Question Words: What, Where, When, Who, Why, How
Wh- questions ask for real information, not just a yes or no answer. The pattern is question word + helper (do/does/be) + subject + verb: "Where do you live?" and "Why is she late?" With the verb be, the helper is be itself, so you simply invert it: "What is your name?" The most common mistake is keeping statement word order after the wh- word and saying "Where you are going?" instead of "Where are you going?" Add do-support or invert with be every time, and your questions sound natural.
Examples
- Where do you live? asking the place someone lives
- What is your name? asking someone's name
- Why is she late? asking the reason she is late
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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Where you are going? If that sounds normal to you, this lesson is about to fix one of the most common mistakes in English.
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These are open questions — the ones that ask for real information, not just yes or no. And almost everyone gets the word order wrong at first. The good news: there's a single pattern behind all of them.
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Here is the whole pattern in one line. Start with the question word. Then a helper — that's do, does, or a form of be. Then the subject. Then the main verb. Question word, helper, subject, verb.
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Why a helper? Because a statement is subject first: you live. To make a question, English flips the order, and the little helper do steps in to carry that flip so the main verb stays simple.
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Let's build them. Asking about a place uses where, plus the helper do. Where do you live?
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For things, use what. Same shape — what, helper, subject, verb. What do you want?
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When the subject is he, she, or it, the helper changes to does — and the main verb drops its s. Not does she works, just does she work. How does it work?
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Now the big exception. When the verb is already a form of be — is, are, am — you don't need do at all. Be does the flip itself. What is your name?
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Same with why and the verb be. Just put is before the subject. Why is she late?
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Who and when slot into the very same frame. Who points at a person, when points at a time — the order never changes. When does the train leave?
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So all six question words share one frame. What, where, when, who, why, how — pick the word, then add helper, subject, verb. Learn the frame once and every wh- question follows.
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Here's the trap to avoid. After the question word, learners keep statement order — Where you are going? — with the subject before the verb. You have to invert it: Where are you going? The helper, or be, comes before the subject.
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And don't double the tense. The helper carries it, so the main verb stays plain. Not does she lives, just does she live.
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Remember it as four boxes in a row: question word, helper, subject, verb. Fill them in and your questions come out right every time.