Questions – How to Explain the Lack of Auxiliary Verb in Some Questions?

auxiliary-verbsquestions

I am trying to write a lesson about QASM question structure (Where did you go, what will they see etc.) How should I explain the fact that the following questions don't seem to take an auxiliary verb?
How many of the students come from (cityname)?
Which colour suits me the best in your opinion?
Whose parents drive them to school everyday?

I realise the QASM structure cannot be used for 100% of questions but is there a good way to explain when and why auxiliaries are not needed?

Best Answer

When the question word is the subject there is no auxiliary verb and the verb agrees with the subject.

Who do you love? I love you. you is the object. The question is looking for object. 'You' are the subject who loves someone.

Who loves you? She loves me. The question is looking for the person who loves me. It looks for the subject.

I am supposing your students know what subject and object is. Give a few more examples and point out all the questions are trying to understand who or what is the subject.

Who broke the window? She broke it. What killed the dog? Food killed the dog.

Related Solutions

Learn English – Wh-questions: auxiliary verbs or not

The first one is not grammatically correct, for a question; the second one is the correct form of that sentence.

You are right in pointing out that "W" questions require that auxiliary verb, 'did'. (or more generally, 'to do') to connect a "W" (or how) question to another subject.

In the examples below, the subject that 'to do' is connecting the "W" question to is surrounded by asterisks.

Who did *you* meet?
Why does *that* happen to this computer?
Where do *you* go when you leave the house?
How does *a magnet* work?
When did *the kids* come in?

Questions – Can a Clause Starting with “I Assume” Become a Question Through Intonation?

Yes, clauses that start with "I assume" can be turned into questions by inflection.

Usage questions need to be answered by reference to usage, so here are a couple of instances in print:

I assume you know the story, then? -The Old You by Louise Voss
I assume you know by now that he died last Thursday? -The Safest Place You Know by Mark Winkler

Each instance is followed by a reply to the question.

The intent of the construct is, as your correspondent noted, to seek confirmation that the stated assumption is correct. There is an expectation of an affirmative answer. A negative answer would typically be surprising to the asker.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Learn English – Wh-questions: auxiliary verbs or not

Questions – Can a Clause Starting with “I Assume” Become a Question Through Intonation?

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