Who and what : subject and object

1. Compare these examples:

Ann: Who told you?
Mary: James told me


who -----> Subject

This is a subject question.


Ann: Who did you tell?
Mary: I told Bill.


Who ----->Object


This is an object question



2. Compare subject and object questions with who:

in the sentence Who told you? Who is the subject. Here is another example:

Who -----> Subject

Ann: Who wrote Hamlet?
(= Somebody wrote Hamlet. Who?)

Mary: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

When who is the subject, the order of the word is the same as in a statement:


Who is going to come with me?
Who lives in that old house?
Who wants some more coffee?


In the sentence Who did you tell? Who is the object. Here is another example:

Who -----> Object

Ann: Who did you meet last night?
(=You met somebody. Who?)

Mary: I met a couple of friends.


When who is the object, we use an auxiliary ( be, do, have, etc.) before the subject:

Who are you going to invite?
Who did Laura ask for help?
Who have you told about this?


3. Compare subject and object questions with what:

What -----> Subject

What is in this dish?
(= Something is in it. What?)

What -----> Object

What did you buy at the shops?
(= You bought something. What?)