Subject & object questions

  Here's a breakdown of how they work:

Subject Questions

Subject questions ask about the subject of the sentence. The subject is the person or thing performing the action. These questions do not require auxiliary verbs (do, does, did) and follow the normal word order of a statement.

Examples:

• Statement: “Lucy kissed John.”

  • Subject Question: “Who kissed John?” (Lucy is the subject)

• Statement: “The dog chased the cat.”

  • Subject Question: “What chased the cat?” (The dog is the subject)

Object Questions

Object questions ask about the object of the sentence. The object is the person or thing receiving the action. These questions often require auxiliary verbs and follow the inverted word order.

Examples:

• Statement: “Lucy kissed John.”

  • Object Question: “Who did Lucy kiss?” (John is the object)

• Statement: “The dog chased the cat.”

  • Object Question: “What did the dog chase?” (The cat is the object)

Key Differences

1. Word Order:

   • Subject Questions: Follow the normal word order (Subject + Verb + Object).

   • Object Questions: Use inverted word order (Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb).

2. Auxiliary Verbs:

   • Subject Questions: Do not use auxiliary verbs.

   • Object Questions: Often use auxiliary verbs (do, does, did).

Examples in Context

Subject Question:

• Statement: “James dropped the glass.”

  • Question: “Who dropped the glass?” (James is the subject)

Object Question:

• Statement: “James dropped the glass.”

  • Question: “What did James drop?” (The glass is the object)

Practice Exercise

Try forming subject and object questions from the following statements:

1. Statement: “Amanda washed the car.”

   • Subject Question: “Who washed the car?”

   • Object Question: “What did Amanda wash?”

2. Statement: “The students like their new professor.”

   • Subject Question: “Who likes the new professor?”

   • Object Question: “Who do the students like?”