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How to Use This Lesson

👨‍🏫 For Teachers:

Use this 12-minute lesson to teach question words with to + a verb.

Let students read the rules first, then do the 12 practice items and check the answers together.

🎒 For Learners:

First, read the 4 rules in the table and the examples.

Next, do the practice questions and check your answers as you go.

⛰️ Grammar: Question word + to + verb

When we connect verbs like know, decide, show, or ask to an action, we often use a question word + to + verb.

Example: "Our guide explained how to read the map before we left."

Row	Grammar Rule	Hiking Examples
1	After know, learn, show, decide, ask, wonder or explain, put a question word and then to + the simple verb. Do not put I, he or we after the question word. We say how to open, never how I to open.	• Nobody knew how to open the old gate. • Nobody showed her how to bandage a sprain.
2	Choose the word for what you need to know: how for a way, what for a thing, where for a place, when for a time, who for a person, and which + the thing for a choice. There is no why to.	• Maria asked the clerk which window to go to. • We wondered what to pack for the rocky trail.
3	Use whether to for a yes or no choice. Often the other choice comes after or. We say whether to call, never if to call.	• She wondered whether to call her aunt or to send a message. • I couldn't decide whether to start a fire.
4	Who does the action after to? After learn, it is the person at the start: she learned how to cook, so she cooks. After show, tell or teach, it is the person after the verb: he showed me how to cook, so I cook.	• My neighbour showed me how to plant tomatoes. • He learned how to cross the muddy river.

💡 Remember: always say whether to, never if to, and do not put I, he or we after the question word.

✏️ Practice Exercises

Question 1 Multiple Choice

Select the correct sentence:

____ a. The hiker wondered where put the tent in the foggy valley. ____ b. The hiker wondered where to put the tent in the foggy valley. ____ c. The hiker wondered where he to put the tent in the foggy valley.

Question 2 Multiple Choice

Choose the correct question word: (person)

"At the park office, we did not know _____ to talk to about the rocky trail."

____ a. who ____ b. where ____ c. when ____ d. how

Question 3 Multiple Choice

Select the grammatically correct sentence:

____ a. I wasn't sure if to cross the muddy stream. ____ b. I wasn't sure whether to cross the muddy stream. ____ c. I wasn't sure whether I to cross the muddy stream.

Question 4 Rewrite Sentence

Rewrite the full sentence using when + to + verb instead of the clause:

Pattern: "Tom asked when he should leave." ➔ Tom asked when to leave.

Original: "The lost hiker asked when he should light the signal fire."

____ (Type the full rewritten sentence here...)

Question 5 Rewrite Sentence

Rewrite the full sentence using where + to + verb:

Original: "She showed us where we could pitch the tent."

____ (Type the full rewritten sentence here...)

Question 6 Rewrite Sentence

Rewrite the full sentence using what + to + verb:

Original: "We wondered what we should cook over the dry twigs."

____ (Type the full rewritten sentence here...)

Question 7 Fill in the gap

Fill in the blank with how to + the correct form of the verb in brackets: (infinitive)

"The guide taught us ____ a painful blister on our trek." (treat)

Question 8 Fill in the gap

Fill in the blank with which + noun + to + verb: (infinitive)

"They could not decide ____ during the foggy morning." (trail / follow)

Question 9 Fill in the gap

Fill in the blank with whether to + verb: (infinitive)

"I am trying to decide ____ at the campsite or go home." (stay)

Question 10 Fill in the gap

Fill in the blank with how to + verb: (infinitive)

"The new hiker needed advice on ____ sunburn on the high mountain." (prevent)

Question 11 Error Correction

Read this short message from a hiker and correct the underlined mistake:

"Hi Sam! We are on the trail. Our leader cannot decide if to build a shelter or to walk on, but I am tired."

Type the correct phrase to replace if to build:

____ (Type the correction here...)

Question 12 Meaning check

Read the sentence: "The ranger showed me how to put a plaster on a blister." Who puts the plaster on?

____ a. The ranger ____ b. I do ____ c. Nobody

Grammar: Question Words with To-Infinitive

How to Use This Lesson

⛰️ Grammar: Question word + to + verb

✏️ Practice Exercises

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