Question word questions with prepositions

Questions Ending with Prepositions

Questions with prepositions at the end of the clause can be challenging for students. The word order of these questions is often different from the word order students use in their native language. This lesson makes students aware of these questions and also gives students the opportunity to practice using the structure.

Introducing the Topic

Write the following on the board and ask students to rearrange the words to form grammatically correct questions:

1. the present is for who ?
2. they from where are ?

Ask students to identify the prepositions in these questions. Elicit that the prepositions go at the end of the clause in the two examples above.

Explain that some questions in English have a preposition at the end of the clause. Give students a copy of the chart below and ask them to look at the examples of “wh” questions with who, what, where, which, and whose. Point out that each question has a preposition at the end of the clause.

 Questions with Prepositions at the End of the Clause

Ask students if they can think of any additional examples. Then, have them complete the two practice activities below.

Practice 1

Put the following questions in order.  

1. this bag belong who to does ?

2. for looking who were you ?

3. in which group you are ?

4. is this beautiful gift from who ?

5. the book was written by who ?

6. about what the article is ?

7. at looking who was John ?

8. from he where is ?

9. were you about talking what I arrived when ?

10. whose clients about talking they are ?

Practice 2

Work with a partner. Say what the question is. Use the underlined preposition in your question. There may be more than one possible solution.

1. Question:

Answer: The movie was directed by Michael Bay.

2. Question:

Answer: The cake is for John.  It’s his 40^th birthday today.

3. Question:

Answer: Our office is close to City Hall.

4. Question:

Answer: Kevin talked about changes to the company’s commission structure.

5. Question:

Answer: Spain played against Holland in the final game of the 2010 World Cup.

6. Question:

Answer: I think she might be from Korea, but I’m not sure.

7. Question:

Answer: I think they went in Kate’s office

8. Question:

Answer: I presented after Mike.

9. Question:

Answer: I think they’re from Mexico.

SEE ANSWERS…  

Sometimes a question word in English needs a preposition to complete its meaning. In informal contexts, this preposition goes at the end of the interrogative sentence.

2. How are question words with prepositions used?

In spoken English it is very common to end questions with the same preposition that would be used in the answer. Usually, the preposition is used according to:

• A verb:

  

  Who is she waiting for?

  

  What is he looking at?

  In both examples the verb is followed by the preposition indicated also in affirmative and negative sentences.

• An adjective:

  

  What was he famous for?

  

  What is your new book based on?

• It can be part of the same question word. It has a specific meaning:

  

  What is this for?

  

  Where does this wine come from?

  In formal English the preposition can go before the question word:

  What school club are you in?

  In what school club are you?

  In the case of who, this will be changed to the question word «whom«.
• When we don’t need to ask the whole question we can just use the question word followed by the preposition:

  

  — I’d like to talk to you.

  

  — What about? / What for?

  

  — I’m going to the Brazilian Carnival next month.

  

  — Who with?

Remember!

Sometimes a question word in English needs a preposition to complete its meaning. In informal contexts, this preposition goes at the end of the interrogative sentence.

Вопрос с предлогом представляет из себя классический специальный вопрос , на конце которого стоит предлог. Да, именно так — вопрос заканчивается на предлог. Но до сих пор находятся люди, которые считают, что «What grade are you in?» — говорить нельзя. А нужно говорить: «In what grade are you? По современным нормам английского языка не говорят: «In what grade …?» Как бы ни хотелось сделать «линейный» перевод с русского «В каком ты классе?» таким образом — это будет звучать неорганично и неестественно для английского уха.

Новое правило

В современном английском действует следующее правило:

Если с вопросительным словом связан предлог, то предлог уходит в конец предложения.

Да, знаю, как это непривычно звучит, но вам придется привыкнуть, потому что это норма современного английского языка. Вначале это некомфортно, ведь перед тем, как сделать перевод, мы вынуждены пробежать вопрос глазами до конца, чтобы убедиться — в конце предлог есть (или нет). И исходя из этого делать перевод вопроса.

Примеры:

• 1 What did your grandmother look like? — Как выглядела твоя бабушка?

look like – особая связка, в которой like – это предлог (а не глагол «любить»)

• 2 What are you looking at? – На что ты смотришь?

look at – смотреть на (что-то)

Даже если мешает предлог в конце — мы не переставляем его в начало и не убираем. Ведь без предлога мы потеряем важный смысл:

• What did your mother look? / What are you looking? — вопрос теперь непонятен.

Еще несколько примеров:

В русском языке предлог всегда стоит вместе с вопросительным словом, а иной раз и сливается с ним в формате приставки (от-куда).

На что опереться?

1) Помните о фразовых глаголах. Если вопрос задан к слову, стоящему после фразового глагола (к объекту), то предлог (послелог) не меняет позицию. Он остается там, где он и был.

• I’m looking for my smartphone. -> What are you looking for?

2) Запомните несколько предлогов с глаголами, которые в вопросах встречаются часто.

• listen to — слушать (что-то)
• wait for — ждать (кого-то/что-то)
• ask for — попросить (что-то)
• pay for — платить (за что-то)
• come to — прийти (куда-то)
• belong to — принадлежать (кому-то)
• think about – думать (о чем-то)
• thank for — поблагодарить (за что-то)
• apologise for — извиниться (за что-то)
• look after — следить за
• look at — смотреть на
• look for — искать
• look forward to – ждать с нетерпением

Устойчивые связки прилагательных с предлогами:

• (be) good at — хорошо делать (что-то)
• (be) interested in — интересоваться
• (be) afraid of — бояться
• (be) proud of — гордиться

Например:

• What did you pay him for? – За что ты ему заплатил?
• What are you good at? – Что у тебя получается делать?

Hi, dear readers! Are you having a problem understanding or making questions which end with a preposition? For example: WHO do you go WITH? Or WHERE do you come  FROM? These are some of the easier ones, but my students hardly ever understand that it means WITH WHO did you go? and FROM WHERE do you come (originate). These questions are a bit tricky, especially if the sentence is long. But let’s look at some typical questions with prepositions at the end so you can understand them better.

Questions ending in ABOUT

Questions ending in AT

Questions ending in BY

Questions ending in FOR

Questions ending in FROM

Questions ending in TO

Questions ending in WITH

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