Certified English teacher and language coach

In ‘normal’ questions the subject (Tom, you, they, my mother, etc.) is always present. But what does the subject question look like?

What happens when we ask about the subject, that is, ask about WHO/WHAT performs the action?

The subject is the missing information here.

I. Present Simple and Past Simple Tense

Study these examples:

e.g.#1: Who killed the President?

e.g.#2: What happened?

e.g.#3: Who lives here?

In Present Simple and Past Simple Tense we use do / does / did in normal questions. BUT if we ask about the subject – there is no do / does / did!

Subject question in Present Simple:

who/what + verb with -s      Who loves you?

Subject question in Past Simple:

who/what + verb in 2nd form   What happened?

II. All other tenses and auxiliaries

Study these examples:

e.g.#1: Who has eaten from my plate?

e.g.#2: Who can show me the way?

e.g.#3: Which student will do it?

Subject question:

who/what + auxiliary (NOT do/does/did) + verb     Who will win?

Observe that in subject questions the who/what/which… question words always take the subject position.