It often happens that we need to find out exactly who produces (produced or will produce) any action or who has some quality. In this case, a question is asked like: "Who writes the letter?" (Who writes a letter?) Or "Who was smart?" (Who was clever?). They are called in English special questions to the subject, begin with question words (who, what, where, where, how much and so on) and usually do not represent any particular difficulty. It is safe to say that this topic is one of the easiest for the entire training course. But at the same time, anyone who wants to learn the language should learn to ask questions to the subject, since without this skill communication in English is almost impossible. First you need to understand the terminology.
Offer members
The terms “subject” and “predicate” are used to indicate the actor and action. Examples:
In this sentence, He is subject (actor), plays - predicate (action).
Here She is the subject, looks like the predicate.
Another important concept is the interrogative word. There are two such words: “who” and “what” - in questions to the subject in English. An example will help to clarify the concepts discussed.
- Who has done a work? (Who has already done the work?).
Here Who is a question word, has done is a predicate, and work is a minor member of a sentence.
How does the subject question in English sound?
In the first place are always the words Who or What. It must be remembered that the interrogative word in this case acts as the subject of the third person, used in the singular, as the pronouns He, She and It. The question is followed by the predicate and other members of the sentence. The order of words does not differ from affirmative sentences. The form of the verb also does not change in questions to the subject in the English language. Examples will help to better understand this material.
Take the affirmative sentence The dogs are barking (Dogs bark now). Ask a question for him. Who is barking? (Who barks?) As you can see, the word order has not changed, the form of the verb also has not changed (ending). Only the auxiliary verb has changed. As mentioned above, the subject in such a question is always from a third party, and it is used only in the singular, therefore the verb Is is instead of Are.
Take the sentence as an example: The flower was red. Question to him: What was red? It will sound exactly the same if it comes to a variety of colors. Please note that the word order remains unchanged.
- The flowers were red. (The flowers were red.)
- What was red? (What was red?)
The same thing happens in Russian.
- They were dancing.
- Who was dancing?
We use the present
Scheme "? -Word + predicate + sec. members of the sentence ”is valid at all times in matters to the subject in English. We will consider examples below.
In all varieties of the present tense, it should be remembered that the subject can only be in the 3rd person and certainly singular.
- I play the drums. (I play drums.)
- Who plays the drums? (Who plays the drums?)
The most common mistake is when they forget about ending –s \ es in Present Simple, asking a question to the subject in English. The examples presented above and the exercises at the end of this article will help strengthen the ability to ask questions and avoid mistakes. You also need to remember that in Present Simple, auxiliary verbs are not required. The verb is used in the same form as in the affirmative sentence.
Consider Present Continuous.
- They are laughing. (They are laughing.)
-Who is laughing? (Who's laughing?)
Here many make the mistake of putting the auxiliary plural verb are. This should never be done!
In other varieties of the present tense, one must act in a similar way.
Past time
The question to the subject in English in this case is even easier to ask. Nothing needs to be changed except for the replacement of the subject with the question word and in some cases the replacement of the auxiliary verb. As has been repeatedly said and proved by examples, the predicate to the subject in questions must certainly stand in the 3rd person and unit. number. So there should not be an auxiliary verb Were in an interrogative sentence!
So, get acquainted with the past tense. Examples of subject questions in English:
- She was good to me. (She was kind to me.) - Past Simple.
- Who was good to me? (Who was good to me?)
- They were waiting for him. (They were looking forward to it.) - Past Continuous.
- Who was waiting for him? (Who was waiting for him?)
- The summer had already gone. - Past Perfect.
- Who had already gone? (What has already passed?)
Future
In the future tense, difficulties can arise only in its completed form.
You will have lost your money till Sunday. (You will spend money by Sunday).
Who will have lost your money till Sunday? (Who will spend the money until Sunday).
The answers
How to answer such questions? Easy peasy. In the colloquial version, the answer can be one word, that is, the subject itself, for example, He, She, Uncle John, and so on.
But it will be most correct to adhere to the following scheme: "subject, supplemented by an auxiliary verb."
- Who went skating yesterday? (Who skated yesterday?)
- Sam did. (Sam.)
- Who is absent? (Who is absent?)
- John is. (John.)
Now you know what you need to do to correctly ask the subject in English. The examples above should be reviewed again before proceeding with the exercises. You should also repeat the construction of questions.
Questions to the subject in English. Exercises
- Ask your friend who he likes to spend his free time with.
- Ask a question to the following sentence: I want to live forever.
- Bug Fix: Who are glad to see me?
- Answer the question: What is your favorite animal?
- Translate into English: "Who will go to the beach tomorrow?"
Practice also asking questions to any suggestions in English. This will help you bring the skill to the necessary automatism.
The article examined the topic of how to ask a subject to the subject in English using examples. We hope that this information has been simple, interesting and useful for you.