Subject questions 1

Most of the questions in English keep to this word order:

[Question word] + Auxiliary verb + Subject + Main verb

They are information questions or yes/no questions. Examples:

What did you have for dinner? I just had some fruit.
Who do you live with? I live with my family.
Do you know my English teacher? No, I don't.

However, there is a small percentage of questions which do not keep to this word order, but have the same word order as a statement (affirmative or negative sentences). They are called subject questions. We use subject questions when we want to know who the subject of the action is. Examples:

Who won the game? Esther [won the game].
Who went to the concert with you? John [came to the concert with me].
Who hasn't been to London? Joanna and Pete [haven't been to London].

We use the third person singular of the verb in a subject question. The answer may be more than one person, but the verb after who in the question is always singular. Example:

Who knows the answer to this question? Only three people know it.

Listen to the teacher Mark Roberts explaining subject questions.