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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > "Who" questions
"Who" questions
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elena51
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"Who" questions
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Hi everybody, I �ve got a question to native speakers concerning Who- questions in Past Simple. How to say right in modern English: Who cooked dinner or Who did cook dinner? Thanks in advance.
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19 May 2011
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coyote.chus
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Well, I �m not a native speaker but I �m quite sure the question should be "Who cooked dinner?". You ask about the subject of the action, so you don �t use auxiliaries here. Same in "Who is coming for lunch? (no change in word order) or "What astonished you?" "Who found the money" etc...
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19 May 2011
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elena51
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Absolutely agree, but I �ve been told that nowadays the second variant is possible too. I appreciate your answer.
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19 May 2011
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COLOMBO
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Perhaps it is possible, when you �re illiterate  |
19 May 2011
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maryse pey�
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Well, I have learnt that the use of the auxiliary - in such a case - is a form of insistance. A sentence synonym would be "who actually cooked the dinner ?"
If you read Mary Higgins Clark you will probably notice how much she uses this kind of sentence. With the simple present as well as with the simple preterit.
In a neutral sentence you say �who cooked the dinner ? � but if you doubt of the given answer �who did cook the dinner ? � will show you do not believe the answer you were told.
Can our experts confirm what I was taught, please ?
have a very good night. |
19 May 2011
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ballycastle1
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I agree with you, maryse. If there is a dispute, with a number of people claiming to have cooked dinner, then �Who did cook the dinner? � with the emphasis on �did � is absolutely correct. |
19 May 2011
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almaz
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Way to go, Colombo. You �re a real piece of work.
Elena, it is possible to have this construction in certain contexts. eg:
We had a wonderful dinner at Gordon Ramsay �s last week, but we found out that he was filming in New York at the time, his sous-chef was looking for caviar in Kiev and all of his chefs de partie had been arrested following a mass brawl in Sauchiehall Street. So - who did cook the dinner?
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19 May 2011
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maryse pey�
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THANKS BALLYCASTLE AND ALMAZ ! yOUR ANSWER IS CLEAR AND USEFUL ! THANKS AGAIN.
HUGS. |
20 May 2011
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Olindalima ( F )
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Hi
Maryse
Are you a fan of Mary Higgins Clark? Really?????
Wow, I have read whatever comes to read, but, not much in English - Portuguese obviously and in French too.
I love that  woman - she goes behondall and every sky.
Have you read , well, not sure about the first title, but something like
" WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN" ???????
" " DANCING WITH ME ????????
she is the very best since my lovely Aghatha Chriety,
She is better, she came down to very common issues , daily lives, usual , and miserably things, Mary Higgins reached our deepest bad will - I read, once, only once, and I wouldn �t, for sure, read it again - Where are the children - something that crucified me so deeply, I would never forget it, I would never desire to read it again.
You read it once and you are crashed in such a violence that you �ll never forget, so, no need to read again.
I read it, I had my kids, about the same age, I stared and cried......
I have a few books i Read and came bavk to read again- some Portuguese literature and , always... Isabel Allende �s .....most wonderful ...courage, mystic , family and traditions, social behaviours, cultural and economic issues.... LOVE HER - " THe HOuse of Spirits " -suits me better than anything else
Rebeca, y Dapnhe duMaurier - I keepgoing back t all those cahotic affaairs.
Umbeto Eco and his most precious " The name of the Rose " ( not sure about the translation, I read ity in Portuguese
Marie, sorry, off, I have been trying to correct my mistypewriting, but I am not sure I hsve managed,
Sorry, can �t dee very well
Love you
Kisses
Linda
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20 May 2011
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maryse pey�
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�Morning Olinda,
Yes, I love Mary Higgins Clark, in English as often as I can and in French. Not her daughter whose style is so different.
I know Umberto Eco and �the name of the rose � is a wonderful symbolic masterpiece.
My 2 favorite books are �The Portrait of Doran Gray � (the only novel ever written by Oscar Wilde as you know) and �Jonathan Livingstone the Seagul � (Richard Bach), a book I DO advise to my students, particularly the ones lacking of self-confidence. The kind of books to read with your SOUL, your HEART. The 1st degree of reading for such a book is actually not enough. I try to read as many authors as I can because I am curious ! I like or not, I become fond of or not but I absoltutely need reading ! I cannot help : I am as addicted to reading as I am of ESL... No comment ! LOL !
And more than that I love my students who make me discover authors I did not know. Students are a precious treasure !
Plenty of hugs dear.To you and to all the other colleagues. Have a very good day all of you !
 Maryse. |
20 May 2011
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