17 Common "WHEN" Questions in English

Oh, hey. When did you get here? I'm glad you came. Just give me a second.

Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "Common 'When' Questions",

"When" in English. So, when we ask a question with "When", we want to know the time that

something happened, generally happens, will happen, etc. So, today, I am going to look

at some of the most common questions you can ask with this question word, and we will focus

not only on the structure, but also getting fluent with these questions, making sure we're

pronouncing them correctly, and making sure the intonation is good, and that the fluency

is nice and sharp, and quick and fast. Okay?

So, let's start from the beginning. Your beginning. "When is your birthday?"

Okay? So, here, most commonly, you're using the contraction.

Right? So quickly, you would say: "When's your birthday?"

Okay? So, everyone, if you can just repeat after me: "When's your birthday?" Excellent.

Now, a similar question asking about the date of your birth is: "When were you born?" Okay?

Now, let's try this a little quicker, repeat after me: "When were you born?" All right?

Excellent.

And next we have a series of questions that ask about bed, pretty much. So, for example:

"Hey. When do you wake up?", "get up?", "get out of bed?", or "go to bed?" Now, obviously

the first three in the morning or maybe in the afternoon after a siesta or a nap, depending

on your schedule. They relate to getting out of bed. So: "When do you wake up in the morning?"

open your eyes. "When do you get up?" like, leave your bed. Or: "...get out of bed?" which

is literally, you know, leaving your bed. Or, at night: "When do you go to bed?" Now,

of course, these are routines, habits. You can use words like:

"When do you normally get up?", "When do you usually get up?", or "wake up?", or "go to bed?" So, let's repeat them after me:

"When do you wake up?",

"When do you normally get up?",

"When do you usually get out of bed?"

Now, did you listen to that? I said: "...get outta bed", not just: "get out of",

but "get outta". So, one more time: "When do you get out of bed?" All right? And

last one: "When do you go to bed?" Very good.

Okay, next: "When is __________?"

So: "When is this?", "that?", "it?", "When is it?"

This can be anything, this can be an event or the start of a movie, or something like that.

Or the release date of the movie. So, for example: "When is the party?", "When is class?",

"When is the conference?", "When is the Retro Fan Expo in San Francisco?" I guess that's

a thing, maybe. I don't know. Okay? So: "When is it?", "When is that?", "When is this?"

So, you get like something from your friend and it looks like an exciting event is coming,

and you say: "Oh, when is this?" Right? So, repeat after me, we'll do all three:

"When is this?",

"When is that?",

"When is it?"

Very good. Okay.

Now, if you're a student, the next question can be very common. So, you would ask your

professor or maybe one of your friends because you didn't attend an important class, or you

attended the class but you were not paying attention, and you have an assignment, a test,

or you have something you need to write and you need to give it to the professor, say:

"Hey. When is this/that/it due?" Now, when something is due it means you must complete

it and submit it to your professor by that date. So, let's do the three questions, and

you can just repeat them after me: "When is this due?",

"When is that due?",

"When's it due?"

Okay, good. Now, you noticed I said: "When's", right? "When's it", "When's it".

So, make sure you're listening when I'm using the contraction as well. All right.

Next, if you want to invite your friends, you know, for dinner or to go have a coffee

or just to hang out at your house or something, you can ask: "Hey. When are you free?" or

"When are you available?" Okay? So, your schedule, you know, you're working here or you're in

school here or you have a birthday party here. I want to see you: "When are you free?" or

"When are you available?" So, repeat after me: "When are you free?",

"When are you available?"

Good. Now, this can also be in the workplace. So, you want to meet with a colleague, with

a co-worker to talk about something important in your department, and you can ask your colleague,

your co-worker: "When are you free?", "When are you available?" Basically:

"When is the best time to contact you or to see you?" Okay? All right.

And next, the next two, they deal with arriving and leaving, so this can be for a party, for

example. So, I'm going to do: "When do/did", "do" or "did" in the present or the past.

We'll do the present first. "When do you arrive?", "When do you get here?" So, if you have, you

know, a co-worker and you just... You're just asking, you're making conversation, say:

"Hey. When do you normally arrive here?", "When do you get here?", "When do you come to work?"

for example. And here: "Did", you can say "yesterday" or "this morning":

"Hey. When did you arrive?", "When did you get here?" This can be for a party, for example, or a

friend's house. Or if someone comes and you're surprised to see them, you can say, like:

"Hey. When did you get here?" Okay? "When did you arrive?"

And finally, when the... When the person leaves, you can say: "When did you leave?" or

"When did you go home?",

"I didn't see you leave yesterday at the party. What time? When did you leave?"

Okay? Or, in general, at work: "When do you finish?" So: "When do you leave?",

"When do you go home?" All right?

Let's continue, and we'll do these a little faster now. So:

"When does __________ start/begin/end/finish?"

Now, "When does", this can be anything. "When does the movie start?", "When does the party finish?",

"When does the picnic end?" Whatever event it is, you can just say:

"Hey. When. What time? When does __________ start/begin/end/finish." So, repeat after me:

"When does the movie start?" Repeat after me, okay:

"When does the meeting end?"

Excellent.

Now, the next one, this is something you can say to criticize, maybe, a friend; usually

a close friend, hopefully not someone you just met. So: "When are you gonna learn?"

Or... You noticed I put "gonna", which is "going to": "When are you gonna learn?" or

"When are you gonna grow up?" So, if you have a person in your life who is not mature, who

is immature, you can ask them: "When are you gonna grow up?"

or "When are you gonna learn or change?" Okay?

When are you going to do something that makes your life better or improves

you, improves yourself? All right? So, repeat after me:

"When are you gonna learn?" Good.

And one more time: "When are you gonna grow up?"

Excellent. Now, the next two, very similar. So: "When did you do that?" or "When did you make that?"

Now, I used "do" and "make", they're the most common verbs in the... In this type of question,

but you can use other verbs. So: "When did you do that?", "When did you make that?" If

your friend is, you know, really good at making model cars, for example, like this one here,

you can ask your friend, like: "When did you make this?" Okay? Like: "When did you do this?"

Or the next question: "When did you have time to do this?",

"When did you have time to make this?"

All right? So, you're surprised that, like: "Hey. When did you have time?" Like:

How did you find the time to do this or that? All right. And repeat after me this question

one more time: "When did you have time to do that?"

Excellent.

And two more to go. "When was the last time...?" So, if you have taken an English class before,

you know this is one of the most common questions you learn when you are especially learning

to speak in the past for the first time, so: "Hey. When was the last time you did something?"

And, now, this is a past question so you must use a simple past verb, so:

"When was the last time you called your mom?",

"When was the last time you drank?",

or "When was the last time you ate?",

or "When was the last time you had sushi?" for example. All right?

And finally: "When is this over?!" Alex, you have been talking for so long, and I'm still

watching your video, I'm still paying attention because, I don't know, the red shirt or something.

I'm not sure what it is. But a very common question. You're at a movie and maybe it's

a terrible movie or it's a really long movie, like The Revenant or Batman v Superman, and

you think, like: "When is this over? When is this finished?"

Now, friends, it's finished now. Okay?

So, if you want to test your understanding of this material, as always, you can

check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

And if you enjoyed the video, please like it, comment on it, let me know what you thought.

And as always, don't forget to subscribe to the channel,

and I'll see you next time. When is this over? Now? Yeah? Okay.

I can read Doom again? Okay.

I'm going to go do that. See you guys.