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Why don't we use the auxiliary do in the following question:

How many people study there?

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Actually you can: "Most of the people there are not really studying." "Really? How many people do study there?" – JeffSahol May 8 '12 at 12:37
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@Jeff that's not an auxiliary do, that's an emphatic do. The sentence is not asking the same thing at all. – RegDwighт♦ May 8 '12 at 12:46
@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Do tell. – JeffSahol May 8 '12 at 20:04

1 Answer

up vote 10 down vote

Because how many people is the subject of the sentence. If you ask a question about the subject, you don't need do.

Examples: (subjects are italicized)

How many people study here?

Who wants chowder?

Whose child stole the keys?

Now, if the interrogative pronoun is not (part of) the subject, then we need do.

Compare:

Who did you kill? (who = object)

Who killed you? (who = subject)

Hope this helped.

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..Oh yeah that's absolutely right. It's simple - when the asked question is about the subject, we don't use 'do.' And when the question is about the object, 'do' is needed. – Carol Hardin May 8 '12 at 12:50
@zpletan: I know that technically whom is correct, but AFAIK who is also possible as an object. As a matter of fact I used who so that the contrast between the two sentences was emphasized by the graphical equality of the interrogative words. I am rolling back your changes now, but if you feel my arguments are not strong, please feel free to roll back again – Armen Ծիրունյան May 8 '12 at 12:59
@Armen, no problem. – zpletan May 8 '12 at 13:43

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