The Question Words That Vanish
A student came to me frustrated last week.
She said she knew the question words but she couldn’t hear them when people were speaking
I understand. I have seen this problem many times.
Question words disappear in fast speech.
They reduce. They blend. They connect to the next word.
But they follow a pattern.
And when you hear the pattern, you catch questions every time.
Five People, Five Stories
Let me show you with simple stories.
Jim goes to the zoo on Monday to see the elephants.
Betty goes to school on Tuesday to study.
Frank goes to the park on Wednesday to play soccer.
Jim goes to the coffee shop on Thursday to have coffee.
Anna goes to the bank on Friday to get money.
Simple sentences. Clear meanings.
Now watch what happens when we ask questions about them.
The WHAT Questions
What does Jim do on Monday?
What does Betty do on Tuesday?
What does Frank do on Wednesday?
Say them out loud. Where are the strong beats?
WHAT. JIM. MONDAY.
WHAT. BETTY. TUESDAY.
WHAT. FRANK. WEDNESDAY.
But notice what happens to "does."
It weakens. It blends with "what."
What-does becomes "whadduz."
The whole question forms chunks: WHAT-duz-JIM-do-on-MONDAY?
The WHERE Questions
Where does Jim go on Monday?
Where does Betty go on Tuesday?
Where does Frank go on Wednesday?
Same pattern. The question word starts the chunk.
WHERE-duz-JIM-go-on-MONDAY?
"Where does" blends to "whereduz."
If you're listening for a clear, separate "where," you'll miss it.
But if you're listening for the rhythm chunk, you'll catch it.
The WHEN Questions
When does Jim go to the zoo?
When does Betty go to school?
When does Frank go to the park?
WHEN-duz-JIM-go-to-the-ZOO?
"When does" becomes "whenduz."
The rhythm pattern stays the same even when the sounds reduce.
The WHY Questions
Why does Jim go to the zoo?
Why does Betty go to school?
Why does Anna go to the bank?
WHY-duz-JIM-go-to-the-ZOO?
"Why does" becomes "whyduz."
Notice something? Every question follows the same rhythm pattern.
Question word plus weak helping verb. Then the important information gets the strong beats.
The WHO Questions
Who does Jim see at the zoo?
Who does Frank play soccer with?
Who does Anna meet at the bank?
WHO-duz-JIM-see-at-the-ZOO?
"Who does" becomes "whooduz."
Same pattern. Same rhythm. Same chunks.
The "You" Pattern
Here's where it changes.
When the person is "you," the reduction is different.
What do you do? becomes "Whaddaya do?"
Where do you go? becomes "Wheredaya go?"
When do you leave? becomes "Whendaya leave?"
Why do you study? becomes "Whydaya study?"
"Do you" blends to "daya."
Different sound. Same pattern.
Why Chunks Matter
I've been teaching in Japan since 1998.
Students who listen for individual question words miss questions constantly.
Students who listen for rhythm chunks? They catch questions easily.
Because the pattern is always there.
Question word (fast and weak) plus helping verb (blended) plus subject plus MAIN information (strong beats).
Your ear learns to expect this pattern.
When you hear "whadduz," your brain knows a question is coming.
When you hear the strong beats, you know that's the important information.
Building Question Chunks
Here's what changed everything for my students.
I stopped teaching question words in isolation.
I started teaching question chunks.
Not "what" by itself. But "WHAT-duz-JIM."
Not "where" all alone. But "WHERE-duz-BETTY-GO."
The whole chunk together. One rhythm unit.
Practice the chunks, and your ear starts recognizing the pattern everywhere.
The Listening Strategy
When you hear fast English, don't hunt for individual question words.
Listen for the chunk pattern at the start of the sentence.
Fast weak beginning. That's probably a question word.
Blended helping verb. "Duz" or "daya."
Then strong beats on the important information.
The rhythm tells you it's a question before your brain identifies the specific question word.
Your Practice Assignment
Take these stories. Practice the question chunks out loud.
WHAT-duz-JIM-do-on-MONDAY?
WHERE-duz-BETTY-go-on-TUESDAY?
WHEN-duz-FRANK-go-to-the-PARK?
WHY-duz-JIM-go-to-the-ZOO?
WHO-duz-ANNA-meet-at-the-BANK?
Say each one ten times. Feel the rhythm. Feel where the chunks break.
The question word is weak and fast. The helping verb blends. The main information is strong.
Once your mouth knows this pattern, your ear will hear it.
The Real Secret
Grammar is procedural memory, not descriptive memory.
You don't think about question patterns. You just recognize them.
But first, you need to practice them as chunks.
Twenty times with each question. Let your mouth learn the rhythm.
Soon you won't think about it anymore. You'll just hear question chunks automatically.
And when you hear chunks instead of individual words, comprehension speeds up.
Way up.
Because you're processing the way English actually works.
Your turn: Pick one question from today. Say it twenty times with the rhythm. Feel how "does" disappears into the question word. That's the chunk pattern your ear needs to recognize.
Once you hear it, you'll catch questions everywhere.