Unit 11: Subject and Object Questions
Who did it? What happened? Who did they meet?
Ask questions, give short answers, and find out what happened in a story.
Step 1 — Who did it?
The person who did the action is not known.
Someone killed Julius Caesar.
Who killed Julius Caesar?
Brutus did.
Here, who replaces the unknown subject. We do not use did in the question. The short answer uses did.
Someone teaches English.
Who teaches English?
Anne does.
Present simple: does in the answer. Past simple: did in the answer.
Step 2 — Who or what did they ...?
Now the subject is known, but the person or thing affected by the action is not known.
Brutus killed someone.
Who did Brutus kill?
Julius Caesar.
We use did in the question, followed by the base form kill. The answer can simply be the name.
Anne teaches something.
What does Anne teach?
English.
Step 3 — See the pattern
Present simple
Someone teaches English. → Who teaches English? — Anne does.
Anne teaches something. → What does Anne teach? — English.
Something causes pollution. → What causes pollution? — Traffic does.
Traffic causes something. → What does traffic cause? — Pollution.
Past simple
Someone broke the window. → Who broke the window? — Tom did.
Tom broke something. → What did Tom break? — The window.
Someone saw Leo. → Who saw Leo? — Ana did.
Ana saw someone. → Who did Ana see? — Leo.
Use who for people and what for things. In everyday English, use who for both subject and object questions.
Step 4 — A little grammar detective work
Look at this sentence: Tom broke the window.
Tom = subject (the person who did the action)
broke = verb (the action)
the window = object (the thing affected by the action)
Ask about the subject: Who broke the window? — Tom did.
Ask about the object: What did Tom break? — The window.
Not every sentence has an object. For this lesson, practise with sentences where someone does something to someone or something.
Step 5 — Practise: complete the questions
Type the missing word, then check your answer. Capital letters and punctuation are not important.
1. Someone teaches English. Ask about the person.
Who English?
2. Anne teaches English. Ask about the subject.
What Anne teach?
3. Someone broke the window. Ask about the person.
Who the window?
4. Tom broke the window. Ask about the thing.
What Tom break?
5. Someone saw Leo. Ask about the person who saw him.
Who Leo?
6. Ana saw Leo. Ask about the person she saw.
Who Ana see?
Step 6 — Short answers
Choose the natural short answer.
1. Who teaches English?
2. What does Anne teach?
3. Who broke the window?
4. What did Tom break?
Step 7 — A small mystery
On Monday, Mrs Green found a cake missing from the staff-room table. Sam saw a boy near the table. The boy carried a large bag. Later, Mrs Green found crumbs in the bag. Sam recognised the boy: it was Ben. Ben ate the cake, but he left a chocolate biscuit on the table. Mrs Green laughed and gave Ben a plate of biscuits.
Ask and answer the questions. Use short answers.
- Who found the cake missing? — Mrs Green did.
- Who saw a boy near the table? — Sam did.
- Who carried a large bag? — The boy did.
- Who did Sam recognise? — Ben.
- What did Ben eat? — The cake.
- What did Ben leave on the table? — A chocolate biscuit.
- Who gave Ben a plate of biscuits? — Mrs Green did.
Teacher idea: oral drilling
Read a statement aloud and ask learners to make the matching question. Then give only the short answer and ask learners to reconstruct the question. Contrast Who ate the cake? — Ben did. with What did Ben eat? — The cake.
Step 8 — Your turn
Work with a partner. One learner says a statement; the other asks a subject or object question.
Someone phoned the teacher. → Who phoned the teacher? — Ali did.
Ali phoned someone. → Who did Ali phone? — The teacher.
Something frightened the cat. → What frightened the cat? — The noise did.
The noise frightened something. → What did the noise frighten? — The cat.
Make your own pairs. Choose a person and an action. Write two statements: one with someone/something as the subject, and one with it as the object. Then make both questions and give short answers.