Questions with and without Auxiliaries Practice Tests with A2 Grammar Rules & Examples

Questions with and without Auxiliaries

In English, we ask two main types of questions. Sometimes we use a helper word (called an auxiliary verb) to make the question. Sometimes the main verb itself does all the work. Understanding questions with and without auxiliaries will help you ask and answer questions correctly every day.

Let's start with a simple situation.

Anna is at school. She wants to know about her classmate, Tom.

She asks:
"Does Tom like football?"
"Who plays football?"

The first question uses the helper word does. The second question does not — it goes straight to the verb plays. Both are correct, but they work in different ways. Let's look at why.

What Is an Auxiliary Verb?

An auxiliary verb is a helper verb. It helps the main verb make a question or a negative sentence. Think of it as a helper that comes before the main verb.

Common auxiliary verbs in questions are:

• do / does / did
• am / is / are
• was / were
• can / could / will / would

For example:
"Do you like coffee?" → do is the auxiliary verb.
"Is she at home?" → is is the auxiliary verb.
"Can you help me?" → can is the auxiliary verb.

Questions with Auxiliaries

Most English questions use an auxiliary verb. We put the auxiliary verb before the subject to make a question. This is called inversion — we swap the order of the subject and the auxiliary verb.

The Pattern

Auxiliary verb + Subject + Main verb + ?

Look at the difference between a statement and a question:

Statement	Question
You are happy.	Are you happy?
She can swim.	Can she swim?
They were late.	Were they late?
He does like tea.	Does he like tea?
You did see the film.	Did you see the film?

Using Do, Does, and Did

When the sentence does not already have an auxiliary verb (for example, in the present simple or past simple), we add do, does, or did to make the question.

Here is how to choose the right one:

Tense	Subject	Auxiliary	Example Question
Present simple	I / you / we / they	do	Do you like pizza?
Present simple	he / she / it	does	Does she work here?
Past simple	all subjects	did	Did they go to the park?

Important: When you use do, does, or did, the main verb goes back to its base form (the simple form, with no -s or -ed ending).

For example:
She works → Does she work? (not Does she works?)
He played → Did he play? (not Did he played?)

More Examples of Questions with Auxiliaries

• Are you a student?
• Is the dog in the garden?
• Was she at the party?
• Do they live near the school?
• Does your brother play tennis?
• Did you eat breakfast this morning?
• Can he ride a bike?
• Will you come to the cinema?

Wh- Questions with Auxiliaries

We often start questions with a question word (called a Wh- word) and then use an auxiliary verb. These questions ask for specific information.

Wh- word + Auxiliary verb + Subject + Main verb + ?

Question Word	Meaning	Example
What	asking about a thing	What do you eat for breakfast?
Where	asking about a place	Where does she live?
When	asking about a time	When did they arrive?
Why	asking for a reason	Why are you tired?
How	asking about the way	How can I help you?
Who	asking about a person (as object)	Who did you see?

Questions without Auxiliaries

Now for the special case. Sometimes we do not use an auxiliary verb in the question. This happens when the question word (who, what, which) is the subject of the sentence — meaning it is the person or thing doing the action.

Let's look at this carefully with two examples:

Situation: Three students are in the class — Tom, Anna, and Ben. Tom plays football.

❓ "Who plays football?"
✅ Answer: Tom plays football.

Here, who is asking about the subject (who does the action). We do not add does. The verb keeps its normal form (plays, with the -s ending).

Compare this with an object question:

❓ "Who does Tom like?"
✅ Answer: Tom likes Anna.

Here, who asks about the object (the person Tom likes, not the person doing the action). We do add does because Tom is the subject.

The Rule for Questions without Auxiliaries

When who, what, or which is the subject of the question, we follow this pattern:

Question word (= subject) + Verb + ?

There is no auxiliary verb, and the verb behaves exactly like it does in a normal statement.

Question (subject question)	Answer
Who lives in that house?	My grandmother lives there.
What happens at the end of the film?	The hero wins.
Who called you last night?	My friend called me.
What made that noise?	The cat made that noise.
Which bus goes to the city centre?	The number 12 bus goes there.

Notice that in the past tense, we use the past form of the verb (e.g. called, made) — still no auxiliary did.

Subject Questions vs. Object Questions: Side by Side

This is the most important difference to understand. Let's compare the two types clearly.

Type	Question	Auxiliary?	What does the question word replace?
Subject question	Who loves pizza?	No	The subject (e.g. Maria loves pizza.)
Object question	What does Maria love?	Yes (does)	The object (e.g. Maria loves pizza.)
Subject question	Who called Tom?	No	The subject (e.g. Anna called Tom.)
Object question	Who did Tom call?	Yes (did)	The object (e.g. Tom called Anna.)

A simple tip: Ask yourself — is the question word doing the action, or is something/someone else doing the action? If the question word is doing the action, it is a subject question and you do not need an auxiliary.

Important Differences and Special Cases

Be Careful with the Verb Form in Subject Questions

In subject questions (present simple), the verb agrees with the subject as normal:

Who wants a coffee? (not Who want)
What makes you happy? (not What make)

We treat who and what as third person singular (like he/she/it) when they are the subject.

Who as Subject vs. Who as Object

This is a very common area of confusion. Look at these two questions carefully:

"Who helped you?" → Subject question. No auxiliary. (Who did the helping.)
"Who did you help?" → Object question. Uses did. (You did the helping.)

What vs. What Do

"What happened?" → Subject question. (What is the subject — something happened.)
"What did you do?" → Object question. (You are the subject — you did something.)

Common Mistakes

❌ Does she likes music?
✅ Does she like music? (Use the base form of the verb after does.)

❌ Did they went to the cinema?
✅ Did they go to the cinema? (Use the base form of the verb after did.)

❌ Who did call you?
✅ Who called you? (Subject question — no auxiliary needed.)

❌ What makes you did smile?
✅ What made you smile? (Subject question — no auxiliary needed; use the past verb form.)

❌ Who you like?
✅ Who do you like? (Object question — you need the auxiliary do.)

❌ What does happen at the party?
✅ What happens at the party? (Subject question — no auxiliary; verb agrees with what.)

Questions with and without Auxiliaries: Quick Summary

Here is everything you need to remember:

• Most English questions use an auxiliary verb (do, does, did, is, are, can, will, etc.) placed before the subject.
• In present simple and past simple, we add do / does / did if there is no other auxiliary verb.
• After do, does, or did, always use the base form of the main verb (no -s, no -ed).
• Wh- questions with auxiliaries follow the pattern: Wh- word + Auxiliary + Subject + Verb + ?
• Subject questions (when who, what, or which is the subject) do not use an auxiliary verb.
• In subject questions, the verb follows normal agreement rules (e.g. Who lives here? What causes rain?).

Question Type	Pattern	Example
Yes/No with auxiliary	Auxiliary + Subject + Verb?	Do you like music?
Wh- with auxiliary (object)	Wh- + Auxiliary + Subject + Verb?	What does she eat?
Wh- without auxiliary (subject)	Wh- (= subject) + Verb?	Who called you?

Now practise questions with and without auxiliaries in the exercises below.