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Language Concepts

Understanding WH-Questions

Knowing that "who" wants a person and "where" wants a place.

Mastered by
ASHA has children answering simple who, what and where questions in the 2-to-3-year band, with why and how questions in the 3-to-4 and 4-to-5 bands
Practice items
31
Sections
4

What this skill is

Every WH-word demands a particular kind of answer. Who wants a person, where wants a place, when wants a time, why wants a reason. This page is about that matching, which is a separate skill from answering the question: a child can know perfectly well that the dog is in the garden and still answer "where is the dog?" with "the dog" - because they have not worked out what the question word is asking for.

What to expect

The usual order is what and where first, then who, then why, with when and how last. A child who answers every question with the last thing they heard, or who answers a why question with a place, is showing you a question-word problem rather than a knowledge problem - and that is useful, because it is directly teachable.

Try this at home

Ask two questions about the same picture, back to back: "Who is eating? Where is she eating?" Same picture, two different answers. That contrast teaches the question word better than any single question can.

When to refer

Not answering simple who, what and where questions by 3, or consistently giving the wrong kind of answer (a place for a who question) after 4.

Print it

Understanding WH-Questions worksheet31 items across 4 sections, with answer key · PDF

What Kind of Answer?

10 items

Say what kind of thing each question is asking for.

  1. 1.Who ate the cookie?a person
  2. 2.Where did you put it?a place
  3. 3.When is your birthday?a time
  4. 4.Why are you crying?a reason
  5. 5.What is in the box?a thing
  6. 6.How did you open it?a way of doing it
  7. 7.Who is at the door?a person
  8. 8.Where does the milk go?a place
  9. 9.Why do we wear coats?a reason
  10. 10.When do we eat dinner?a time

Answer the Question

8 items

Read each little story, then answer the question.

  1. 1.Mia dropped her ice cream on the sidewalk. Who dropped it?Mia
  2. 2.Mia dropped her ice cream on the sidewalk. Where did it fall?on the sidewalk
  3. 3.Mia dropped her ice cream on the sidewalk. What did she drop?her ice cream
  4. 4.Dad made pancakes on Saturday morning. Who made them?Dad
  5. 5.Dad made pancakes on Saturday morning. When did he make them?Saturday morning
  6. 6.The dog hid under the bed during the storm. Where did he hide?under the bed
  7. 7.The dog hid under the bed during the storm. Why did he hide?because of the storm
  8. 8.We stayed inside because it was raining. Why did we stay in?because it was raining

Which Question Fits?

8 items

Read the answer, then say which question word it belongs to.

  1. 1.In the kitchen.where
  2. 2.My grandma.who
  3. 3.Because I was tired.why
  4. 4.At three o'clock.when
  5. 5.A blue truck.what
  6. 6.With a spoon.how
  7. 7.Tomorrow.when
  8. 8.Under the table.where

Ask Me One

5 items

Give the child the answer and have them build the question.

  1. 1.The answer is "in the fridge". Ask me a question.Where is it?
  2. 2.The answer is "my brother". Ask me a question.Who is it?
  3. 3.The answer is "because it broke". Ask me a question.Why is it broken?
  4. 4.The answer is "after lunch". Ask me a question.When are we going?
  5. 5.The answer is "a red one". Ask me a question.What color do you want?