Virtuous English AcademySubject and Object Questions in English (A2)
- #A2
- #Grammar
- #Rules
- #Examples
Subject questions ask about the person or thing doing the action and need no auxiliary — Who called? Object questions ask about the receiver and take do, does or did — Who did you call? This lesson makes the difference automatic.
Almost every question you have learned so far follows one pattern: take a statement, add do, does or did, and put the question word at the front. You called Sara becomes Who did you call? That pattern is so reliable at A1 that most learners apply it everywhere — and then produce Who did call you?, which is wrong, and cannot be explained by anything they have been taught.
The missing rule is small and completely mechanical. When the question word is asking about the person or thing that DOES the action, the question keeps ordinary statement word order and takes no auxiliary at all. Who called you? What happened? Which train leaves first? These are subject questions, and they look like statements with a question word standing where the subject would be.
When the question word asks about the person or thing that RECEIVES the action, the familiar A1 pattern is correct: Who did you call? What did you buy? Which train did you take? These are object questions. The whole topic is deciding which of the two you are asking, and the rest follows automatically — which is why this lesson spends more time on the test than on the forms.
How to form Subject & Object Questions
| Type | Structure | Example | Expected answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject question | Question word + verb + … | Who broke the window? | My brother did. |
| Object question | Question word + do/does/did + subject + base verb | Who did you see? | I saw my brother. |
| Subject, present | Who / What + verb + -s | Who wants coffee? | I do. |
| Object, present | Who / What + does + subject + verb | What does she want? | She wants coffee. |
| Subject, past | Who / What + past form | What happened here? | A pipe burst. |
| Object, past | Who / What + did + subject + verb | What did you do? | I called a plumber. |
| With which | Which + noun + verb | Which bus goes to the centre? | The 14. |
| Never a subject | Where / When / Why / How + auxiliary | Where did you go? | To the market. |
Subject & Object Questions: the key rules
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If the question word IS the subject, use normal statement order and no auxiliary.
Who broke the window? Someone broke the window.
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If the question word is the object, add do, does or did and use the base verb.
Who did you invite? I invited Sara.
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A subject question keeps the tense in the main verb, so the -s and the -ed stay on it.
Who wants tea? What happened last night?
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Who, what and which can be subject or object; where, when, why and how are never subjects.
What caused the delay? What did the delay cause?
When to use Subject & Object Questions
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Asking who did something
The commonest subject question of all, and the one learners most often build wrongly.
Who told you that? — Nobody told me; I read it.
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Asking what caused a situation
What + past verb, with no auxiliary, is how English asks about events and accidents.
What happened to your phone? — It fell in the sink.
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Choosing between options
Which + noun works as a subject or an object, and the structure changes accordingly.
Which flight arrives first? Which flight did you book?
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Checking information politely
Object questions carry most ordinary enquiries, because the unknown is usually the receiver of the action.
What did the doctor say? Who did you speak to?
Who called? vs. Who did you call?
These two questions differ by two words and mean entirely different things. Reading them side by side is the fastest way to fix the pattern, because the difference is visible rather than abstract.
Subject question — no auxiliary
Who is the person doing the calling. The verb stays in its normal tense form and nothing is added.
Who called? — Sara called. / Who called you last night?
Object question — with auxiliary
Who is the person being called. The tense moves onto did, and the main verb returns to its base form.
Who did you call? — I called Sara. / Who did she call last night?
Subject & Object Questions in example sentences
- Who wants the last piece of cake?Subject question — the verb keeps its -s and there is no does.
- What does she want for her birthday?Object question — does carries the tense, so want has no -s.
- What happened at the meeting?Happen almost always appears in subject questions.
- What did you say at the meeting?Object question about the thing said, so did is required.
- Which team won the final?Which + noun as subject: statement order, past form on the verb.
- Which team did you support?Which + noun as object: did plus the base verb.
- How many people came to the party?How many + noun can be the subject, and then behaves like who.
- Who is making that noise?With be and continuous forms, a subject question simply keeps the statement order.
Subject & Object Questions in a real conversation
Six turns, alternating between the two structures. Notice that every question without do, does or did is asking about the doer.
Nina:Who left this bag in the corridor?
Emre:I don't know. Who did you ask?
Nina:Nobody yet. What happened to the lost property box?
Emre:Reception moved it. Which floor does reception use now?
Nina:The ground floor. Who told you it had moved?
Emre:The caretaker did. What did he say exactly? Only that it moved.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
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Who did call you?
Who called you?
Who is the subject here, so the question needs no auxiliary and keeps the past form of the verb.
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Who broke it? — Yes, the window broke.
Who broke the window? — My brother did.
A subject question expects a person or thing as the answer, not yes or no.
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What happened to you yesterday did?
What happened to you yesterday?
Happen takes a subject question, so do is never added.
Practise Subject & Object Questions today
The skill is the decision, not the form, so every step below forces you to decide first and write second.
- Write five statements about yesterday, then ask a subject question and an object question about each one.
- Correct these: Who did break the printer? — What did happen? — Who did want coffee?
- Answer ten questions in one word and check whether your answer belongs at the front of the sentence or after the verb.
- Turn a short news story into six questions, then label each one subject or object.
Subject & Object Questions: frequently asked questions
Why does Who called? have no did?
Because who is already the subject of called, and the subject position is filled. English adds do, does or did only when the question word has been lifted out of a later position in the sentence, leaving a gap that the auxiliary and the subject must fill. In Who did you call? the gap is after call, so the sentence needs you as a subject and did to carry the tense. In Who called? there is no gap and nothing to repair.
Can whom be used in these questions?
Whom is the object form, so it can only appear in object questions: Whom did you call? In modern English, and certainly at A2, who is used in both positions and whom sounds formal or old-fashioned in speech. You will meet it in writing and after prepositions — to whom it may concern — but you never need to produce it. Use who and add the auxiliary correctly; that is what people listen for.
Is Who do you think called? a subject or an object question?
It is a subject question wrapped inside another clause, which is why it looks confusing. The inner question is Who called?, with no auxiliary, and do you think is added around it. The pattern is fixed: question word + do you think + statement order. Compare Who do you think she called?, where the inner question is the object question Who did she call? and the auxiliary disappears because think already carries the tense.
Which question words can never be subjects?
Where, when, why and how ask about circumstances rather than about participants, so they can never fill the subject slot and always take an auxiliary: Where did you go?, Why does he work there?, How did they find out? Only who, what, which and quantity phrases such as how many people or how much money can be subjects. If your question word is one of the four circumstantial ones, you always need do, does, did or another auxiliary.