We use these questions with action verbs to ask about things in the present tense. We are asking about things that are true now. We use “do” or “does” after the question word. It depends on the subject.
| What do I…? | What do you…? |
| What do we…? | What does he/Jon…? |
| What does she/Mary…? | What does it/the pen…? |
| What do they/the girls…? | What do they/the pens…? |
Note: This the same rule that all verbs in the present tense follow. We add “s”, “es”, etc. to the end of verbs after certain subjects.
Question Word + do/does + subject + verb…?
Sometimes the question ends after the verb.
- What do you like?
- Where do you work?
- What do you need?
But many times, we put more information after the verb.
- What does the dog eat?
- What do you like to do after work?
- Where does she exercise?
- Where do they play baseball with their friends?
- Where do you want to go next holiday?
- Why does she want to quit her job?
- Why do they eat at home for every meal?
- Why does the house smell so bad?
- When does your flight leave?
- When does the show start?
- When do you get off of work?
- How do you know how to cook so well?
- How do speak English so well?
- How does he do that?
- Who do you work with?
- Who does she want to invite to the party?
- Who do you need to call?
- Who does he usually hang out with after work?
Bonus Tips and Points
1. It is very common to use this pattern.
What/Which + noun + do/does + subject + verb….?
- What country do you want to visit?
- What TV show does she usually watch?
- Which appetizer do you want to get?
We also use “kind of + noun” or “type of + noun”.
- What kind of pet do you have?
- What type of car does your boss drive?
- What kind of dessert should I bring to the party?
- What types of questions should I ask people at the party?
2. It is not very common, but we can make negative questions.
- What do you not like to do?
- Why does she not like me?
- How do you not like Game of Thrones?
Real-World English Conversations
A) What do you do?
B) I am an engineer at an electronics company.
A) What does she usually do on the weekend?
B) She usually stays home with her dogs.
A) Where do the children play?
B) They mostly play in the park.
A) Why does she like to visit France?
B) She is very interested in art, so she likes to visit all of the museums in France.
A) How does he know how to cook so well?
B) He told me that his mother taught him how to cook.
A) What does she do for a living?
B) She is a dentist.
Study these free English lessons to improve your English speaking. If you learn these common sentence patterns well, then your English speaking will improve greatly and you will be able to have fluent conversations in English in the near future! Study the lessons well, practice using the sentences and questions at home and in real life, and make sure to come back to review the material so you do not forget. If you do these three things, then you will be speaking English like a native English speaker in no time!
English Sentence Patterns for Speaking Index
