1) Yes/No questions - be

Subject and verb change their position in statement and question.

statement You are from Germany.

question Are you from Germany?

We always use the short answer, not only "Yes" or "No". This sounds rude.

NOTE:
If the answer is "Yes", we always use the long form.
Example: Yes, I am.

If the answer is "No", we either use the long or the contracted form (short form).
Example: No, I am not - No, I'm not.

Yes, I am.
Are you from Germany? am not.
No, I
'm not.
Is he your friend? Yes, he is.
Are Peter and John from England? Yes, they are.

2) Questions with question words - be

Question word Verb Rest Answer

Where are you from? I'm from Stuttgart.

What is your name? My name is Peter.
How are Pat and Sue? They're fine.

3) Yes/No Questions and short answers - have

Auxiliary
Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Yes/No Subject
(+ n't)

Have you got a cat? Yes, I have.

Have you got a new car? No, we haven't.
Has your brother got a bike? Yes, he has.
Do you have a cat? Yes, I do.
Do you have a new car? No, we don't.
Does your brother have a bike? Yes, he does.
4) Questions with question words - have

Question word Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Answer

Where have you got your ruler? I've got it in my pencil case.
Where do you have your ruler? I have it in my pencil case.

5) Questions without question words in the Simple Present

Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Yes/No Subject Auxiliary (+ n't)

Yes, I do.
Do you read books?
No, I don't.
Does Peter play football? Yes, he does.

6) Questions with question words in the Simple Present

Question word Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Answer

What do you play on your computer? I play games on my computer.

When does your mother go to work? She goes to work at 6 o'clock.
Where do you meet your friends? I meet them at the bus stop.

7) Questions without question words in the Simple Past

Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Yes/No Subject Auxiliary (+ n't)

Yes, he did.
Did Max play football?
No, he didn't.
Yes, I did.
Did you watch the film yesterday?
No, I didn't.

BUT:

to be Subject xxx Rest Yes/No Subject Auxiliary (+ n't)

 Yes, I was.
Were you in Leipzig last week?
No, I wasn't.

8) Questions with question words in the Simple Past

Question word Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Answer

What did you do yesterday evening? I did my homework.

When did she meet her boyfriend? She met him yesterday.
Where did they go after the match? They went to a café.

BUT:

Question word to be Subject xxxxx Rest Answer

Where were you yesterday? I was at the cinema.

9) Subject question

Question word Verb Rest Subject Verb Object - Place - Time

Who runs to the shop? Peter runs to the shop.

10) Object question

Question word Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Answer

Who do you like? I like my mum.

Who did Mandy phone last Monday? Mandy phoned her uncle.

NOTE!

Subject question Object question

Who phoned John? Who did John phone?

Answer: Answer:
Peggy phoned John. John phoned Peggy.
A Variety of Ways to Ask Questions in English
There are many ways to ask questions in English. It's important to understand the situation when
deciding how to ask questions. In other words, is the question you want to ask a polite request?
Would you like to confirm information you already know? Are you gathering details about a subject?

How to Ask Direct Questions

Direct questions are the most common type of question in English. Direct questions are asked when
asking for both simple and complex information. To begin with, here is a guide to the structure of
direct questions:

(Question Word) + Auxiliary + Subject + Verb Form + (objects) + ?

Examples:

When do you get to work?

Do you like fish?
How long have you been working on this project?
Where are those ties manufactured?

How to Ask Yes / No Questions

Yes / No questions refer to simple questions you ask to receive either a yes or no as a response. Yes /
No questions do not use question words and always begin with the auxiliary verb.

Auxiliary + Subject + Verb Form + (objects) + ?

Examples:

Does he live in New York?

Have you seen that film?
Is she going to come to the party?

How to Ask Subject and Object Questions

Look at the following example sentence and questions:

Jason likes playing golf.

What does Jason like playing? - ANSWER golf

Who likes playing golf? - ANSWER Jason
In the first question, we are asking about the OBJECT. When asking about the object, use direct
question construction beginning with a question word followed by the auxiliary verb.

Wh? + auxiliary + subject + verb?

Who does he follow online?

In the second question, we are asking for the SUBJECT of the action. When asking subject questions,
do not use the auxiliary verb. The 'Wh' question word plays the role of the subject in the question.

Wh? + (auxiliary) + verb + object?

Who understand this problem?

NOTE: Remember that the present simple or past simple do not take the auxiliary in positive sentence
structure.

Examples:

Who enjoys playing tennis?

BUT
Who is coming to the party next week?

Common question forms for SUBJECT questions:

Which

Which bicycle goes fast?

What kind of

What kind of cheese tastes mild?

What sort of

What sort of tea costs very little?

Who

Who goes to school here?

How to Use Question Tags to Ask Questions

Another type of common question in English is the question tag. Many languages such as Spanish also
use question tags. Use question tags to confirm information that you already know, or think you know.
This form is used in conversation and when checking that you have understood something.

Construct a question tag by making a statement followed by a comma and the OPPOSITE (positive ->
negative, negative -> positive) form of the appropriate auxiliary verb.

Examples:

You're married, aren't you?

He's been here before, hasn't he?
You didn't buy the new car, did you?

Indirect Questions

When we want to be more polite we often use indirect question forms. These questions ask the same
questions as direct questions, but are considered more formal. When using an indirect question,
introduce the question with the introductory phrase followed by the question itself in positive sentence
structure. Connect the two phrases with the question word or 'if' in the case the question is a 'yes',
'no' question.

Construction Chart

Introductory phrase + question word (or if) + positive sentence

Examples:

I was wondering if you know the way to the nearest bank.

Do you know when the next train leaves?

Here are some of the most common phrases used for asking indirect questions.

Do you know...
I wonder / was wondering ....
Can you tell me...
I'm not sure...
I don't know...

Examples:

Do you know when the next train leaves?

I wonder when he will arrive.
Can you tell me where he lives?
I'm not sure what he wants to do.
I don't know if he is coming.
Basic Question Types
There are 3 basic types of question:

1. Yes/No Questions (the answer to the question is "Yes" or "No")

2. Question Word Questions (the answer to the question is "Information")

3. Choice Questions (the answer to the question is "in the question")

1. Yes/No Questions

Answer
auxiliary verb subject main verb
Yes or No

Do you want dinner? Yes, I do.

Can you drive? No, I can't.

Has she finished her work? Yes, she has.

Did they go home? No, they didn't.

Exception! verb be simple present and simple past

Is Anne French? Yes, she is.

Was Ram at home? No, he wasn't.

2. Question Word Questions

Answer
question word auxiliary verb subject main verb
Information

Where do you live? In Paris.

When will we have lunch? At 1pm.

Who(m) did she meet? She met Ram.

Who has run out? Ati has run out.

Who* ran out? Ati ran out.

Why hasn't Tara done it? Because she can't.

Exception! verb be simple present and simple past

Where is Bombay? In India.

How was she? Very well.

*When who is subject there is normally no auxiliary verb in past simple and present simple.

3. Choice Questions

Answer
auxiliary verb subject main verb OR
In the question

Do you want tea or coffee? Coffee, please.

Will we meet John or James? John.

Did she go to London or New York? She went to London.

Exception! verb be simple present and simple past

Is your car white or black? It's black.

Were they $15 or $50? $15.

Find the mistakes in the following questions
1) Speak you English? -

2) What can I for you do? -

3) Where live you? -

4) Played you football? -

5) From where do you come? -

6) Understand you the question? -

7) Does Frank works in Sheffield? -

8) What did you last Sunday? -

9) Where did Peter went? -

10) Like you Hip-Hop? -

11) Plays Mike volleyball? -

12) Can the man the car drive? -

13) Who does the trumpet play? -

14) Do you can remember her name? -

15) Think you not that it's time to go? -

16) Do you have got a brother? -

17) Sell you fish? -

18) When begins the race? -

19) Where flew the plane? -

20) Why wrote you this letter?

Write the appropriate question for the underlined word

1) She never cleans the van.

2) Kim and Tina are playing ball in the garden.

3) They are running home.

4) Mr Johnson has been living in Montreal for ten years.

5) Anne likes her new job very much.

6) The Barnes are planning a trip to Norway.

7) The shop will be closed until next month.

8) Beverly usually gets up at 6.30 am.

9) He can't meet Sharon because she is very ill.

10) Every evening Steven listens to his new CDs.

11) John is writing a letter.

12) She walks home from school.

13) The children are sitting in the garden.

14) Peter runs with his dog on Sundays.

15) My rabbit has a cage in the garden.

16) They go to work by bus.

17) David likes cats because they are nice.

18) Jenny isn't sleeping late today.

19) We are going to the cinema.

20) I'm leaving now.

21) She is opening a present.

22) The boys are hiding under Tom's bed.

23) My sister prefers porridge for breakfast.

24) On Thursday Jack has German, History and Maths.

25) Yesterday Carol and Jane went to the swimming pool.

26) The plane is landing at the airport.

27) The telephone is ringing .

28) Sarah has to stop because of a security check.

29) Andrew's new mountain bike costs €1000.

30) At sunset Peter is walking along the beach.

Write questions to the following answers.

Examples:

I went to the cinema last night. Where did you go last night?

I’ve been studying English for two years. How long have you been studying English?

1. He goes to the park twice a week. __________________________________

2. I saw the movie five times. __________________________________

3. Hua Hin is 200 kilometers from Bangkok. __________________________________

4. She bought a new Ipad. __________________________________

5. There were more than 1,000 people at the club. __________________________________

6. Kate had to wait an hour for the bus. __________________________________

7. Tom likes pizza. __________________________________

8. The BMW cost $10,000. __________________________________

9. The class starts this week. __________________________________

10. Mary joined the company in 2011. __________________________________

11. John met his girlfriend at work. __________________________________

12. They went to Spain for a week. __________________________________

13. They are staying at the hotel. __________________________________

14. He paid for the tickets with his credit card. __________________________________

15. Kim is 160 centimeters tall. __________________________________