Query syntax using cell reference

Question

I'm having trouble figuring out a fairly simple QUERY statement in Google Spreadsheets. I'm trying to use a cell reference instead of static values and I'm running into trouble. I keep getting Error: Formula parse error. with:

=QUERY(Responses!B1:I, "Select B where G contains"& $B1 &)

I'm sure it is a simple error, but can someone please show me how to write the above so the QUERY is pulling data from B where G contains the value in cell B1 (cell reference)?

Answer 1

Please try syntax of this kind:

=QUERY(Responses!B1:I, "Select B where G contains '"&$B1&"'")

Answer 2

For dates you need to use something like this

=query(Responses!B1:I,"select B where G = date '"& text(B1, "yyyy-mm-dd") &"' ")