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WH Questions in English
WH Questions in English
In English, there are two types of questions all students must learn about. These are Wh- questions
and yes/no questions. Wh- questions, also known as ‘open questions’, are question words that begin
with Wh (with the exception of ‘how’).
There are seven Wh questions in English. These are who, what, when, where, why, which, and how.
Wh- questions are known as open questions because when answering Wh- questions there are
many possible responses you can give. Yes/no questions, on the other hand, can only be answered
with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and this is why these types of questions are known as ‘closed questions.’ In this
post, we have put together an extensive list of Wh questions with examples to help you and your
students learn about Wh questions in English.
Who
Who is used in questions to ask about people. Here are some examples of Wh question that start
with who:
What
2
What is used in questions to ask about something? Here are some examples of wh questions with
what:
What is it?
What’s this?
What’s that?
What’s your name?
What’s your last name?
What’s his name?
What’s her name?
What day is it today?
What’s the weather like today?
What’s the date?
What are you doing?
What is she doing?
What are they doing?
What time is it?
What do you want to eat?
What would you like?
What do you want to be?
What’s your favorite food?
What do you do?
What’s your job?
What does your father do?
What does she look like?
What do you have?
What do you have in your bag?
What grade are you in?
What did you do yesterday?
What time do you go to bed?
What is our homework today?
What are you good at?
What do you do for fun?
What do you do in your spare time?
3
When
When is used in questions to ask about time. Here are some examples of wh questions with when:
Where
Where is used in questions to ask about place. Here are some examples of wh questions with where:
Why
Why is used in questions to ask the reason for something. Here are some examples of wh questions
with why:
Which
Which is used in questions to ask about choices. Here are some examples of wh questions with
which:
How
How is used in questions to ask about various things including way / manner, condition/quality, and
extent/degree.
5
Although ‘how’ doesn’t start with Wh- , how is still considered a Wh- question word. Here are some
examples of wh questions with how:
Wh Questions Worksheets
To download printable worksheets for ESL lessons about Wh Questions, visit our Wh Questions
Worksheets page.