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Grammar - Everyday Grammar - Where Did You Learn
English? Forming Questions, Part Three |
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| Where Did You Learn English? Forming
Questions, Part Three |
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 Where
Did You Learn English? Forming Questions, Part Three
The lesson includes an audio program explaining this
grammar topic, the script for the audio program, a words in this story section,
and other important information. |
Audio Program
Listen to the audio program explaining this grammar
topic. Then read the following written information. |
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Where Did You Learn English?
Forming Questions, Part Three |
Imagine you are meeting a group of English learners to
practice your speaking skills. The group leader puts
everyone into small practice groups. The people in your
group begin to ask each other questions. Here are some
questions you might hear or ask:
What do you like doing for fun?
When did you come to the U.S.?
Where did you learn English?
Object questions
These are all examples of object questions, and we are
going to tell you about them today.
Object questions are sometimes called “wh-questions” or
“five w” questions” because they begin with one of five
“wh” words: “who,” “what,” “when,” “where” and “why.”
They can also begin with “how,” “how much” or “how
many.”
What is QUASM?
There is a simple, dependable pattern to remember when
forming object questions. It is called QUASM and it
works for most verb tenses. The QU in QUASM stands for
“question word.” The A stands for “auxiliary verb.” You
may recall that auxiliary verbs are helping verbs – such
as “do” “be” and “have”—that we use to form questions
and verb tenses. The S in QUASM stands for “subject.”
And the M stands for “main verb.”
Let’s see how QUASM applies to object questions in a
few verb tenses.
Simple present
In the simple present and simple past tenses, we use a
form of the verb “do” as the auxiliary verb.
Here are some object questions in the simple present
tense.
What do Americans eat for breakfast?
Where does she go to school?
Now, we’ll find QUASM in one of these examples. In the
question “What do Americans eat for breakfast?” our
question word is “what”; the auxiliary verb is “do”; the
subject is “Americans”; and the main verb is “eat.”
Simple past
Moving on to simple past, the form of “do” will always
be “did,” which is the past tense. Here are some
examples. Listen for the QUASM pattern in each and make
a note of the question word, auxiliary verb, subject and
main verb:
Where did you learn English?
How did you make that dish?
How much / How many
As we said earlier, object questions can also begin with
“how much” or “how many.” We often use these phrases for
questions in simple present or simple past verb.
And, there is usually a noun after the phrase and before
the auxiliary verb. Listen to two examples:
How much money did you spend on fall clothes?
How many cards do I have in my hand?
In these questions, the nouns “cards” and “money” do not
affect the QUASM pattern. You can think of the phrases
how much- or how many + noun as the QU in QUASM.
Other verb tenses
So, what about object questions in other verb tenses?
How do you choose an auxiliary verb for them? The answer
is easy: use whichever auxiliary verb that the verb
tense uses.
For example, we form the present continuous tense with
the auxiliary verb be + -ing. In object questions, we
put this verb tense into the QUASM pattern. Listen for
the pattern in these questions:
Where are you going for Thanksgiving?
Why is everyone standing around?
You can still hear the be + -ing verb tense, but it is
separated by the subject.
Unlike the simpler tenses, some complex verb tenses in
English, such as the perfect continuous tenses, have two
auxiliary verbs. Object questions in such tenses do not
follow the QUASM pattern. The question “What has she
been studying to prepare for the test?” is an example.
The auxiliary verbs “has” and “been” are separated by
the subject.
For the purpose of today’s program, we will not focus on
these complex verb tenses.
QUASM for modals
OK, here’s something a lot simpler: modals verbs, also
called “modals” or “modal auxiliaries.” We sometimes
call them “modal auxiliaries” because they are a kind of
helping verb. Modals include “can” “could” “should”
“might” “would” and many more.
Object questions containing modals also follow the QUASM
pattern. Listen for the pattern in these examples:
Where should I drop off my dry cleaning?
How can we improve our customer service?
OK, that’s our time for today. If you made it to the end
of this three-part series, congratulations! Now, I have
three questions for you:
What did you learn in this three-part series?
Who can help you practice forming questions?
Do you know what kinds of questions each of these is?
For practice exercises and more, visit our website.
I’m Alice Bryant.
Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Caty
Weaver was the editor. |
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Words in This Story |
- practice
– v. to do something
again and again in order to become better at it
- pattern
– n. the regular and
repeated way in which something happens or is done
- phrase
– n. a group of two or
more words that express a single idea but do not
usually form a complete sentence
- focus
– v. to direct your
attention or effort at something specific
- modal
verb – n. a verb
that is usually used with another verb to express
ideas such as possibility, necessity, and permission
- dry
cleaning – n.
clothing or cloth items that need to be or have been
dry-cleaned
- customer
– n. someone who buys
goods or services from a business
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Additional Information |
Practice Exercises
Now, you try it! Use these practice exercises to help
you improve at forming object questions. Write your
responses in the Comments area.
1 - Make these statements into object questions. You can
use the QUASM pattern to help you.
Example:
I work at Voice of America. (where)
Where do you work? (answer)
We are meeting at 4pm for dinner. (when)
You should bring fruit salad to the party. (what)
You can improve your English by practicing every day.
(how)
My friend said we could use her camping gear. (what)
I bought this painting at an art show in Maryland.
(where)
He was singing in the rain this morning. (why)
Bobby has two children. (how many)
You need two cups of sugar for the cake. (how many)
2 - Practice saying the example questions from today’s
program. Doing this can help the pattern and sound of
object questions feel much more natural to you. |
| Object Question
Examples |
Question
Word |
Auxiliary
Verb |
Subject |
Main Verb |
|
| What |
do |
Americans |
eat |
for breakfast? |
| How |
did |
you |
make |
that dish?
|
| How many cards |
do |
I |
have |
in my hand? |
| Where |
are |
you |
going |
for Thanksgiving? |
| How |
can |
we |
improve |
our customer service? |
|
Forming Questions
Parts 1, 2 and 3 |
| Subject Questions |
who/which/what + main verb +
object |
Who called you?
Which motorbike gets the best mileage? |
| Object Questions |
QUASM = question word +
auxiliary verb + subject + main verb |
Where did you get those shoes?
Why is everyone standing around? |
| Yes / No Questions |
ASM = auxiliary + subject +
main verb |
Did you watch the Emmy Awards
last night?
Does this color look good on me? |
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Source: Voice of America |
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Grammar Tips |
Can You Catch These Native Speaker Mistakes?
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of common mistakes. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part One
(Beginner - Listening,
reading)
A video lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words.
The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part One
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part Two
(Beginner - Listening,
reading)
A video lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words.
The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part Two
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
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