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QUESTION WORDS

USAGE: Question Word is a group of questions which is used to ask about many things concerning the time, the place, choice, reason, condition, etc.
The question word is different of Yes/No Question. The question word does not need a Yes or No answer but, a certain word or description, like;

X: How do you go to school?    ( Bagaimana caranya kamu pergi ke sekolah? )
Y: I go to school by bike.    ( Saya pergi ke sekolah naik sepeda )
            Or, you can say:   
                    By Bike! (Naik sepeda!)

“ By bike “ is the answer of the question word “ How “. It asks the way to do or get something. On the other hand, the question word ‘how’ asks about the way.


KEY: Put the question word at the beginning of a sentence!

For Examples;

    What do you want from me?         ( Apa yang kau inginkan dariku? )
    what is that?             ( Apa itu? )
    What makes you come here?    ( Apa yang membuat kau datang kemari? )
    What do you do? *)         ( Apa pekerjaanmu? )

Note that the sentence ‘ what do you do? ‘ is the same as;

    What are you?
    What is your job?
    What is your occupation?
    What is your profession?

Make differences of the two of these sentences below!

(a) what do you do?
(b) What are you doing?

Where are you from? Or, where do you come from?
( Darimana mana kamu berasal / darimana asalmu? )

where do you go? Or,
where do you want to go? Or, 
where are you going?
( Mau kemana? / mau pergi kemana?)

where is she?        
( Dimana dia? )

when does he arrive?        
( Kapan dia tiba? )

when is the film on?        
( Kapan filmnya dimulai / ditayangkan? )

which one is yours?        
( Yang manakah kepunyaanmu? )

which do you like, tea or coffee?   
( Yang mana yang kau suka, teh atau kopi? )

Why does she go home?   
( Mengapa dia pulang? )

Who tells you the news?  
( Siapa yang memberitahumu berita itu? )

Who sends the letter?    
( Siapa yang mengirimkan surat itu? )

Who are you?    
( Siapa kamu? )

whom do you love?    
( Siapa yang kau cintai? )

Whom do you contact?    
( Siapa yang kau hubungi? )

Whose book is this?    
( Kepunyaan siapakah buku ini? )

How do you go to Semarang?
( Bagaimana (caranya) kau pergi ke semarang? )

How are you? )*    
( Bagaimana khabarmu? /  apa khabar? )

Note: the question ‘how are you?‘ has the same meaning as;

    How’s your life?
    How are you doing?
    How’s everything?
    How are you getting on?

When the question word is used, the auxilliary (e.g. do or does) or the be-present (i.e. is, am or are) is often placed before the subject, like;

    Step-1    : He is a student.    ( Dia seorang pelajar )
    Step-2    : Is he a student?    ( Apakah dia seorang pelajar? )
    Step-3    : What is he?    ( Apa pekerjaannya? )

    From the steps above, we can see the position of Be-present ‘is’ in the sentence. In positive, /is/ is placed before the predicate /a student/ or after the subject /he/. In step-2, /is/ precedes the subject /he/. And, in step-3 ( when the question word /what/ is used, be /is/ is positioned after the question word /what/. It means that the formation of /is/ + /he/ as a characteristic of a yes/no question is not omitted or changed!.



Look and study this below!

    Step-1    : He informs you the news.
        ( Dia menginformasikan padamu berita itu.)
    Step-2    : Does he inform you the news ?   
        ( Apakah dia menginformasikan padamu berita itu? )
    Step-3    : What does he inform to you ?
        ( Apa yang dia informasikan padamu? )   

QUESTION WORD PHRASES

Study this below carefully!


The phrase of the question word can be formed from this rule below!

What + noun/noun phrase (e.g.  what + time ..., etc)

How + adjective/adverb of manner (e.g. how + far ...., etc)

It is possible to use any noun, like;

What + book -------> what book ( Buku apa )
What + car   -------> what car ( Mobil apa )

Formation :

What book + do you need ?
What car + do you want to buy ?

-------> what book do you need ?         ( Buku apa yang kau butuhkah?)
-------> what car do you want to buy ?         ( Mobil apa yang ingin kau beli? )

Look and study this below!

    How far is it?
    How far is the city from here?
    How much does it cost?
    How much is it?
    How much will it cost?
    How much do you need it?
    How many students are there?
    How many students are in the classroom?

Note: How many is used to ask Countable noun; how much is used to ask UNCountable noun.

    How  about going to a movie tonight? (  form: What about + Verb-ing )
    what about me? ( Bagaimana dengan saya? )
    what time do you usually get up in the morning?
    How slowly does she drive the limousine?
    How many times does she drop in your house?
    How often do they win in each competition?
    How soon does he come?
    How long will you stay in Lampung?
    How high is the building?
    How tall is budi?

How old are you?    ( Synonym : ‘What is your  age?’ ).