempos simples.
Aquí un ejemplo sencillo de subject y object questions…
Object question: Who do you live with?
Answer: I live with my brother.
who se refiere al objeto (complemento) de la respuesta.
Subject question: Who lives in that house?
Answer: Jim lives in that house.
who se refiere al sujeto: la persona que vive en la casa – o sea, la persona que desarrolla la acción.
Q: Who called? = ¿Quién llamó?
A: Pepe called.
Q: What happened? = ¿Qué pasó?
A: Something interesting happened.
Q: Who ate my sandwich? = ¿Quién comió mi bocadillo?
A: Shawn ate your sandwich.
Q: Who broke the glass? = ¿Quién rompió el vaso?
A: The baby broke the glass.
Q: Who left this suitcase here? = ¿Quién dejó aquí aquella maleta?
A: My friend Susan left it.
Las respuestas de estas 3 preguntas son Shawn, the baby, y my friend Susan, que son los sujetos de las
frases. Son los que desarrollaron la acción.
En cambio, object questions son las preguntas de toda la vida, en que las palabras who, what, where, when,
why o how se refieren al complemento (objeto) de la frase.
Object questions sí usan auxiliares do / does / did etc.
Q: Who did you call?
A: I called Pepe.
Q: Where did you go?
A: I went to Segovia.
Q: Who did you talk to?
A: I talked to Robert.
Q: When did he get here?
A: He got here an hour ago.
Julie loves ice cream………………..Q. object
What does Julie love?
Julie loves ice cream ……………..Q. subject
Who loves ice cream
The food was on the table……………….Q. object
Where was the food?
The food was on the table……………..O. subject
What was on the table?
David has lost his wallet
What has David lost?
David has lost his wallet
Who hast lost his wallet
The teenagers enjoyed the party
Where did the teenagers enjoy?
The teenagers enjoyed the party
Who enjoyed the party
