HOW TO MAKE QUESTIONS FOR UNDERLINED PARTS

1. LIST OF MAIN WH-WORDS

WHAT WHAT TIME HOW

WHICH WHAT COLOUR HOW MUCH
WHEN WHAT SIZE HOW MANY
WHERE WHAT KIND OF HOW OFTEN
WHY WHAT SORT OF HOW LONG
HOW WHAT TYPE OF HOW + ADJECTIVE
WHO (M) WHAT STYLE OF HOW OLD
WHOSE WHAT CLASS OF HOW FAR

2. STEPS TO FOLLOW:

According to the syntactic function of the underlined part, we can find the following kinds of questions:

1. If the underlined part is the subject, use “WHO” or “WHAT” and leave the rest of the sentence unaltered
(careful with interrogative pronoun – verb agreement)
Ex: They were sweeping the street Who was sweeping the street?

2. If the underlined part starts with a preposition, take that preposition to the very end of the question to
make (careful with this syntactic pattern: Wh + aux + subj + verb + obj + PREP+ adv?)
Ex: They have been very proud of their culture . What have they been very proud of?

3. In the rest of cases, apply the rule: Wh + aux + subj + verb + obj + adv?
Ex: They turned off the lights a while ago What did they turn off a while ago?

3 BE CAREFUL WITH THE FOLLOWING CASES!:

3.1 in negative sentences:

She doesn´t want to do her homework:
1. What doesn´t she want to do?
2. What does she not want to do?
3. What does not she want to do? WRONG!!

3.2 if underlined part is the subject of the sentence, don´t forget WH- + VERB agreement!!!
They´ve been waiting for the bus for ages: Who HAS been waiting for the bus for ages?

3.3 If the underlined part is a possessive expression:

I found Sara´s wallet at school: Whose wallet did you find?
That scarf was hers: Whose was that scarf?

3.4 CONFUSING QUESTIONS!

(Asking about physical appearance) Sara is tall: What does Sara look like?
(asking about personality) Sara is friendly: What is Sara like?
(asking about likes and dislikes) Sara likes cooking Italian food: What does Sara like?
(asking about weather conditions) It was sunny yesterday: What is the weather like?

3.5 In case of questions with prepositions, adverbials should be placed after them in the question!
She´d like to play soccer with her friends on Tuesday morning
Who would she like to play soccer WITH on Tuesday morning?
 Make a question for the following underlined parts (EASY LEVEL)

1 She left work five minutes ago.  31 Andrew's new mountain bike costs €1000.
2 Bill was crying because his dog died yesterday.  32 She is playing basketball with her sister
3 Everyone forgot the notebook in the office. 33 They are buying a present for Maria
4 My mother used to like sweets. 34 She wrote an email about yesterday´s meeting
5 They were in America ten years ago.  35 Johny broke the window with a stone
6 Michael said all those lies to me yesterday.  36 Mary bought two kilos of sugar
7 I answered all questions in the test.  37 I heard a terrible noise outside
8 He rented a cheap car in Greece last summer.  38 She was quite friendly
9 Many accidents happened in the mountains last year. 39 It rained most of the day
10 Her brother won a lot of money six months ago.  40 She felt absolutely exhausted
11 John is writing a letter. 41. My uncle died in 1990.
12 She walks home from school. 42. Anne was in London last week.
13 The children are sitting in the garden. 43. They drive to work twice a week.
14 Peter runs with his dog on Sundays. 44. There were 3 chairs in the kitchen.
15 My rabbit has got a cage in the garden. 45. She's wearing jeans and a white blouse.
16 They go to work by bus. 46. Her school is 5 miles away from the village.
17 David likes cats because they are nice. How far is her school from the village?
18 Jenny isn't sleeping late today. 47. The tickets are $10.
19 Kim and Tina are playing ball in the garden. 48. He can speak 3 languages.
20 The Johnsons lived in Montreal for ten years 49. His mother cooks very well.
21 Anne likes her new job very much. 50.Tomorrow it's going to be sunny.
22 The Barnes are planning a trip to Norway. 51.No, thanks. I love ice-cream, but I'm full.
23 They buy casual clothes every weekend 52.No, there aren't any glasses in the cupboard.
24 Beverly usually gets up at 6.30 am. 53. My daughter is four months old.
25 C-A-R-L-O-S 54. Beverly usually gets up at 6.30 am.
26 Every evening Steven listens to his new CDs. 55. He can't meet Sharon because she is very ill.
27 On Thursday Peter has got German, History and Maths. 56. Every evening Steven listens to his new CDs.
28 Carol and Jane went to the swimming pool yesterday 57.I started learning English 2 years ago.
29 Sarah has to stop because of a security check. 58.I talked to Mary at the party.
30 The boys are hiding under Tom's bed. 59. My sister's fine, thank you
60. Andrew's new mountain bike costs €1000.

Make a questions for the following underlined parts (DIFFICULT LEVEL)

She used to go out with that bunch of friends a long time ago. 21. My friend started skiing when he was 7.
She’s flown to America four times so far. 22. Some footballers are paid 20 pounds weekly.
3. She is very keen on reading magazines. 23. The final match won´t be played on Saturday.
4. The treasure belonged to the Vikings. 24. The American president was not against the Pope.
5. That necklace was hers. 25. My brother normally takes his shoes off in class.
6. The British Museum is a few miles away from here. 26. The begger stared at me for quite a long time.
7. Elaine surfs the Internet almost every day. 27. Marie seems to be very worried about her disease.
8. My friends disagree to war on Irak. 28. My car was stolen at 7.30 yesterday.
9. Beth´s computer is not working well today. 29. She had always been very terrified of heights.
10. The thieves all came from Poland. 30. She´d find out the crime if she had enough time.
11. They´ve been going out together for many years now. 31. British people aren´t said to be very polite.
12. They managed to rescue the outcast because the tide was 32. The train to Madrid leaves at 3.15 twice a week.
quite low. 33. Ben´s parents don´t approve of the way he gets dressed.
13. The conference is going to be held in August next year. 34. My parents often spend their money on new clothes.
14. All naughty students were barred from school 35. My granny died of breast cancer when she was 85.
15. They couldn´t re-design their bodies to suit their particular 36. The house we bought was 10 meters wide.
sport. 37. I like her.
16. It would be extremely difficult to detect the virus. 38. She only watches comedy films.
17. Scientists should only answer three questions. 39. He is going to get his flight booked next week.
18. Athletes hadn´t listened to jazz music for two hours now. 40. She´s just bought half a kilo of sugar.
19. He´d like to have his website designed. 41. There wasn´t a sudden drop in children´s obesity
20. Michael is 1.75 cms tall. 42. She is rather extrovert and easy-going.
43. She´s got curly hair and blue eyes
Which steps should I follow to make questions for underlined parts successfully? Follow the
steps in the diagram below...

According to the syntactic function of the underlined part, we can find the following kinds of
questions:

1. La respuesta es 2. La respuesta NO es el sujeto

el sujeto
If the underlined
part is the subject,
Apply the following rule: “Wh- word + aux + subj + verb +
use the appropriate
obj + adv?”
“wh-word” and leave
the rest of the And pay careful attention to the verbal tense
sentence unaltered
(careful with
interrogative 2.1 Si la forma verbal está 2.2 Si la forma verbal está constituida por
pronoun – verb constituida por DOS o sólo UNA palabra...
agreement) MáS palabras...

2.2.1 ... y es el verbo 2.2.2... y NO es el verbo

TO BE TO BE
The only wh-words in
this case are: WHAT, El auxiliar es siempre la
El auxiliar es el verbo El auxiliar ha de ser
WHO, HOW MUCH and PRIMERA palabra
TO BE DO / DOES / DID
HOW MANY
They were sweeping the They have built a new house They are in Italy Kevin designed a new
street recently website last year

Where are they?

Who was sweeping the What have they built When did Kevin design* a
street? recently? new website?

*El verbo principal siempre

en infinitivo!

CAREFUL: If the underlined part starts with a preposition, take that preposition to the very end of the
question to make (careful with this syntactic pattern: Wh + aux + subj + verb + obj + PREP+ adv?)

Ex: They have been very proud of their culture lately. What have they been very proud of lately?

¿Qué WH-word utilizaré?

Cuando la respuesta indica TIEMPO Cuando la respuesta indica una dimensió n o medida
 (peso, longitud, anchura,...)

1. La respuesta es una hora: WHAT TIME? HOW + ADJ + BE + Subject?

2. La respuest es un periodo: HOW LONG? Debe ir
introducido por FOR or SINCE WHAT or WHICH?
3. La respuesta indica frecuencia: HOW OFTEN?
4. Ninguna de las anteriores: WHEN? What: nú mero ilimitado de cosas vs Which: nú mero
limitado de cosas

WHY?

Su respuesta debe ir necesariamente introducida por

because