WH- questions (focusing) – English Grammar Profiler

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 32 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as:

‘Wh-‘questions as a focusing device, often in a narrative or argument.

For example:

Why does this matter?  Things have changed.  Can’t we just get over it and move on? Right? But I would argue, for me certainly, learning this history has brought a real shift in the way that I understand racism today.

This grammar requires manual interpretation, so, therefore, cannot be located in corpora automatically.  The best we can do is copy the forms from the two examples in the EGP:

. _*Q * * ?

1 . WHY IS THAT ? 5405 2 . WHAT IS IT ? 3316 3 . WHY IS THIS ? 2917 4 . WHAT TO DO ? 2411 5 . HOW ABOUT YOU ? 1797 6 . WHAT ABOUT YOU ? 1399 7 . HOW ARE YOU ? 1117 8 . WHAT ARE THEY ? 1009 9 . WHAT ‘S NEXT ? 918 10 . WHAT IS THIS ? 864 11 . WHAT IS THAT ? 829 12 . WHAT ‘S THAT ? 695 13 . WHO ARE YOU ? 686 14 . WHAT ‘S WRONG ? 652 15 . WHO AM I ? 605 16 . WHICH IS IT ? 600 17 . WHO ARE THEY ? 575 18 . WHAT WAS IT ? 553 19 . WHERE IS IT ? 551 20 . WHY YOU ASK ? 544 21 . WHAT THE HELL ? 542 22 . WHAT WENT WRONG ? 511 23 . WHAT AM I ? 511 24 . HOW ABOUT THAT ? 507 25 . WHAT HAPPENS NEXT ? 437 26 . WHAT ‘S UP ? 426 27 . WHERE ARE YOU ? 415 28 . WHAT SAY YOU ? 411 29 . WHAT IS WRONG ? 400 30 . WHERE ARE THEY ? 379 31 . WHO IS CORRECT ? 354 32 . WHERE TO START ? 351 33 . WHY ? ? ? 347 34 . WHAT THE HECK ? 325 35 . WHAT ? ? ? 315 36 . WHO IS RIGHT ? 313 37 . WHICH IS CORRECT ? 312 38 . WHICH IS BETTER ? 297 39 . WHO DOES THAT ? 289 40 . WHAT ‘S YOURS ? 288 41 . WHAT WAS THAT ? 278 42 . WHO IS IT ? 271 43 . WHO IS HE ? 268 44 . WHERE IS HE ? 266 45 . WHAT IS HAPPENING ? 265 46 . WHY WOULD THEY ? 255 47 . WHAT HAPPENS THEN ? 251 48 . WHY THE DIFFERENCE ? 247 49 . HOW ‘S THAT ? 243 50 . WHAT ‘S HAPPENING ? 238 51 . WHAT WILL HAPPEN ? 236 52 . WHO IS SHE ? 230 53 . WHAT THE FUCK ? 229 54 . WHAT ‘S THIS ? 227 55 . WHY SHOULD THEY ? 213 56 . WHY WAS THAT ? 202 57 . WHAT ARE YOURS ? 199 58 . WHO WOULD N’T ? 188 59 . WHAT HAPPENS NOW ? 186 60 . WHO WILL WIN ? 186 61 . WHERE TO BEGIN ? 185 62 . WHERE WAS I ? 183 63 . HOW IS THAT ? 182 64 . WHY SHOULD I ? 181 65 . WHAT HAS HAPPENED ? 178 66 . WHAT HAS CHANGED ? 176 67 . WHO DOES N’T ? 168 68 . WHO DOES NT ? 164 69 . WHY THE CHANGE ? 160 70 . WHAT ‘S MORE ? 151 71 . WHAT WOULD HAPPEN ? 147 72 . WHY DO THIS ? 147 73 . HOW ABOUT IT ? 143 74 . WHO WAS HE ? 143 75 . WHO ARE WE ? 142 76 . WHO ‘S RIGHT ? 137 77 . WHY WOULD I ? 137 78 . WHAT ARE THESE ? 134 79 . HOW ABOUT THIS ? 133 80 . WHAT HAPPENED THERE ? 132 81 . HOW COULD THEY ? 131 82 . WHO WERE THEY ? 131 83 . WHAT WERE THEY ? 130 84 . WHAT CAUSES THIS ? 127 85 . WHERE WERE YOU ? 127 86 . WHY WOULD YOU ? 127 87 . WHERE AM I ? 125 88 . WHAT ? ! ? 125 89 . HOW YOU DOING ? 124 90 . WHAT HAPPENED NEXT ? 123 91 . HOW COULD I ? 123 92 . WHERE IS SHE ? 122 93 . WHAT COMES NEXT ? 118 94 . HOW WAS THAT ? 118 95 . WHO WAS IT ? 117 96 . HOW YOU ASK ? 116 97 . HOW COULD IT ? 115 98 . WHAT ARE YOU ? 114 99 . WHY ‘S THAT ? 111

100 . WHAT OF IT ? 109

1 . WHAT JUST HAPPENED ? 94 2 . WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ? 42 3 . WHY EVEN BOTHER ? 27 4 . WHO REALLY KNOWS ? 25 5 . WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED ? 25 6 . WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED ? 21 7 . WHO REALLY CARES ? 18 8 . HOW MUCH CONSUMED ? 16 9 . WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS ? 11 10 . WHAT REALLY MATTERS ? 11

11 . WHAT ELSE MATTERS ? 10