Wh-Questions 

One of the most commonly studied aspects is how to ask questions in English. Knowing how to ask questions will help you clarify doubts and understand other people. This may seem difficult to you, but it's actually easier than you think.

With this article I want to teach you how to ask questions in English, with the most commonly used words, the "wh questions":

 

What

This is one of the most common ones in English, it can be used to ask for information about something, to ask them to repeat an information or to confirm it. In Spanish it means "Que" or "cuál".

Let's look at some examples:

• What are you up to today? → ¿Qué harás hoy?
• What did you tell her? → ¿Qué le dijiste a ella?

Who

nIf you want to ask about a person, you can use this Wh Question. In Spanish it means "Quien".

For example:

• Who did you see there? → ¿A quién viste allí?
• Who opened the door? → ¿Quién abrió la puerta?

Whose

If you want to know who owns a certain object, you can use this word. We can translate it into Spanish as "de quién es".

 For example:

• Whose blouse is this? → ¿De quién es esa blusa?
• Whose keys are these? → ¿De quién son estas llaves?

When

This word is used to ask the date or time when something happened or is going to happen. In Spanish it means "Cuando".

  For example:

• When are you travelling? → ¿Cuándo vas a viajar?
• When did they leave? → ¿Cuándo se han ido?
• When is your birthday? → ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?

Where

If you want to know "where" a place is or where something is going to happen, you can use this word.

For example:

• Where did you go last night? → ¿A dónde fuiste ayer a la noche?
• Where are the kids hiding? → ¿Dónde están escondidos los niños?

Why

To find out why or why something happened, you can use this Wh Question. It translates into Spanish as "por qué".

For example:

• Why are you taking so long? → ¿Por qué tardas tanto?
• Why is it so expensive? → ¿Por qué esto es tan caro?

Which

This is often confused by the similarity of meaning with "what", "Which". In spanish "cual" or "cuales", but it is used when the options for an answer are limited.

For example:

• Which one is yours: the blue or the red? → ¿Cuál es el tuyo: el azul o el rojo?
• Which one of the papers is yours? → ¿Cuál de los trabajos es el tuyo?

How

This, although it does not begin with "wh-", is among the most basic question clauses and means "Como".

For example:

• How are you? → ¿Cómo estás?
• How was your flight? → ¿Cómo fue tu vuelo?

In the following images you can see more examples of the Wh-Questions and some contexts in which they are used: