Curious questions: who, what, why
English · Early Years · The School
Five words, five kinds of answer
WHO asks about a person. WHAT asks about a thing or a happening. WHERE asks about a place. WHY asks about a reason. HOW asks about a way of doing something. Each word opens a different kind of door. Muddle up the word and you get a strange answer — asking "who is it raining?" does not make sense.
From wondering to a question
You see something strange. A puddle that was not there before. Inside your head, that is just a wondering. Say it out loud as a question — "why is there a puddle?" — and now someone can help you find out. A wondering kept inside your head stays a mystery. A wondering said out loud can get an answer.
Grown-ups love a good "why"
A "why" question means you are thinking about REASONS, not just facts. Grown-ups notice this. It is one of the most useful questions there is, because the answer usually teaches you something new. Ask "why" again about the answer you are given, and you often learn something even deeper.
You see a big puddle on the path. WHO made it? Maybe nobody — maybe it was the rain. WHAT is it? Water that has collected in a dip. WHERE did the water come from? The sky, when it rained. WHY is it there and not somewhere else? Because the path dips down there. HOW could you get past it? Step around, or jump over. One puddle, five different questions, five different answers.