QUESTIONS

Types of question

Yes / no question Information question (WH) Tag question

YES/NO QUESTIONS

WHAT ARE YES AND NO QUESTIONS?

Yes and No questions are simple statements that ask for information.

They can be answered with Yes. or No.. Question Do they arrive early? Does she like music? Did you like the movie? Did the dog eat? Answer Yes./No. Yes./No. Yes./No. Yes./No.

FORMING QUESTIONS WITH A STATEMENT

In order to formulate a question using a statement you must first count the verbs in the sentence.

Sentence She is pretty. I am eating.

Number of Verbs 1: is 2: am, eating

They have been training.

3: have, been, training

FORMING QUESTIONS WITH A SENTENCE WITH ONE VERB

If there is one verb in the statement and the verb is a form of be, simply switch the positions of the subject and verb. If there is one verb in the sentence (and it is a form of verb be [was, were, is, am, are, will be]) switch the position of the subject and the verb.
Sentence Question
Is she pretty? Am I hungry? Are they late?

She is pretty. I am hungry. They are late.

FORMING QUESTIONS WITH A SENTENCE WITH TWO VERBS

If there are two verbs simply the positions of the subject and the first verb. Sentence The girl is dancing. Cintia was eating. They are studying. Question Is the girl dancing? Was Cintia eating? Are they studying?

PRACTICE EXERCISE CHANGE THE STATEMENTS INTO QUESTIONS:

Remember to first identify the verbs and switch it with the subject. Statement Emilio was training. Raul was happy. They were hungry. You were listening to music. I was jumping up and down. Question

PRACTICE EXERCISE CHANGE THE STATEMENTS INTO QUESTIONS:

Remember to first identify the verbs and switch it with the subject. Statement Emilio was training. Raul was happy. They were hungry. You were listening to music. I was jumping up and down. Question Was Emilio training? Was Raul happy? Were they hungry? Were you listening to music? Was I jumping up and down?

FORMING QUESTIONS WITH SENTENCES WITHOUT VERB BE

If the subject is plural (we, they, you) or the pronoun I, and the sentence only has one verb (not a form of verb be), add Do at the beginning of the question. Sentence They play poker. You eat pasta. Ramon and Wanda sing karaoke. I read all day. Question Do they play? Do you eat pasta? Do Ramon and Wanda sing karaoke? Do I read all day?

FORMING QUESTIONS WITH SENTENCES WITHOUT VERB BE

If the subject is he, she or it and the verb has an s inflection, use

Does before the question and remove the s inflection from the verb.
Sentence She rides the bus. Iris likes pizza. Question Does she ride the bus? Does Iris like pizza?

The dog barks at night.

He drinks coffee.

Does the dog bark at night?

Does he drink coffee?

PRACTICE EXERCISE CHANGE THE STATEMENTS INTO QUESTIONS:

Remember to keep in mind the subject in order to use Do or

Does before the question.

Statement He plays the lottery.
The cat runs around the house. The store closes early. They study every night. Lisa talks a lot. I pay rent.

Question

PRACTICE EXERCISE CHANGE THE STATEMENTS INTO QUESTIONS:

Remember to keep in mind the subject in order to use Do or

Does before the question.

Statement He plays the lottery.
The cat runs around the house. The store closes early. They study every night. Lisa talks a lot. I pay rent.

Question Does he play the lottery?

Does the cat run around the house? Does the store close early? Do they study every night? Does Lisa talk a lot? Do I pay rent?

FORMING QUESTIONS WITH SENTENCES WITHOUT VERB BE

If the sentence has the verb in the past tense, change it to the present tense (without an s inflection) and use Did before the question. Sentence We played baseball. I kicked the ball. Carlos danced with Nicolle. Question Did we play baseball? Did I kick the ball. Did Carlos dance with Nicolle?

He watched the game.

Did he watch the game?

PRACTICE EXERCISE CHANGE THE STATEMENTS INTO QUESTIONS:

Remember to use Did before the question and change the verb to the present tense without an s inflection.

Statement We enjoyed the food.

He watched television. Elena touched the book. They marched down the road. I listened to the song.

Question

PRACTICE EXERCISE CHANGE THE STATEMENTS INTO QUESTIONS:

Remember to use Did before the question and change the verb to the present tense without an s inflection.

Statement We enjoyed the food.

He watched television. Elena touched the book. They marched down the road. I listened to the song.

Question Did we enjoy the food?

Did he watch television? Did Elena touch the book? Did they march down the road? Did I listen to the song?

INFORMATION QUESTION

WH question a question in English to which an appropriate answer is to give information rather than to answer ``yes'' or ``no'': typically introduced by the word who, which, what, where, when, or how

Question Words...

...used for this information.

Who

a person

What
Where When Why How

a thing / fact

a location / place

time / day / year / month

reason

method / quality

Questions using question words follow two basic patterns: 1. Question Word + Verb + Subject QW + V + S Who is he? ...or 1. Question Word + Verb + Subject + Verb QW + V + S + V Where do they live?

Who am I?
You're a teacher.

Where are you?

I'm in the classroom.

What does he have?

He has some strawberries.

I'm in the classroom.

What does he have?

He has some strawberries.

Where is she?
She's at the beach.

Why is the cat drinking water?

It's thirsty.

When do we have class?

We have class in the morning.

You + I = We

How are they drinking their milkshake?

They're drinking it with a straw.

What do they have?

They have popsicles.

 A tag-question or question tag is not a true question. A tag question is used at the end of a Statement Sentence to get the confirmation from the listener, or just to express ones doubt. A question sentence, on the contrary, is used to get the answer.

EXAMPLE
You are my student.
Statement Sentence positive

You are not my student. Statement negative Are you my student? Question (interrogative)

You are my student, arent you? Tag-question

TAG-QUESTIONS
Whose books are these? a true question
These are your books, arent they? -Tag-question Positive

These are not your books, are they?

- Tag-question -- Negative

TAG-QUESTIONS
There are five simple points we should follow when we use a Tag-question: Point 1

A comma is used between the main sentence and the tag

part, e.g. This is your book isnt it?

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 2: Even if the subject of the main sentence is a noun proper noun or common noun the subject of the tag part is always a corresponding PERSONAL PRONOUN. e.g.

Mary isnt your sister, is she?

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 2 (continued) John has gone home, hasnt ?

John proper noun male singular

he

pronoun male singular subjective case

TAG-QUESTION
Point 2 (continued) Ted and Jerry got their books, didnt ?

Ted and Jerry Proper nouns

male plural
they

Personal Pronoun male -- plural

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 3 The verb in the tag part depends on the verb in the main sentence: If the verb in the main sentence is in Present Tense, the verb in the tag part will be in Present Tense; and the verb in the main sentence is in Past Tense, the verb in the tag part will be in Past, and so on. If the verb in the main sentence is in Positive form, the verb in the tag part will be in Negative form.

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 3 (continued) She is your sister, she?

is main verb Simple Present Tense

POSITIVE
isnt

Simple present tense NEGATIVE

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 3 (continued) Brad hasnt done his work, he?

hasnt Present perfect NEGATIVE has Present perfect -- POSITIVE

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 3 (continued) Kate goes to school, she? goes Simple present POSITIVE does not go Simple present NEGATIVE doesnt Point 4 The negative form of the verb in the tag part is always contracted:
= wont does not = doesnt; has not = hasnt; will not

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 3 (continued) James did not go to school, he? did not go Simple past NEGATIVE go Simple past Positive; however, in tag part, the auxiliary (helping) verb alone is used: did

TAG-QUESTIONS
Point 5 -- Word order

In the statement sentence (in the main sentence) the subject comes first and the verb comes next; but in the tag part, the verb comes first and the subject comes next, just as in the interrogative sentence.