Who called? Who did you call?

  • B1 · Intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • subject questions

Questions with no do when who or what is the subject (Who invented the telephone?), with did when it is the object (What did Edison invent?), and questions that end with a preposition (What is it made of?). From a quiz-night argument to a quiz the student writes for the teacher.

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Free, no card needed. The PDF has every slide, the homework and an answer key.

Who called?Who did you call?What happened?

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Check the conversationListening comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the subject questionsGrammar exercise
  6. 6Subject and object questionsGrammar rule
  7. 7Ask the right questionGrammar exercise
  8. 8Quiz timeGrammar exercise
  9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12Quiz masterSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: subject or object?Grammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: build the questionsGrammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: my quizDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. Have you ever been to a quiz night or played a trivia game?
  2. Who is the smartest person in your family? What do they know a lot about?
  3. Which school subject was your favorite?

Grammar rule

Subject and object questions

Subject questionObject question
who / what / which… asks aboutthe person or thing that does the actionthe person or thing that the action happens to
FormWho / What + verb, like a statement: no do, does or didWho / What + do / does / did + subject + base verb
ExampleWho painted the Mona Lisa? → Leonardo da Vinci painted it.What did Leonardo da Vinci paint? → He painted the Mona Lisa.
  • In the present, a subject question takes the -s form, even when the answer is plural: Who needs a ride? (We both do.)
  • The same with which, whose and how many + a noun: Which train stops in Newark? How many people saw it?
  • be, have, can and will need no extra do, in subject and object questions: Who is cooking tonight? What are you cooking? Who can help me? What can I bring?

Questions that end with a preposition

In everyday English, the preposition stays at the end: Which team do you play for? What are you laughing at? Starting with it (At what are you laughing?) sounds very formal or wrong.

Watch out: not Who did paint the Mona Lisa?: a normal subject question has no did. And not What Leonardo painted?: an object question needs did.

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← Unit 2A, the or no article?