When Should a Child Answer What, Where, Who and Why?

This page is only about WH questions — what, where, who, why, when and how. It is not the page for a child who does not follow “get your shoes”, which is following instructions. It is not the page for telling a whole weekend story, which is narrative. A child can do one of those and still fall over on another.

Parents in Multan usually put it as bacha sawal ka jawab nahi deta — he does not answer the question. Sometimes they mean he looks blank. Sometimes they mean he repeats the question back. Sometimes they mean he answers a different WH word from the one you asked. Those three pictures need three different responses.

What is a WH question, in ordinary words?

A WH question asks for a piece of information, not a yes or a no. “Is this a cat?” can be answered with a nod. “What is this?” needs a name. “Where is Ammi?” needs a place. “Who is that?” needs a person. “Why is he crying?” needs a reason. “When do we eat?” needs a time. “How did you do it?” needs a method.

Yes/no is easier. Children answer those earlier, and they answer them faster. A study of parent–child conversation found children were slower to reply to WH questions than to yes/no questions, and slower still to who than to what or where. That matches the order the words themselves arrive.

Do children answer WH questions in a set order?

Yes. The order is one of the most stable findings in child language. What and where come first. Who follows. Why, when and how come later, because they ask for a reason, a time or a method rather than a thing you can point at.

Classic diary work by Bloom, Merkin and Wootten in 1982 found that what and where accounted for most of young children’s own questions with verbs until around 34 months, with why rising after that. ZERO TO THREE’s parent timeline, which tracks when children start to ask, puts “what’s that?” around 21–24 months, where around 26–32 months, who around 36–40 months, and when / why / how around 42–49 months. Asking and answering are not the same skill, but they travel in the same order.

ASHA’s communication milestones for age three include asking why and how, and answering questions such as “What do you do when you are sleepy?” Those are 75th-percentile guides — the age by which most children show the skill — not a pass mark on the third birthday.

What should I expect at each age?

Hold these loosely. A bilingual child is counted across both languages. A late talker may understand a WH word they cannot yet say. Pointing at the right object is an answer.

• Around the first birthday to 18 months. Looks or points when you name something in front of them. That is the seed of what and where. They are not answering in words yet.
• Around two. Answers simple what and where about things in the room — “where’s your shoe?”, “what’s that?” — by looking, pointing or using a word. Many start asking “that?” with a rising voice. ASHA’s two-year talking list includes asking “what’s that?”, “who’s that?” and “where’s kitty?”.
• Around two to three. Who about familiar people. Simple what-doing (“what is Ammi doing?”). Still much easier if the answer is in sight.
• Around three to four. Why arrives, often as a loop — “but why?” — which is ordinary, not a sign they are being difficult. ASHA puts asking why and how on the three-year list. When and how are still shaky because time and method are abstract.
• Four and into school. WH questions about a story that is not in front of them: who was in it, where it happened, why a character was upset. That is the bridge into telling a story other people can follow.

Why does my child repeat the question instead of answering?

Often they have heard the words and not the job. “Where is your bag?” contains the word bag, so they say “bag.” Or they echo the whole question. Immediate repetition like that is echolalia, and it is common in late talkers and in autistic children. It is not cheek. Our guide to what echolalia is explains when it is a stepping stone and when it is stuck.

A second pattern: they answer the wrong WH word. You ask where and they tell you who. The question word at the front of the sentence is easy to miss, especially in a busy room, in a second language, or when the rest of the sentence is long. Slow down, put the WH word on its own beat — “Where. Is the bag?” — and point at the empty hook.

A third pattern is the one that looks like ignoring. They understood “bag” and went to get it, which is following an instruction, not answering a question. Useful. Different skill. If the daily problem is instructions, start on that page instead.

Does this work the same in Urdu?

The order is the same. The words are kya (what), kahan (where), kaun (who), kyun (why), kab (when), kaise (how). A child who answers “kahan hai joota?” by looking at the shoe rack has answered a where-question, whether or not they said the word kahan.

Mix the languages if that is how your house talks. Count the skill across both. A child who answers what in English and kahan in Urdu has both. Dropping Urdu to “help speech” does not speed WH questions up — see bilingualism does not cause speech delay.

How do I teach WH questions at home without turning it into a test?

Quizzes in the car teach children to go quiet. Comment first, question second. The question should have an answer in the room, or in the picture you are both looking at.

• Start with what and where, in sight. Hold two toys. “Where is the car?” Wait. If nothing comes, look at it yourself and say “here — the car.” Then play. One trial, not ten.
• Give the word, then the question. “This is a mango. What is it?” is easier than a bare “what is it?” because the answer has just been heard.
• Offer a choice of two. “Is Ammi in the kitchen or in the room?” is a where-question with scaffolding. Fade the choice once they are picking correctly.
• Use daily routines, not flashcards. Bath, fridge, school bag. “Where do the shoes go?” every evening is worth more than a WH worksheet.
• Leave why until what and where are easy. “Why is he crying?” needs a cause the child can see — a fallen tower, a snatched biscuit. Abstract why (“why is the sky blue?”) is a later game.
• Accept a point. A finger on the right picture is an answer. Add the word yourself: “yes — the cat.” Do not withhold the toy until they speak.

If talking itself is still thin, build words first. Our talking-at-home programme and how children learn to talk sit underneath this skill. WH questions need something to put in the answer slot.

When is it worth a speech and language check?

• By around two and a half, no pointing or looking toward a named object in the room
• By around three, still no success with simple what or where even when the answer is in front of them
• By four, who and simple why about a picture still blank, and school or nursery has noticed
• The child echoes every question and never moves on to an answer of their own
• Understanding seems far behind talking, or the other way round — see receptive versus expressive language
• Hearing has never been checked, and there is a history of ear infections or a loud television

None of that is a diagnosis. It is a reason to have someone listen, including to whether the ears are clear. Glue ear makes WH questions look like a language problem.

What we do with this at the centre

In a session we find which WH words are in, which are almost in, and which are not there at all — in the language your child actually hears. Then we practise in play, not at a table with a pile of cards, and we send you home with two questions to attach to a routine you already have.

A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes, in person in Model Town, Multan or online. No referral is needed. If WH questions are the thing that is stuck, start at speech and language therapy or book a first visit.

Sources

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Communication milestones, birth to 5 years. asha.org — 75th-percentile checklists; age 3 includes asking why/how and answering “what do you do when…” questions.
• ZERO TO THREE. Using questions to support your child’s learning. Parent timeline for when children typically ask what, where, who, when, why and how.
• Bloom L, Merkin S, Wootten J. Wh-questions: linguistic factors that contribute to the sequence of acquisition. Child Development. 1982. What and where dominate early questions with verbs; why rises later.