Queries with yes/no answer:

begin with Am, Are, Is, Were, Do, Does, Did, Has, Have, 
Had, Will, Shall, Should, Would, Could, Can, May, Dare.

In Elizabethan English, yes/no queries began with the main verb.  For example, "Take ye 
your idols hence?"  This query had exactly the same form as the command, "Take ye you 
idols hence!" with only the punctuation mark at the end differentiating between the query 
and the command. When spoken, the question mark for a yes/no query was indicated by  
a rising inflection. This is still done today, although it isn't necessary; yes/no queries always 
begin with one of the 18 words above, and commands never do.

 

Queries with answers other than yes/no:

begin with one of the seven words below (or a prepositional 
phase that includes one, such as "To whom..." or "In what...")
They never have a rising inflection, since they have never been
confused with a command.

 

    person thing time place reason method
query who** what when where why how
a
n
s
w
e
r		 any anyone anything anytime anywhere any reason any way
some someone something* sometime somewhere some reason somehow
every everyone everything every time everywhere every reason every way
no no one nothing never nowhere no reason no way

*the Bible uses "somewhat" for "something."
**"whom" and "whose" are variants of "who."

"Which" queries have a this/that answer.