Questions: Word order and question words
Word order in present simple questions
The order of words in an English question in present simple is QWASI: (Question Word) + Auxiliary + Subject + Infinitive.
- What do you do?
- Where do they live?
In Yes-No questions (questions that we answer saying yes or no) there is NO Question Word.
- Do you speak English?
- Does she live here?
The auxiliary verb in present simple is be or do/does. Below, you can see a grammar chart on the order of words in present simple questions with be or do/does.
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Questions with am/is/are
When the verb in the sentence is be, we use am/is/are as the auxiliary verb before the subject. Then the word order is QWAS: (Question Word) + Auxiliary (am/is/are) + Subject
Questions with do/does
When we have a verb that is not be, we use do/does as the auxiliary verb.
We use does with he/she/it and do with I/you/we/they. Remember that the main verb after the subject is in the infinitive form (NOT -s or -es).
- What does she do?
- What does she does?
- Where does he work?
- Where does he works?
Question words – Grammar chart
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What + noun
We often use the question word what + noun as a question word: what time, what colour, what size, etc.
- What colour is your jacket?
- What size do you want?
- What car does he have?
How + adjective/adverb
We can also use how + adjective/adverb as a question word in phrases like how often, how old, how tall, etc.
- How fast is your car?
- How big is her house?
- How often do you play sports?
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