Question Words that Can Be Used to Ask a Condition of an Event, Also Know Other Types of Question Words

Kapanlagi.com - The interrogative word that can be used to ask about a condition or event is "how." Considering that the function of an interrogative word is a word used as a question marker in a sentence, "how" is certainly often used in daily life, whether in the form of direct questions or writing.

Example sentences using the interrogative word "how" include, "how is the condition of your parents?", which can be answered with an explanation that "my parents are in good health."

In addition to interrogative words that can be used to ask about a condition or event, there are also words that function to ask about cause, time, people involved, and so on. Interrogative words in the Indonesian language include "what", "who", "when", "(from, to, from) where", "why", "how many", and "how."

Mariam L.M.Pandean in the journal "Question Sentences in Indonesian Language" (2018) stated that question sentences are one of the types of Indonesian sentences that have certain characteristics.

The characteristic of a question sentence is that it has a questioning intonation, a syntactic sentence structure (containing an interrogative word, interrogative particle, and word order inversion), and a questioning distribution. Well, to understand it better, you can read the explanation about various interrogative words in the Indonesian language, the information of which is cited from various sources below.

1. Question Word Why

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The question word "why" is a question word that can be used to ask the cause of an event. It can also be used to ask for the reason behind an action.

According to the book Pembentukan Kata dalam Bahasa Indonesia (2007), Kridalaksana mentioned that the question word "why" has the function of asking for actions and asking for reasons.

Example sentences:

-Why did you come late? (Because I woke up late)

-Why are your clothes wet? (Because it rained earlier and I didn't bring an umbrella)

2. Question Word 'When'

Illustration (Credit: Pixabay)

The question word 'when' is a question word that can be used to ask about the time of an event. The typical answer to this question usually refers to a specific day, date, or year. It can also be answered with 'tomorrow', 'yesterday', and other time adverbs.

According to information from the journal 'Building Positive Interpersonal Relationships through Sentence Equivalence and Nonverbal Elements in Grade 1 Elementary School' (2015) by Taufina, the question word 'when' belongs to the type of sentence used to ask for information about time.

Example sentences:

- When do you celebrate your birthday party? (I will celebrate my birthday tomorrow, September 1, 2021.)

- When will you go to school? (I will go to school when I am fully recovered.)

3. Question Word What

Illustration (Credit: Pixabay)

The question word "apa" is a question word that can be used to ask about the content or topic of a discussion. The topic of discussion can come from various things, such as objects, actions, and so on.

A question sentence doesn't always require an answer in the form of information or explanation, sometimes it is also used to request confirmation of something that has been mutually understood.

Example sentences:

-What are you doing? (I am working on my assignment.)

-What is your favorite movie title? (My favorite movie is Laskar Pelangi.)

Example question sentence with "apa" as confirmation:

-Do you like eating satay? (Yes/No)

-Is the man standing there your boyfriend? (Yes/Not)

4. Question Word Who

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The question word "siapa" is a question word that can be used to ask about the parties involved. The parties involved can also be referred to as characters in an event.

Example sentences:

-Who is your favorite musician? (My favorite musician is Iwan Fals.)

-What is your father's name? (My father's name is Johan)

5. Where

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The question words "Di, Ke, Dari Mana" are question words that can be used to ask about a place. It could be the location where an event takes place, a location that will or has been visited.

Example sentences:

-Where is my English book? (Your English book is on the shelf next to the window.)

-Where are you going after school? (I'm going to the library after school.)

-Where did you get this shirt? (I got this shirt from my mom as a birthday gift yesterday.)

6. How Much

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The question word "berapa" is a question word that can be used to ask about quantity, number, or specific units. It can also be specific to ask about a number that represents a quantity, size, value, time, or price.

Example sentences:

-How tall are you? (I am 150 cm tall.)

-How much does this bike cost? (This bike costs one million rupiah.)

Well, KLovers, that's an explanation about some question words that you can use in everyday conversations. Besides the above question words, there are actually particles that function to ask about something.

Examples of using the particle -kah in a question sentence include bukankah, benarkah, bolehkah, and so on. Understanding the various uses of these question words will help you communicate more fluently.

(kpl/gen/ans)