More on Question Words

There is more to interrogative words than just using them to ask questions sometimes they may be used to create a conditional statement which is expressed when the speaker wants to relate two or more events relative to a time line (see conditional sentences). In the meantime suffice it to say that when is often used when one action that progressed in the past is interrupted by a more recent action This will be elaborated on when discussing the past progressive tense.

Where is often used to create relative clauses which elaborate the information stated in the preceding part of the sentence. So in the statement, “This is the place where I will be going to school”, the part after where adds more details about the place I will be going to.

Who is used more often than whom, it’s object form but that is important to know especially when formality of speech is expected. So instead of saying, “Who would you like to talk to?” the speaker can say, “To whom would you like to talk?” Whom may also be used at the end of sentence, preceded always by a preposition.

Whose is used when asking who owns a particular thing as in “ Whose jacket is this?” The sound of the word is the same as that for the abbreviation of who and is but the person who is using this word will know he is referring to ownership and not identity depending on the sentence used. So in a sentence like “Who’s at the door” it is clear we are referring to a person and not a property.

How is not only used to find out the means or method behind an operation. When used with much or many one is asking about quantity. So How much will be used to ask about a singular quantity, usually a cost, and how many will be used for countable items.