Wh-Questions (What, Where, When, Who, Why, How) — Question Words Rules and Exercises — English 2nd Year Middle School — Algerian Curriculum

Wh-Questions: What, Where, When, Who, Why, How

Wh-questions (also called question words or interrogative words) are used to ask for specific information. They begin with a question word and cannot be answered with “yes” or “no”.

1. Table of Wh-Question Words

Question Word	Use	Example	Answer
What	Asking about things, actions, or information	What is your name?	My name is Ahmed.
Where	Asking about places or locations	Where do you live?	I live in Algiers.
When	Asking about time or dates	When is your birthday?	It is on June 15th.
Who	Asking about people (subject)	Who is your teacher?	Mr. Karim is my teacher.
Why	Asking about reasons or causes	Why are you late?	Because I missed the bus.
How	Asking about manner, way, or condition	How are you today?	I am fine, thank you.

2. Detailed Explanation

A. What — لِماذا / ماذا

We use What to ask about things, objects, ideas, or actions.

• What is this? — This is a book.
• What do you do in the morning? — I go to school.
• What colour is your bag? — It is blue.
• What time is it? — It is 8 o’clock.

B. Where — أين

We use Where to ask about places, positions, or locations.

• Where is the school? — It is near the mosque.
• Where do you put your books? — In my bag.
• Where are you going? — To the library.
• Where does she live? — She lives in Oran.

C. When — متى

We use When to ask about time, days, dates, or moments.

• When do you wake up? — I wake up at 6 am.
• When is the exam? — Next Monday.
• When did you arrive? — Yesterday.
• When were you born? — In 2012.

D. Who — من

We use Who to ask about people (as the subject of the sentence).

• Who is that man? — He is my father.
• Who teaches you English? — Mrs. Fatima.
• Who is the best student? — Ali is the best.
• Who opened the door? — My brother did.

E. Why — لماذا

We use Why to ask for reasons, explanations, or causes.

• Why are you happy? — Because I passed the exam.
• Why do you study English? — To communicate with people.
• Why is he absent? — Because he is sick.
• Why did you call me? — To help me with homework.

F. How — كيف

We use How to ask about manner, condition, or process. It also forms many other question phrases.

• How are you? — I am fine.
• How do you go to school? — By bus.
• How old are you? — I am 12 years old.
• How many books do you have? — I have five books.

3. Forming Wh-Questions

The structure of a wh-question is:

Question Word + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb + …?

Examples:

Question Word	Auxiliary	Subject	Main Verb	Rest
What	do	you	like	for breakfast?
Where	does	she	study	?
When	did	they	arrive	?

4. Exercises

Exercise 1: Complete with the correct question word (What, Where, When, Who, Why, How)

1. … is your favourite subject? — My favourite subject is English.
2. … do you go to school? — By bus.
3. … is the school director? — Mr. Ahmed.
4. … is your birthday? — On March 10th.
5. … are you sad? — Because I lost my pen.

Exercise 2: Write questions for these answers

1. … ? — I am twelve years old.
2. … ? — My name is Mohamed.
3. … ? — The school is behind the mosque.
4. … ? — I wake up at 6 o’clock.

Summary

Wh-questions help us ask for specific information. Each question word has a specific use: What (things), Where (places), When (time), Who (people), Why (reasons), How (manner/way). Remember to use the correct auxiliary verb (do/does/did) when forming questions in the present or past simple tense.

📍 دروس مشابهة

• التماثل المحوري والتحاكي — مفهوم التماثل في الهندسة والتحويلات الهندسية — الرياضيات — السنة الثانية متوسط — المنهاج الجزائري
• المجتمع المدني — مفهومه ومؤسساته ودوره في الجزائر — التربية المدنية — السنة الرابعة متوسط — المنهاج الجزائري
• الاسم وأنواعه — دروس اللغة العربية للسنة الأولى متوسط