The verb “be” is also used to answer information questions. Information questions use the question words “who”, “what,” where,” “when," "why," and “how.”
To remember these questions words easier, just think of them as the 5 Wh’s + How.
When asking a question, the question word comes first, followed by a form of the verb “be,” followed by the subject.
- Who (subject) + is (a “be” verb) + she (subject pronoun)
- Who is she?
To decide what form of the “be” verb to us, look at the subject and decide if there is one subject or many subjects.
Now, how do we answer information questions? This is where it gets tricky. You could answer the question in a complete sentence, but you can also answer it using an incomplete sentence.
Look at the following examples of Information questions with their answers.
| Information Questions | Answers | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Wh-Word | Be | Subject | |
| Where | am | I? | In downtown. You're in downtown. |
| How | are | you? | Fine, thanks. I'm fine, thanks. |
| Who | is | he? | My brother. He's my brother. |
| she? | My sister. She's my sister. |
||
| When | it? | At the plaza. It's at the plaza. |
|
| Where | are | we? | In chinatown. You're in chinatown. |
| you? | At school. We're at school. |
||
| What | they? | Books. They're books. |
|
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.