Grammar. 07.09.2011
Grammar Teacher

Англійська граматика: Basic questions (for lower levels)

Автор: Grammar Teacher

Hello, my dear readers!

After a half a year break, I am with you again ready to teach you something new about English Grammar. Hope you are doing well and progressing in English learning. Our today’s topic is Basic Questions. We will learn how to ask questions using different tenses, how to give short answers, also I will teach you the difference between general and specific questions, object and subject  questions and the usage of various question words. This topic is of interest at any time because even higher level students tend to make mistakes when it comes to asking questions. They confuse the word order, miss out auxiliary verbs, use wrong intonation.  My mission is to prevent you from future errors.  

The first thing to know about question is that they have different from statements structure. We usually (but not always!) make questions by changing the word order: we put the first auxiliary (helping) verb before the subject of the sentence. The other (main) verb comes after the subject. 
 

AUXILIARY VERB

SUBJECT

MAIN VERB?

Is

he

working?


Here are some examples of statements and the questions you can make from them. Notice that the helping verbs are printed in bold and the subjects are in color.

Statement

Question

S+AV+MV

AV+S+MV

Tom will be here tomorrow

Will Tom be here tomorrow?

The castle was built in 1893.

Was the castle built in 1893?

We should go now.

Should we go now?

She has    finished her homework.

Has she finished her homework?

 

The verb to be also comes before the subject when it is an ordinary verb rather than a helping verb:

  • Dad is ill today  --------  Is Dad ill  today?
  • They are in love with Green Forest   ---------   Are they in love with Green Forest?

If there is no helping verb in a sentence (in Present Simple, Past Simple) we use do/does or did.

In present simple questions we use do/does:

  • She loves sweets  ----------   Does she love sweets?
  • The cats want to be fed  ---------  Do the cats want to be fed?

In past simple questions we use did:

  • He sold his car    ----------   Did he sell his car?
  • The accident happened yesterday -----------  Did the accident happen yesterday? 

Notice: The main verb in the question is in its simple form; there is no final  -s (in simple present) or –ed (in simple past).

YES/NO and SPECIAL  QUESTIONS

 All the examples we have above are examples of yes or no questions. They are called so because you ask them to get just yes or no as the answer; they don’t give you any specific information.

For instance,

A: Does he live in Chicago?

B: Yes, he does or No, he doesn’t

 The answers of this kind are called short answers. They consist only of the subject and auxiliary verb. Here are more examples:

Did Miss Lee sing a song? – Yes, she did.             

Am I doing it right? – Yes, you are.

May I leave now? – No, you may not.

To ask for facts, we use the question words what, which, who, whom, how, when, where before the auxiliary verb. The answers to this type of questions reveal some extra information that is why they are called special questions (wh-questions). The helping verbs in wh- questions usually come before the subject as in yes/no questions:
 

Statement

Question

S+AV+MV

Question word+AV+S+MV

The birds go to the south when they fly away in winter.

WHERE do the birds go when they fly away in winter?

You can come to visit me in May.

WHEN can I come to visit you?

David is saying that you are stupid.

WHAT is David saying?

The girl was crying because she was scared.

WHY was the girl crying?



The phrases which are underlined are the answers to the questions.

OBJECT and SUBJECT QUESTIONS

Look at this sentence:

SUBJECT

 

OBJECT

John

loves

Liz.

               
Now look at these two questions:

 

SUBJECT

 

OBJECT

 

Who

does

John

love?

 

SUBJECT

 

OBJECT

Who

love

Liz?


In the first sentence we use a general scheme with the auxiliary verb after the question word. But in the second sentence the wh-word (WHO) itself is the subject of the sentence. In this case, we don’t use the auxiliary verb! If you translate into Ukrainian, you’ll get 2 different questions: 1) Кого кохає Джон?; 2) Хто кохає Лізу? В першому випадку питання поставлено до додатка, в іншому  - до підмета. Compare one more time:
 

WHO object

WHO subject

Emma telephoned somebody.

Who did Emma telephone?

Somebody telephoned Emma.

Who telephoned Emma?


Let’s have a look at more examples:

Who wants something to eat? (NOT ‘Who does want’)

What happened to you last night? (NOT ‘What did happen’)

Which bus goes to the city centre? (NOT ‘Which bus does go’)

In these examples, WHAT/WHO/WHICH is the subject.

 It is always correct to follow the rules that I’ve just taught you, but sometimes in informal communication we can use the word order of a statement to ask questions in order to show surprise like in the examples:

You are going on Wednesday? I thought it was Friday.

You are moving in April? So soon…

INTONATION

As a rule, Yes/No questions have a rising intonation at the end of the sentence. This means that the speaker’s voice gets just a little higher as they finish the sentence. Special questions (Wh-questions) have a rise/fall intonation at the end of the sentence. This means that the speaker's voice goes higher for a moment and then drops lower to end the sentence. Answers as all statements usually have falling intonation:

Questions

Possible answers (falling intonation)

Yes / no questions (rising intonation)

Did you get a letter from Molly this week?

No, I didn’t.

Yes, I did.

Yes, got one yesterday.

Wh- questions (falling intonation)

Where do you live?

In Detroit. (I live is left out)

Statement questions (rising intonation)

You don't like chocolate?

No, I don't. (the question is like a yes / no question)

 

This is it for today. I hope the information was helpful and clear enough. Below you can see the links to the exercises for practice. Check your understanding of the material covered in this post.

Interactive exercise

P.S: If some Grammar topic is confusing for you, don’t hesitate to tell me its name. I’ll do my best to make it easier for you!

Ми розглянули правила та приклади створення базових запитань в англійській мові. Щоб дізнатися більше про англійську граматику, читайте інші публікації в розділі Grammar!

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