Grammar

Subject vs Object Questions

When the question word is the subject (who or what does the action), no auxiliary is needed and word order stays like a statement. When it is the object, the usual question form with an auxiliary applies.

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Level B1 Questions

Summary

When the question word is the subject (who or what does the action), no auxiliary is needed and word order stays like a statement. When it is the object, the usual question form with an auxiliary applies.

Structure

subject question: who/what + verb? | object question: who/what + auxiliary + subject + verb?

Examples

Common mistakes

• Adding 'did' to subject questions, e.g. 'Who did call you?' instead of 'Who called you?'.
• Dropping the auxiliary in object questions, e.g. 'Who you called?' instead of 'Who did you call?'.

Related

Question Words Yes/No Questions Basic Word Order

More questions

Question Words A1

Question words (who, what, where, when, why, how, which, whose) start information questions. They come before the auxiliary verb and subject.

Yes/No Questions A1

Yes/no questions ask whether something is true and expect a yes or no answer. Form them by putting the auxiliary or 'be' before the subject.

Question Tags B1

Question tags are short questions added to the end of statements to check information or invite agreement. A positive statement takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive tag.

External links

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