Ch 2 · Lesson 31Latin · Chapter 2 · Lesson 31 · Grammar primer
Question words: quis, quid, ubi, cur
The question words as a set - who against what, where, why, when and how many, and the drill that fixes which one asks which.
The short version
?
Why?Hide
asks about a person and about a thing. They are one word in two forms, sharing every case outside the nominative and accusative. As the object, becomes , so whom did you see? is ?, never ?
?
Why?Hide
The words for where, why, when, how and how many never change their form: , , , , . stays the same while its noun declines. is where for a place; movement towards needs , and movement away needs .
Every Latin question is built from a small, fixed team of words. asks who, asks what, and the five words for where, why, when, how and how many never change their form at all.
| Latin | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| ? | Who is coming? |
| ? | What are you saying? |
| ? | Where is the king? |
| ? | Why are you not coming? |
| ? | When is the brother coming? |
| ? | How are you doing this? |
| ? | How many brothers do you have? |
quis and quid: who and what
asks about a person, about a thing:
?- Who is coming??- What are you saying??- What is it?
They are one word in two forms, and outside the nominative and accusative they share every case. The neuter ends in -d, like and .
| Case | Person | Thing |
|---|---|---|
| Nom | | |
| Acc | | |
| Gen | | |
| | |
| Abl | | |
Each case does its usual job:
?- Whom do you see??- Whose son are you??- Whom are you answering??- Who did you come with?
is glued on after, as in , with me. The plural, , , , is the same as the relative pronoun's: ? - Who are they? It is set out on the pronouns page.
The indeclinables: ubi, cur, quando, quomodo, quot
These never change form, whatever the sentence does around them:
| Latin | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| ? | Where is father? |
| ? | Why do you say this? |
| ? | When are you coming? |
| ? | How are you? |
| ? | How old are you? |
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Who, where, when, how many: quis declines (quem, cuius, cui), while ubi, quando and quot never change.
is two words grown together, by what way:
stays the same while its noun declines:
?- How many books are there??- How many books do you have?
? is literally born how many years?
- !
- ?
The girl asks, the birthday boy answers: five candles, five years. Natus agrees with him; a girl would answer quinque annos nata sum.
A few more complete the set:
| Latin | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| ? | Where are you coming from? |
| vadis? | Where are you going? |
| ? | How long is the road? |
| ? | What sort of man is he? |
| ? | How big is the city? |
is where for a place; movement towards needs , and away needs . and decline like adjectives and agree with their noun.
Going further: qui, quae, quod: which, with a noun and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
9-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
Latin · Free printables
Worksheets for this lesson
Worksheets with answer keys built in. Open any one to view, print or save.
Lesson 31 of 39 in this chapter