Podcast 35 - B1 B2 subject and object questions

Question types

Story starts at 8:11

Hello, and today I'm going to talk to you about subject and object questions. And I'm going to explain just a little, because I think this is revision really rather than a full explanation.

As students of English, you have come across examples of subject questions in the past, for example, when we say,

What happened?

That is a subject question because what the question word* refers to the subject. And there is no inversion - it's not, ~~What did happen?~~ but, What happened?, there's no use of the auxiliary do, does or did. So, sometimes, though, I think there is confusion about making questions. And some students get a little bit confused about: when do I use the auxiliary? When do I not use it? So I'm going to give you a couple of examples of that. And then I'm going to ask you to identify some subject and object questions in a story, which I'm going to tell you a little later.

Examples of subject and object questions

So first of all, here are some examples then of subject and object questions. So if I say to you, for example,

Who do you know in this class, in this English class?

Well, the answer would be, well,

I know you, and I know Mary, I know two people.

So in who do you know - who refers to the object. The object because I know you, I know Mary.

But what about this example?

Who knows you in this class? Who knows you?

Well,

Mary knows me and you know me.

So Mary and you are subjects. So here, who, the question word, refers to the subject or the person who does the action. Right. Another example.

Who did Steve telephone?

Who did Steve telephone? This is an object question, because who refers to, well, the object. Who did Steve telephone? He telephoned his mother. So who refers to his mother, which is the object of the question.

Now what about this example,

Who telephoned Steve?

Well, the answer would be,

His friend, John telephoned Steve.

So now who refers to the subject. It refers to his friend, John, who telephoned Steve. So there is no inversion, there is no use of an auxiliary, do, does or did.

Who telephoned Steve? His friend, John telephoned Steve.

So that is just a brief summary of the subject and object questions. I'm going to put a little exercise at the bottom of the audioscript to this podcast.

Now I'll go on, because I'm going to tell you a story. And there are going to be a couple of examples of this structure, subject and object questions. But before I do, I have to make a couple of explanations.

Now this story is a story about Nasreddin and Nasreddin was a satirist. He was a person who used satire, which is a way of criticizing people - of saying bad things about people, but by using humor. It seems that Nasreddin was born in present-day Turkey in the 13th century. But other countries in the Middle East believe that he came from their country. So he's quite a universal figure.

Anyway, he was a philosopher, and a wise man. And he is remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes that have a moral message in them. This story that I'm going to tell you is called Nasreddin at the Dinner Party. And when I think of this story, I remember my brother, Nick Bilbrough, who does a very wonderful job at running the Hands Up project. The Hands Up project. Now, this is a charity, which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world, with young people in Palestine.

My brother, Nick works with schools in Palestine. And he set up this Hands Up project a few years ago. So through drama, and storytelling activities, it allows the use of creativity and self expression to promote mutual understanding, and the development of English language skills. The Hands Up project gives Palestinian children a voice to express and talk about their lives in Palestine - lives, which are often very difficult. They can do this, then, by writing plays and telling stories, which they do in English so that the whole world can listen.

Now this story of Nasreddin and the Dinner Party was one that my brother, Nick, published in a book for learning English through stories, and I contributed the drawings for that story. So we reach out to Nick and his wonderful work that he's doing at the Hands Up project. And there's a link to that page at the bottom of these show notes or the bottom of the audioscript.

Anyway, let's go on with the story then. So, listen to the story. And I would like you to identify which questions in the story are subject questions, and which are object questions. And the answers are at the bottom of the audioscript page.

The story of Nasreddin and the Dinner Party

Nasreddin and the dinner party

Nasreddin was working hard in the fields one day, and he finished quite late, because he had a lot of work to do. But he was happy and excited because he was going to a dinner party. Somebody had invited him to this party. But because he finished late, he had no time to go back home and get changed. So he went directly to the dinner party in his old and rather dirty clothes.

But when he went into the dining room, where the guests were sitting down and eating, nobody invited him to sit down. But everybody looked at him and frowned. And they made comments like,

Who comes to a dinner party dressed like that? Who does he think he is? Who invited him?

And they offered him no seat. And they offered him no food. And they ignored him completely.

So Nasreddin turned around and walked out and went back home. And there he changed into his finest clothes, into his most elegant clothes, and went back to the dinner party. And this time when he walked through the door, everybody stood up and said,

Who is this fine gentleman? Please, what are you doing standing there? Come and sit down with us.

So Nasreddin sat down at the table with the guests and they offered him their finest food and gave him their best drink.

But Nasreddin did a rather strange thing. He took off his hat, and he put it into his soup. And then he picked up the meat and vegetables off his plate, and he pressed them into his clothes. The other guests were horrified.

What are you doing? Who told you to do such a stupid thing?

And Nasreddin explained,

"When I came here before in my old and dirty clothes, you did not give me any food, you did not give me any drink. You did not invite me to the table. And now I have come back in my finest and most elegant clothes. And you give me the best drink, and you give me the best and finest food at the table. And you invite me to sit down. I can only assume** that the food that you are offering me is not for me at all - but for my clothes..."

Okay, so that's all for me for today. Goodbye.

Answers to the podcast question will be put here AFTER my students have completed the exercise.

*Question words are words like who? what? when? where? etc.

*I assume = I arrive at the conclusion

Find out more about Nick Bilbrough and the Hands Up project giving a voice to the children of Palestine through storytelling.