Questions

Word order in present simple questions

The order of words in an English question in present simple is: 

QWASI: (Question Word) + Auxiliary + Subject + Infinitive.

• What do you do?
• Where do they live?

In Yes-No questions (questions that we answer saying yes or no) there is NO Question Word.

• Do you speak English?
• Does she live here?

The auxiliary verb in present simple is be or do/does. Below, you can see a grammar chart on the order of words in present simple questions with be or do/does.

Questions with am/is/are

When the verb in the sentence is be, we use am/is/are as the auxiliary verb before the subject. Then the word order is QWAS: (Question Word) + Auxiliary (am/is/are) + Subject

Questions with do/does

When we have a verb that is not be, we use do/does as the auxiliary verb.
We use does with he/she/it and do with I/you/we/they. Remember that the main verb after the subject is in the infinitive form (NOT -s or -es).

• What does she do? ✅
• What does she does? ❌
• Where does he work? ✅
• Where does he works? ❌

Question words – Grammar chart

What + noun

We often use the question word what + noun as a question word: what time, what colour, what size, etc.

• What colour is your jacket?
• What size do you want?
• What car does he have?

How + adjective/adverb

We can also use how + adjective/adverb as a question word in phrases like how often, how old, how tall, etc.

• How fast is your car?
• How big is her house?
• How often do you play sports?