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Subject and Object Questions

English questions are usually formed by either inverting the subject and verb or adding an auxiliary verb before the subject. However, when a question word replaces the subject or object, questions can be formed without inverting the verb. There are two main types of questions - regular questions which ask for additional information about the verb or object, and subject questions which ask who or what performed the verb. Subject questions simply replace the subject with a question word and may require conjugating the verb in the third person form.

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88 views2 pages

Subject and Object Questions

English questions are usually formed by either inverting the subject and verb or adding an auxiliary verb before the subject. However, when a question word replaces the subject or object, questions can be formed without inverting the verb. There are two main types of questions - regular questions which ask for additional information about the verb or object, and subject questions which ask who or what performed the verb. Subject questions simply replace the subject with a question word and may require conjugating the verb in the third person form.

Uploaded by

phalla oudom
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Questions in English are usually formed by either inverting the verb and subject, or by adding an

auxiliary verb before the subject (and putting the main verb in bare infinitive form). This form is
normally followed whether we use question words or not. However, question words can replace
either an object or a subject in sentences – and when this happens, questions may be
formed without inverting the verb or adding an auxiliary verb. If that sounds complicated, here’s
some examples to explain.

Regular question forms


When we are asking a yes/no question, or looking for information about an object (i.e. what does
the verb the subject is engaged in do/do to), we either add an auxiliary verb and put the verb into
bare infinitive form:

 I like dancing. -> Do you like dancing?


 He completed his homework. -> Did he complete his homework?

Or, for verb forms that already use an additional verb (such as to have in perfect tenses, and to
be in continuous forms), we simply invert the subject and verb:

 She is swimming in the sea. -> Is she swimming in the sea?


 They have used all the paper. -> Have they used all the paper?
 It had been sitting there for hours. -> Had it been sitting there for hours?

These forms are exactly the same when we add question words, the question word simply comes at
the beginning of the question:

 Why do you like dancing?


 How did he complete his homework?
 Where is she swimming?
 What have they used?
 How long had it been sitting there for?

Note that all of these questions ask about additional information in the sentences – they are not
questions about who or what did the verb.

Subject Questions
Subject questions are used to ask who or what was engaged in the main verb. They follow a
different form to regular questions, because the question word replaces the subject. Their form is
actually simpler than regular questions, as you just have to replace the subject with a question word
and add a question mark.

 I like dancing. -> Who likes dancing?


 He completed his homework. -> Who completed his homework?
 It had been sitting there for hours. -> What had been sitting there for hours?

These questions are used to ask about the subject, not the object.
The only complication here is that question words can change the conjugation of the verb.
Generally if we do not know the subject, and we ask a question with who or what, then the verb
should be conjugated in the third person form. So a first person singular statement becomes a
third person question:

 We love this movie. -> Who loves this movie?

For third person statements this will make no difference to conjugation.

 The car is parked outside. -> What is parked outside?

Subject questions can be singular or plural, so be careful of the context!

 What is that thing?


 What are those things?

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