Grammar in focus
The question words
| Word | Asks about | Example |
|---|---|---|
| What | things, information | What is your name? |
| Who | people | Who is your teacher? |
| Where | place | Where are you from? |
| When | time | When is the party? |
| Why | reason | Why are you late? Because… |
| Which | a choice | Which one do you prefer? |
| Whose | possession | Whose bag is this? |
| How | manner | How do you spell it? |
| How old / much / many / often / long / far / tall | age, price or quantity, number, frequency, duration, distance, height | How old are you? How much is it? How many brothers do you have? |
Word order
Question word + be + subject: Where is the bathroom? Why are you late?
Question word + do/does + subject + base verb: Where do you live? What does she want?
Watch out
- After do/does use the base verb:
Where does she lives?→ Where does she live? - Don't forget the auxiliary:
What time you get up?→ What time do you get up? - Whose (possession) ≠ Who's (who is).
En español
What = qué, Who = quién, Where = dónde, When = cuándo, Why = por qué, Which = cuál, Whose = de quién, How = cómo. El orden: palabra + do/does/be + sujeto + verbo.
US vs UK
This book teaches American English. These are the differences you will notice with British English on this topic.
Both exist, but What time is it? is the usual American question.
Ambas existen, pero What time is it? es la usual en EE. UU.
Typical American greeting question vs British phrase.
Pregunta de saludo americana vs frase británica.
Some informal American speech adds at. Do not use it in exams.
El americano muy informal añade at. No lo uses en exámenes.
Exam practice
- Five parts, like a certification exam: multiple choice, open cloze, error identification, sentence transformation and US vs UK.
- Typed answers accept American spelling and contractions (don't = do not).
- Every item has feedback in English and Spanish. Items and options change order on every attempt.
- Only Exam mode saves your score to your progress. You pass with 70%.
Practice mode
No timer. Check each part as you go and read the feedback.
Exam mode
25 minutes. Feedback at the end. Your best score is saved.