Sometimes a question using a wh-word Is o rhetorical question, Rhetorical questions take the form of questions, but they are not really used to seek information. In fact, they do not expect an answer at oil. In many cases they are simply expressing a strong opinion or feeling on the part of the speaker, rather than expecting | In informal situations you can say How was London with the same meaning as How was your visit to London Note that these two expressions are asking for your impressions of or experiences of London. They are not asking for a general description of London. If you want to ask for a general description of something or somewhere you ues what s. like Of course your description of someone is often influenced by your own personal attitude or taste We re thinking of taking a city break in Europe. What s Madrid like It s a wonderful city with marvellous art galleries and excellent restaurants and fashionable shops. I can recommend it wholeheartedly. 4 You can combine how with other words such as much many long far etc at the beginning of questions to make enquiries about the price quantity number length of time extent or distance of something How much are these grapes They re 6 a kilo. How much money do you have with you This restaurant looks very expensive. 7 don t have much cash on me but I can pay by credit card. Tm going to get some milk for the children s breakfast. How much will we need You d better get two litres. It s going to be a big party. How marry people are coming At least fifty. We re expecting quite a large audience for tonight s speaker. How many will the hall hold About 200 people. Using wh-words to ask questions 59 How long have you worked here Just over five years. We re going to take the train to London. How long will It take Just over four hours. How far is it from here to the city Roughly thirty kilometres. I ll never finish this essay this evening and I have to hand It in tomorrow. How far have you got with It Tm only about half-way through. 5 You can also combine how with an adjective at the beginning of questions when you want to know to what extent something has a particular quality or feature How big Is your front room Are you sure there s enough space for that large sofa It s a huge room. It could hold two of those sofas easily. How old Is Jim s
