Subject Questions

Subject Questions are an example of where practice is much easier than the theory. Let me try to keep the explanation short and simple.

The majority of questions are Object Questions and they follow this form no matter what the tense:

Question - Auxillary - Subject - Infinitive (QuASI)

What do you do? I am a teacher.

Where does John live? He lives in London.

When are your parents coming? They are coming on Monday.

Who did  you see there?  I saw my old teacher.

How will you get there? We'll go by car.

Can you see that the Question Words are the object of the verb?

But in some questions the Question Word (who, what, which, how many) is the subject of the verb. Look at the following examples:

Who teaches you? Graham (teaches us).

What happens at the end of the film? They fall in love.

Which teams reached the final? Real Madrid and Valencia (reached the final).

How many went to the meeting? Only 3 of us (went to the meeting).

Note that Subject Questions don't use an auxillary. The question word is followed by the verb which shows the 3rd person present or the past tense.

Image source: Wikipedia

Compare these Object/Subject Questions:

Which fictional character did Conan Doyle create? (CD created) Sherlock Holmes.
Who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories? Conan Doyle did.  / (wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories) 

When was Mount Everst first conquered? (It was conquered in) 1953.
Who conquered it? Edmund Hillary did. / (conquered it).

Who made this cake? Its delicious! I did / ( I made it).
How many cakes did you make? (I made) Just one.

Can you make the Subject/Object Question and do you know the answer?

e.g. _________ won 11 Oscars in 1997. Which film won 11 Oscars in 1997? Titanic.

E.T. won the Oscar for best film in______. When did E.T. win the Oscar? 1982.

1. __________ said “I was born at a bad time for Spain, but a really good one for cinema.”
2. Italy beat _________ in the final of the football World Cup in 2006.
3. ___________ resigned as US President in 1974.
4. __________ became the Prime Minister of the UK in 1990.
5. ___________ joined the EEC along with Spain in 1986.
6. The Berlin Wall came down in _________.

Can you make 6 General Knowledge (history, geography, the arts, current affairs, sport) questions. Ask a mixture of Subject and Object questions.

Ask a general knowledge question about Spain:
DO YOU KNOW where King Juan Carlos was born?
(Indirect question = Q + QW + S + V)
A = Rome

— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) October 31, 2015

#fishandchips #indirect Right or wrong?

1. I'm not sure what does this word mean.
2. Would you mind telling me how much you earn?
3. I'd be interested to know where is he from.
4. I can't remember what did she say.
5. Do you know what happened in the end?

— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) June 13, 2018

#grammar #indirect WTM?
1. I don't know how much does it cost.
2. Tell me what do I have to do.
3. I wonder how long is the meeting going to take.
4. I have no idea where did he go.
5. Find out what time does it start.

— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) January 24, 2019

#indirect Right or wrong?
1. Do you know how much does it cost?
2. Can you remember what's his name?
3. Could you tell me how long takes to get there?
4. I wonder what happened.
5. I'm not sure if he's got a car.

— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) February 1, 2019