Shadowing Practice: The Secret to Asking English Questions - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Do you find it difficult to ask questions in English?
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That may be because there is something that most teachers don't teach you and most books don't show you.
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And in this lesson, I'm going to explain to you what
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that technique is so that you will be able to frame the right type of questions at the right time.
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So, let's get started.
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So, in order to understand questions, first we have to understand sentences.
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Alright?
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So, let's look at these three sample sentences that I've written on the board.
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So, what happens in an English sentence?
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An English sentence follows this order.
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Subject, verb, object.
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Okay?
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The subject does the action, the verb is the action itself, and the object receives the action.
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Okay, that's what we say.
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For example, John orders pizza, right?
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Maria manages projects.
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ABC sells computers.
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All right, so these were the subject, these were the verb, this is the object.
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Now, what's the issue here?
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The point is that in most books and probably in all the grammar that you've been studying, you only learn one way of asking questions.
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But in real life, there are two different ways.
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And what's the difference?
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The difference is, are you asking about the subject or are you asking about the object?
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Most times you are taught how to frame a question in English based on asking about the object.
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So, you may be familiar with these kind of questions.
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Let's look at these questions.
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What does John order?
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Pizza.
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So, you are usually taught that in the present simple tense, which is what this is,
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you have to add the word does when you have a question or do, right?
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But that is only when we're asking about the object.
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Let's look at some more examples.
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What does Maria manage?
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Projects.
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These questions are correct.
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They're all asking about what?
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About the object, right?
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Or what does ABC sell?
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computers all right so that's fine those are probably the types of questions you've been learning
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and you've been practicing
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and they are perfectly correct however they're not the only kind
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of questions we ask sometimes we want to know about the subject
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so how do you form that question that's what i'm going to show you right now
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so here's the first one about john who orders pizza
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we're asking about the subject what's the answer to that question who orders pizza john
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the second question the second sentence who manages projects maria who sells computers A, B, C.
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What?
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No do, no does?
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No. No do, no does.
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All right?
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Why?
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Because we're asking about the subject here.
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And we use the do, does, and other forms, which I'll show you when we're asking about the object.
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And most of the time, this is what students master, which is great, you need to know this.
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But they never learn this, but people are using that around them, so they get confused.
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So, not you, not anymore.
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Now you know that, oh yeah, I hear that a lot.
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Now you know how to structure it based on what information you want to know.
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So, in order for you to know that, think about, am I asking about the subject, who does the action, or am I asking about the object?
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What receives the action?
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Okay?
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So, this was in the present simple tense.
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I'll show you how the same principle, the same habit will work for you in the past tense and in the future tense.
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Now let's look at the past simple tense.
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The same sentences, but changed to the past.
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John ordered pizza.
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Maria managed projects.
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ABC sold computers.
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Right?
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Same structure, Subject, verb, object.
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So if you want to ask about the subject, what do you ask?
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You say, who ordered pizza?
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John. Who managed projects?
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Maria. Who sold computers?
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ABC.
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And why did we ask the questions like that?
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Remember?
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Because we're asking about the subject.
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So we didn't need any extra words.
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We just asked directly who ordered, who managed, who sold.
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All right?
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Great.
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Of course, if you're asking about the object, then we have to add the word did into our question in the past simple tense.
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What did John order?
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Pizza.
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What did Maria manage?
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What did ABC sell?
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Computers.
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Now, it doesn't have to be what.
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It could be that Maria managed the team.
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Then we would ask, who did Maria manage?
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Who did Maria manage?
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The team.
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Alright?
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So, this first word will depend a little bit on what the object is.
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the object refers to people then you may have to ask a different use a different question word here
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but the structure will say the same if you're asking about the object
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and the structure remains the same
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if you're asking about the subject now let's look at the
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future tense the same basic structure now with the future john will order pizza maria will manage projects ABC will sell computers.
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Right?
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Subject, verb, object.
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Basic structure.
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So, if I want to know about the subject, I ask, who will order pizza?
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John.
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Who will manage projects?
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Maria.
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Who will sell computers?
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ABC.
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Right?
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That's when we were asking about the subject.
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And if we need to ask about the object, then we say, What will John order?
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Pizza.
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What will Maria manage?
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Projects.
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Or what will ABC sell?
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Computers.
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Got it?
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This is a huge change from what you might be used to when you're asking questions.
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You probably do know this part about asking about the object,
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but you may not have ever realized or been taught that there is this whole other way of asking questions, which is not difficult.
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As you saw, it's really easier in many ways.
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All right?
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So, the same thing will happen.
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We're going to stop here.
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But the same thing happens when you use other more advanced tenses.
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For example, if you used present perfect and you said, John has ordered pizza, then you would ask, who has ordered pizza?
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John.
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What has John ordered?
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Pizza.
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And so on.
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You could do it with the present perfect, the past perfect, and all of those tenses.
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And all of the tenses.
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Okay?
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Not just the ones I've shown you, but this explains the principle.
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And I hope after this, and I'm sure after this, the whole way you think about English questions
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and the way you use them will be so much stronger and so much more correct.
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All right?
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So, after this, if you like, please go to our website at www.engvid.com, do the quiz on this,
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really master these principles, and then you can go forward into much better, stronger, more confident English.
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And don't forget to subscribe.
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Thanks for watching.
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Bye for now.

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Who Can Benefit from This Video?

This video is a game-changer for intermediate English learners struggling with question formation, especially those prepping for IELTS speaking practice or daily conversational fluency. If you’ve ever fumbled when asking about the subject of a sentence—like “Who ordered pizza?” instead of “What did John order?”—this lesson breaks down the “secret” most resources miss. It’s also ideal for anyone using learn English with videos to bridge the gap between textbook grammar and real-world speech.

Key Phrases to Add to Your Toolkit

The video highlights practical terms that clarify question structure. “Frame the right type of questions” means constructing grammatically correct, context-appropriate questions—critical for english speaking practice. “Subject, verb, object” (SVO) is the core sentence structure in English; mastering it helps you identify whether a question targets the doer (subject) or the receiver (object) of an action. These phrases aren’t just vocabulary—they’re tools to decode how English works.

Mastering Pronunciation for Natural Questions

To sound natural, focus on reducing “do” and “does” in object questions. For example, “What does John order?” is often pronounced “What d’John order?” with a soft “d” sound. In subject questions like “Who orders pizza?”, stress the verb (“orders”) to emphasize the action. For practice, use a shadowing site to mimic the speaker’s rhythm—pause, repeat, and match their intonation. This not only improves pronunciation but also trains your brain to recognize when to skip “do/does,” a common hurdle in improve english pronunciation goals. Remember: subject questions flow smoothly without extra auxiliaries, so keep your tone steady and confident.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going onyou've been studying · you've been learning · you've been practicing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters nowI've written · has ordered · I've shown
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itare taught · are usually taught · been taught
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thingtense, which is · master, which is · questions, which is

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →