The subject is the main member of the sentence, which answers the question "Who?" or "What?"
In letter combination wh only one letter is "read": a sound is pronounced [w] or [h] !
Dictionary:
Who- who?
What- what?, what?, who by profession/occupation? (if the question is about a person)
*** Interestingly, native English speakers can pronounce what the beginning of words is not just [w], a , sounds [w] and [h] both sound, but change places (you can listen, for example, on the site lingvo-online.ru). In dictionaries in the transcription of such words you will see [(h)w]- this means that the sound [h] may or may not be pronounced, for example, what [(h)wɔt].
Question to the subject
One of the exercises used in teaching English is to ask a question to a certain member of a sentence. The easiest way is to ask a question to the subject, because for this you only need replace the subject with a question word without forgetting about agreement of the verb with the subject (!).
In these examples, pay attention to the verbs is and like(s):
The question is asked in the same way for the subject in the singular (boy) and in the plural (girls). Everything is the same as in Russian. It doesn't matter if one or more people can play the guitar:
Who plays the guitar? - Who plays the guitar? (He plays the guitar. - He plays the guitar.)
To ask a question to the subject, replace the subject with an interrogative word (i.e., an interrogative pronoun), and the verb following it should be the same as in the affirmative sentence with He(or She or It).
Rule:
Question to the subject- this is a sentence that preserves the word order of a declarative (affirmative) sentence in which the interrogative pronoun Who or What plays the role of the subject (replaces the subject), and is followed by a verb in the form third party singular.
Examples of questions to the subject for different forms of verbs
It remains to be seen when "3rd person singular" complicates our lives.
A detailed consideration of subject and predicate agreement in person and number is a topic for a separate article, and here I will finally give different cases in which, in order to form a question to the subject, you need to change the form of the verb of the original sentence:
| Affirmative sentence | Question to the subject |
|---|---|
|
verb to be- to be, to be, to be or an auxiliary verb, a linking verb; |
|
| I am hot. - I feel hot. | Who is hot? - Who's hot? |
| my friends were in the park. - My friends were in the park. | Who was in the park? - Who was in the park? |
| We shall be free. - We'll be free. | Who will be free? - Who will be free? |
|
verb to have- have or auxiliary verb; |
|
| They have a lot of interesting books. - They have many interesting books. | Who has a lot of interesting books? - Who has many interesting books? |
| my friends have been in the park. - My friends have been to the park. | Who has been in the park? - Who has been to the park? |
| By the 1st of September, 2012, I shall have been working at school for ten years. - By September 1, 2012, I will have been working at the school for 10 years. | Who will have been working at school for ten years by the 1st of September, 2012? - Who will have been working at the school for 10 years by September 1, 2012? |
|
verb to do- do or auxiliary verb; |
|
| I usually do the dishes in the evening. - I usually wash the dishes in the evening. | Who usually does the dishes in the evening? Who usually does the dishes in the evening? |
| We don't do well confused. We don't feel very good when we are confused. | Who doesn't do well confused? Who doesn't feel good about being confused? |
|
semantic verb in present simple tense
| |
Questions for subject and object.subject and object questions.What is the difference?
Let's take a look at how questions are structured using the following sentence as an example:
Suzy loves Paul.
Question to the subject. Subject question
1. Who loves Paul? (Who loves Paul?) - Suzy loves him.
This question is asked of the subject, since we are asking who is the protagonist, namely “who loves?”. In this type of question, there is no auxiliary verb, and the main verb is in the same form as in the affirmative sentence!!!
Therefore, the following options are errors:
Who does love Paul?
Who love Paul?
Interrogative words are usually pronouns: Who? And What? Who lives with you?
What? (+ noun) can be used if the character is an animal, an inanimate object, or an abstract phenomenon.
What happened yesterday? (What happened yesterday?)
What animal got lost after the fire? (Which animal was lost after the fire?)
In some cases, questions to the subject may begin with the interrogative word Whose?, when we are interested in the belonging of the object / the relationship of a person to something / someone.
Whose bag is it? (Who's bag is this?)
Whose dog is barking outside? (Whose dog is barking outside?)
Whose friend came to the office last Friday? (Whose friend came to the office last week?)
Question for addition. object question
2. Who does Suzy love? (Who does Susie love?) - She loves Paul.
In this case, we are not interested in the actor, but in the one to whom the action is directed, that is, “who is loved?”
Question to complement, like all other special questions, contains an auxiliary verb the tense in which the main verb is located.
What has she found out so far? (What has she learned so far?) – Present Perfect
Often in such questions there is a preposition that runs to the end, although in Russian we start with a preposition.
Compare:
| English | Russian |
| Who did you meet yesterday? | Who did you meet yesterday? |
| Who does he usually travel with? | Who does he usually travel with? |
| What are you thinking about? | What are you thinking about? |
| What is she looking for? | What is she looking for? |
| What film was she's watching yesterday? | What movie did she watch yesterday? |
In questions to the addition, as well as in questions to the subject, interrogative words / phrases can be:
What (+ noun)? (which + noun?)
Now let's try to work out in practice:
Open the brackets and change the questions according to its type: Subject vs Object.
1. What book/you/________ (read) at the moment?
2. Who _______(cook) in your family most often?
3. What /you usually /_____ (talk about) with friends?
4. What/you _______ (think about) now?
5. Which film _______(go on) in cinema at the moment?
6. Who/you_______ (look like) in your family?
7. What/ your mood/ _____(depend on)?
8. Who ______(give) you present on your birthdays?
9. Who / you / usually _____(give) presents to?
10. Who / you/ _____(rely) on?
11. What apps/ you/______(use) most often?
12. What apps /______ (become) popular at the moment?
13. Who __________/you (live) with?
14. Who _________/you (would like to work) for?
15. Who ___________/you (usually talk) to first when you have problems?
16. Who ___________/you (celebrate) your birthday with?
17. Who __________(enjoy) Christmas most in your family?
18. Who _________ (phone) you most often?
19. Who _________/you (phone) most often?
20. Whose birthday______ (to be) next in your family?
Question to the Subject, or Subject Questions, is one of the five types of questions in English grammar. Undoubtedly, its design is the most simple and understandable. To master it, you will have to spend quite a bit of time. Many publications on English grammar do not classify it as a separate type, but attach it to special questions. Despite the fact that the Question to the Subject begins with a special word, its structure differs sharply from the Special Question. Therefore, I still believe that it should be studied as a separate type so that there is no confusion.
What is a subject?
What is a Question to the Subject and why is it needed?
Questions to the subject (Subject Questions) in English language are questions that are asked to obtain additional information. From the name it is clear that the information relates directly to the main member of the sentence - the subject.
Subject Questions in English always begin with the question words "who?" and "what?", which are respectively translated as "who?" and what?". These interrogative pronouns are full members of the sentence. Since the interrogative pronoun replaces the member of the sentence to which the question is asked, then in this case it performs the function of the subject.
Subject Questions are the only type of questions in English that do not have inversion. The word order in the question to the subject remains the same as in the declarative sentence. Therefore, the compilation of Subject Questions is not difficult.
It should be emphasized that the question for the definition of the subject is built on the same principle, without changing the order of words in the sentence. The question for determining the subject begins with one of the following interrogative words: "what" - "which", "which" - "which", "whose" - "whose", "how much" / "how many" - "how much", for followed by a noun. An interrogative pronoun followed by a noun also functions as a subject.
Drawing up a Question to the Subject and its Definition is a momentary matter that absolutely everyone can handle. The question to the subject begins with the pronoun who for animate nouns and what for the inanimate. The question for the definition of the subject is from the words what, which, whose, how much / how many. The question word is followed by a verb. Thus, in questions to the subject and its definition, the direct word order is preserved, as in a declarative sentence. 
How is a Question to the Subject Formed?
The principle of compiling Subject Questions is as follows:
We take a declarative sentence, find the subject, and replace it with the corresponding interrogative pronoun. That's all!
But still there is one small nuance that should not be forgotten. In the present tense, the verb in the question to the subject must be in the form of the 3rd person, singular (i.e., you need to add the ending "-s"). Since we don't know what answer might follow, it is customary to use the 3rd person. In Russian, the situation is similar.
Let's move on to the questions themselves in English, or rather to examples, and you will immediately understand everything.
- She can speak Spanish very well - She can speak Spanish very well
- Instead of the subject "she" we put the pronoun "who". The rest of the sentence is rewritten without changes.
- Who can speak Spanish very well? Who can speak Spanish very well?
- She speaks Spanish very well - She speaks Spanish very well
- Who speaks Spanish very well? Who speaks Spanish very well?
- I am a teacher - I am a teacher
- In order to ask the question "who is the teacher?" we must put the verb "am" in the 3rd person singular (according to the rule) → i.e. we will use the verb "is" in the question.
- Who is a teacher? - Who is the teacher?
- Surely you now remembered the phrase "Who is who?" − Who is who?
- The books are in the classroom — Textbooks in the classroom
- What is in the classroom? - What is in the classroom?
- They speak to her - They speak to her
- In this sentence, to ask a question, you need to add an ending to the verb.
- Who speaks to her? Who is talking to her?
If the verb in the sentence is in the past or future tense, then it does not change. For example:
- They worked hard yesterday - They worked hard yesterday
- Who worked hard yesterday? Who worked hard yesterday?
- We will do it tomorrow - We will do it tomorrow
- Who will do it tomorrow? Who will do it tomorrow?
Now we will give some examples of Questions to the Definition of the Subject. We take a narrative sentence. We find the definition for the subject, and instead use the corresponding word (what, which, whose, how much / how many). The rest of the proposal is left unchanged. Note that the subject is preserved, but the verb is not placed before it.
- My sister is a teacher - My sister is a teacher
- Whose sister is a teacher? Whose sister is the teacher?
- Green pencils are on the table - Green pencils on the table
- What pencils are on the table? − What pencils are on the table?
Answers to Subject Questions
Subject Questions usually require a short answer that consists of a subject and an auxiliary or modal verb.
- Who has eaten all the apples? - Jim has (Who ate all the apples? - Jim)
- What can be done here? - Nothing can (What can be done in this case? - Nothing)
- Who must clean up the office? - Olga must (Who should clean the office? - Olga)
- Who plays the tennis there? - Helen does (Who plays tennis? - Lena)
If the verbs to be and to have are used in their semantic meaning, then the auxiliary verb is not needed.
- What is that? - That is a car (What is it? - This is a car)
- Who has the power? — The Parliament has. (Who has power? - Parliament)
In colloquial speech, in response to a question to the subject, an auxiliary or modal verb may go down.
- Who has sang it? - Peter (Who sang this? - Petya)
- What is that? - A car (What is it? - Machine)
Watch video lessons on the topic: “Question to the subject in English”
One of the most difficult topics in the classroom arequestions with who in English. But in fact, everything is quite simple, since in these questions you don’t even need to use auxiliary verbs. And the word order remains exactly the same as in a regular declarative sentence. Questions fromwhoare quite common in English, so it is important to learn how to formulate them correctly.
Questions with who in English. Construction scheme
As for word order in questions with who in English, then it is universal. Pay attention to the following diagram:
Who + main verb (often in the 3rd person singular) + other members of the sentence
Why is the auxiliary verb not used in these questions? For the reason that the question is addressed to a person or object, instead of which, in our question, who. Consider examples:
1. A: Who wrote that novel? Who wrote that novel?
B: Anna did. - Anna.
2. A: Who is speaking? – Who is speaking?
B: Tom is. - Volume.
It should be noted that such questions are encountered not only with the word who. May apply which, what, whose and even how many. How then to figure it out? You can simply try to replace the question word or phrase with who. If this does not change the meaning of the sentence, you need to use the rules for questions with who in English.
For example:
A: How many people came to the meeting? How many people came to the meeting?
Q: Six people came to the meeting. Six people came to the meeting.
Questions with who in English. Examples
Below are other examples questions with who(which, what, whose…) in English.
|
question |
translation |
|
Who looked at me when I was singing? |
Who looked at me when I sang? |
|
Who plays piano as well as Alex? |
Who plays the piano as well as Alex? |
|
Whose son came to the party yesterday? |
Whose son came to the party yesterday? |
|
How many people speak Japanese in your office? |
How many people speak Japanese in your office? |
|
Who talked to Anna when I was away? |
Who spoke to Anna when I was gone? |
|
Which manger looks more serious? |
Which manager looks more serious? |
|
What specialist has more information? |
Which specialist has more information? |
|
Which team lost the game? |
Which team lost? |
There is one more interest Ask, which always sounds without an auxiliary verb. it What happened? (What happened?)
Why are questions starting with who so important?
Is it worth focusing on this topic? Why are so important questions starting with who? Let's try to figure it out with the help of the following suggestions. 
School Mary Vanna did her best to make you remember that every question in English must contain an auxiliary verb. And you can't blame her for that. But for some reason, a special type of question remains unattended - a question to the subject. It is not surprising that when studying the topic Subject Questions many students find it very difficult to understand: How is this a special question and without an auxiliary verb?
Indeed, this type of question exists and is used very often. And in order to correctly build questions to the subject, you need to figure out once and for all what is subject and what is addition. Let's start with this.
Subject in a sentence - the one who acts, the acting person, maybe not even a person, but an inanimate object. The subject always answers the question: Who? What? In terminology English grammar- this is subject.
Addition in a sentence, it is the one to whom the action is directed. Answers questions about cases: Whom? What? To whom? What? By whom? How? and so on. In the terminology of English grammar is called object.
John called Kate.
Who acted in this situation, who called? John. This is subject . Who is the target of the action, who was called? Kate. This is object .
If we need to ask about one of them, we will use a question word who.
Let's say we know that John called someone. We ask: Who did John call?
Who did John call? Who did John call?
This is an object question, because we know the subject. The word order of this question is indirect, there is an auxiliary verb did that comes before the subject.
And we will answer this question like this:
Kate. John called Kate.
Otherwise, we know someone called Kate. How to ask who called her? In this question, we need to find out who was the actor. Let's try this:
Who did Kate call? Who did Kate call?
This is a grammatically correct question, but similar to the one we asked above, just with a different name. In this case, from the question it turns out that Kate called someone, in this question Kate is the subject, the actor. But she didn't call anyone, it was someone who called her. The situation is distorted. We need another question.
Let's try it differently:
Who did call Kate?
This question is grammatically incorrect. Word order is broken. First, there should be an interrogative word (who), then an auxiliary verb (did), after - the subject ... Stop, but we don’t have information about the subject, we just need to find out WHO called, who performed the action.
Finally, we come to the most basic.
To ask a question to the subject, we do not need to change places or add anything. You just need to put the question word who in place of the unknown subject:
Somebody called Kate.
Who called Kate? - John. John called Kate.
The rule is very simple: if you need to find out who performed the action, then the question word who is put instead of the unknown subject and the word order does not change.
As you can see, there is nothing difficult in constructing a subject question, but there is one more problem: how to distinguish a subject question from an object question ? Let's look at the comparison again:
Let's imagine ourselves as extremely curious, and by examples we will consider how to set different types questions:
The thief stole his bag. - The thief stole his bag.
See you in training!