WH- questions (no auxiliary)

Questions that start with ‘WH’ are not always followed by an auxiliary verb or any verbs for that matter.  For example:

How about you and me get a drink sometime, Janie?

 

What about the other one?

listen

The question word can be the subject followed by the main verb in the clause.  For example:

Who cares if there are a few little details youd rather not remember?

listen

Now, what happens?


A search on iWeb for:

. Wh* _VV * ?

1 . WHAT WENT WRONG? 511

What went wrong in Paris?

Allied

2 . WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? 437
3 . WHAT SAY YOU? 411
4 . WHAT HAPPENS THEN? 251
5 . WHAT HAPPENS NOW? 195
6 . WHAT HAPPENED THERE? 132
7 . WHAT CAUSES THIS? 127

What causes the bug?

TED

8 . WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? 123
9 . WHAT COMES NEXT? 118
10 . WHO WANTS THAT? 104
11 . WHAT INSPIRES YOU? 82
12 . WHAT GIVES ? ? 82
13 . WHAT HAPPENED HERE? 82
14 . WHY RISK IT ? 80
15 . WHY STOP THERE? 73
16 . WHY PAY MORE? 70
17 . WHO KNOWS WHY? 64
18 . WHO NEEDS IT ? 59
19 . WHO NEEDS THAT? 53
20 . WHAT HAPPENED THEN? 50
21 . WHAT MOTIVATES YOU ? 46
22 . WHAT CAUSES IT ? 46
23 . WHO KNOWS ? ? 45
24 . WHO SAID THAT? 44
25 . WHY WOULDNT THEY? 44
26 . WHO KNEW ! ? 43
27 . WHAT HAPPENED ? ? 43
28 . WHAT WENT WELL? 41
29 . WHY STOP NOW ? 38
30 . WHAT CAUSED IT ? 36
31 . WHY WOULDNT YOU ? 36
32 . WHAT SAY YE ? 35
33 . WHAT CAUSED THIS? 34
34 . WHO KNEW ? ? 34
35 . WHY CHANGE IT ? 32
36 . WHO NEEDS THEM ? 31
37 . WHAT DRIVES YOU ? 30
38 . WHICH CAME FIRST? 29
39 . WHY START NOW ? 28
41 . WHY FIGHT IT ? 27
42 . WHO SAYS SO ? 26
43 . WHO SAYS THAT? 25
44 . WHAT CAUSES THAT? 25

45 . WHAT HAPPENS INSTEAD? 25 (story title)

46 . WHAT MOTIVATES THEM? 25
47 . WHY LIMIT YOURSELF? 25
48 . WHAT THINK YOU ? 24
49 . WHICH COMES FIRST? 24
50 . WHO GETS IT ? 23


A2 Vocabulary:

happened, happens, instead, so, yourself

2 thoughts on “WH- questions (no auxiliary)”

  1. Can we say ,
    What you did yesterday ? or
    What you done yesterday ?
    i.e in presence of a subject

  2. English Grammar Pro

    What did you do yesterday?
    What have you done today?

    What you did yesterday was ask me a question.
    What you have done this week is reply to my post.

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