WH- questions (focusing)

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 32 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as:

‘Wh-‘questions as a focusing device, often in a narrative or argument.

For example:

Why does this matter?  Things have changed.  Can’t we just get over it and move on? Right? But I would argue, for me certainly, learning this history has brought a real shift in the way that I understand racism today.


 

This grammar requires manual interpretation, so, therefore, cannot be located in corpora automatically.  The best we can do is copy the forms from the two examples in the EGP:

. _*Q * * ?

1 . WHY IS THAT ? 5405
2 . WHAT IS IT ? 3316
3 . WHY IS THIS ? 2917
4 . WHAT TO DO ? 2411
5 . HOW ABOUT YOU ? 1797
6 . WHAT ABOUT YOU ? 1399
7 . HOW ARE YOU ? 1117
8 . WHAT ARE THEY ? 1009
9 . WHAT ‘S NEXT ? 918
10 . WHAT IS THIS ? 864
11 . WHAT IS THAT ? 829
12 . WHAT ‘S THAT ? 695
13 . WHO ARE YOU ? 686
14 . WHAT ‘S WRONG ? 652
15 . WHO AM I ? 605
16 . WHICH IS IT ? 600
17 . WHO ARE THEY ? 575
18 . WHAT WAS IT ? 553
19 . WHERE IS IT ? 551
20 . WHY YOU ASK ? 544
21 . WHAT THE HELL ? 542
22 . WHAT WENT WRONG ? 511
23 . WHAT AM I ? 511
24 . HOW ABOUT THAT ? 507
25 . WHAT HAPPENS NEXT ? 437
26 . WHAT ‘S UP ? 426
27 . WHERE ARE YOU ? 415
28 . WHAT SAY YOU ? 411
29 . WHAT IS WRONG ? 400
30 . WHERE ARE THEY ? 379
31 . WHO IS CORRECT ? 354
32 . WHERE TO START ? 351
33 . WHY ? ? ? 347
34 . WHAT THE HECK ? 325
35 . WHAT ? ? ? 315
36 . WHO IS RIGHT ? 313
37 . WHICH IS CORRECT ? 312
38 . WHICH IS BETTER ? 297
39 . WHO DOES THAT ? 289
40 . WHAT ‘S YOURS ? 288
41 . WHAT WAS THAT ? 278
42 . WHO IS IT ? 271
43 . WHO IS HE ? 268
44 . WHERE IS HE ? 266
45 . WHAT IS HAPPENING ? 265
46 . WHY WOULD THEY ? 255
47 . WHAT HAPPENS THEN ? 251
48 . WHY THE DIFFERENCE ? 247
49 . HOW ‘S THAT ? 243
50 . WHAT ‘S HAPPENING ? 238
51 . WHAT WILL HAPPEN ? 236
52 . WHO IS SHE ? 230
53 . WHAT THE FUCK ? 229
54 . WHAT ‘S THIS ? 227
55 . WHY SHOULD THEY ? 213
56 . WHY WAS THAT ? 202
57 . WHAT ARE YOURS ? 199
58 . WHO WOULD N’T ? 188
59 . WHAT HAPPENS NOW ? 186
60 . WHO WILL WIN ? 186
61 . WHERE TO BEGIN ? 185
62 . WHERE WAS I ? 183
63 . HOW IS THAT ? 182
64 . WHY SHOULD I ? 181
65 . WHAT HAS HAPPENED ? 178
66 . WHAT HAS CHANGED ? 176
67 . WHO DOES N’T ? 168
68 . WHO DOES NT ? 164
69 . WHY THE CHANGE ? 160
70 . WHAT ‘S MORE ? 151
71 . WHAT WOULD HAPPEN ? 147
72 . WHY DO THIS ? 147
73 . HOW ABOUT IT ? 143
74 . WHO WAS HE ? 143
75 . WHO ARE WE ? 142
76 . WHO ‘S RIGHT ? 137
77 . WHY WOULD I ? 137
78 . WHAT ARE THESE ? 134
79 . HOW ABOUT THIS ? 133
80 . WHAT HAPPENED THERE ? 132
81 . HOW COULD THEY ? 131
82 . WHO WERE THEY ? 131
83 . WHAT WERE THEY ? 130
84 . WHAT CAUSES THIS ? 127
85 . WHERE WERE YOU ? 127
86 . WHY WOULD YOU ? 127
87 . WHERE AM I ? 125
88 . WHAT ? ! ? 125
89 . HOW YOU DOING ? 124
90 . WHAT HAPPENED NEXT ? 123
91 . HOW COULD I ? 123
92 . WHERE IS SHE ? 122
93 . WHAT COMES NEXT ? 118
94 . HOW WAS THAT ? 118
95 . WHO WAS IT ? 117
96 . HOW YOU ASK ? 116
97 . HOW COULD IT ? 115
98 . WHAT ARE YOU ? 114
99 . WHY ‘S THAT ? 111
100 . WHAT OF IT ? 109

. _*Q _RR * ?

1 . WHAT JUST HAPPENED ? 94
2 . WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ? 42
3 . WHY EVEN BOTHER ? 27
4 . WHO REALLY KNOWS ? 25
5 . WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED ? 25
6 . WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED ? 21
7 . WHO REALLY CARES ? 18
8 . HOW MUCH CONSUMED ? 16
9 . WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS ? 11
10 . WHAT REALLY MATTERS ? 11
11 . WHAT ELSE MATTERS ? 10

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