Subject and object questions with who and what (c)
Who and what can be the subject or the object of a question.
There is no auxiliary verb + inversion in questions in which who / what is the subject of the question:
- Who buys French cars?
- Who normally earns that much money?
- What often stops people finding a job?
- Who had booked the taxi?
Object questions: note the auxiliary verb and inversion in object questions:
- Who does she work with?
- What salary does he expect?
- Who did the manager ring up to speak to?
- Who had she contacted?
Text C
Children chosen for music school places and scholarships had parents who had very actively supervised music lessons and daily practice from young ages, giving up substantial periods of leisure time to take the children to and from lessons and attend concerts. Early in life these children had been nominated by their parents as ‘musical’ and had probably internalised this label.
A recent study* of large samples of high-achieving musicians points out that high intelligence and musicality also predict musical achievement, alongside hours of practising.
All in all, if you want to bring up a Mozart, Bach or Sibelius, the key factor is how hard you are prepared to crack the whip. Most of us settle for a bit of fun on the guitar and a bit of tinkering on the piano.
*Ruthsatz, J et al, 2008. Intelligence, Vol 36, p330-8.
to crack the whip – to urge people to do sth, use your authority to make someone else behave better or work harder.
Exercise C Using the verb in capitals, please put the following questions into the present simple tense. Use an auxiliary verb + inversion if the question uses who / what as an object:
1 What many parents? SUPERVISE
2 Who the most time to music practice? DEVOTE
3 What in particular children an advantage over others when applying for entry to music schools? GIVE
4 What many parents for the sake of music? SACRIFICE
5 What high intelligence and musicality? PREDICT
6 What you be prepared to crack, if you want your children to be highly musical? HAVE TO
7 Who usually for music being a bit of fun? SETTLE