Yes-no questions

How to form yes-no questions In English, a special word order (Verb Subject Object) is used to form yes-no questions.

Examples: Affirmative ~They are American. ~She is nice

Yes or No Question ~Are they American? ~Is she nice?

The rules 1. If the main verb of the sentence is "to be", simply invert the subject and the verb to be:

Examples: > They are American. Are they American? > They are nice. Are they nice?

2. If

the sentence includes a main verb and another or other helping (auxiliary) verb(s), invert the subject and the (first) helping (auxiliary) verb.

Examples: >They are visiting Paris. Are they visiting Paris?

>She has done the housework. Has she done the housework >Nancy has been working all night long. Has Nancy been working all night long? >He will be reading the book. Will he be reading the book?

3.

If the sentence includes a verb which is not the verb "to be" and doesn't include a helping (auxiliary) verb, the transformation is more complex. a. If the verb is in the present tense, add either do or does and put the main verb in its base form:

do if the subject is the first person singular, second person singular, first person plural, second person plural and third person plural (I, you, we, they) Examples: ~I like apples. Do you like apples? ~They go to a high school. Do the go to a high school? does if the subject is the third person singular (he, she, it). Examples: ~Nancy reads a lot. Does Nancy read a lot? ~He hates basketball. Does he hate basketball? b.If the verb is in the past tense, add did and put the main verb in its base form:

Examples: ~He discovered the truth. Did he discover the truth? ~She write a nice essay. Did she write a nice essay? ~They did the homework. Did they do the homework?

DEFINITION: A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag. We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English. The basic structure is: Notice that the question tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

statement + Positive statement, Snow is white, Negative statement, You don't like me,

question tag negative tag? isn't it? + positive tag? do you?

Positive Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with positive statements. You will see that most of the time, the auxiliary verb from the positive statement is repeated in the tag and changed to negative.
positive statement [+] subject auxiliary main verb negative tag [-] auxiliary not personal pronoun (same as subject) you? we? notes:

You We

are have

coming, finished,

are have

n't n't

You
You They I We He

do

like
like

coffee,
coffee,

do
do wo can must

n't
n't n't 't n't n't

you?
you? they? I? we? he? You (do) like...* won't = will not

will can must should

help, come, go, try harder,

should

You
John

are
was

English,
there,

are
was

n't
n't

you?
he?

no auxiliary for main verb beprese nt & past

Negative Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with negative statements. Notice that the negative verb in the original statement is changed to positive in the tag.

negative statement [-]

positive tag [+]

subject

auxiliary

main verb

auxiliary

personal pronoun (same as subject)

it? we? you? they? they? I? we? he? you? you? he?

It We You They They I We He You You John

is have do will wo can must should wo

n't never n't not n't never n't n't n't

raining, seen like help, report do tell drive be are was n't not us, it right, her, so fast, late, English, there, that, coffee,

is have do will will can must should will are was

Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts, not (necessarily) the question. For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the correct answers:

tag question Snow is white, isn't it? Snow isn't white, is it? Snow is black, isn't it? Snow isn't black, is it?

correct answer Yes (it is). Yes it is! the answer is the same in both cases because snow IS WHITE! but notice the change of stress when the answerer does not agree with the questioner

No it isn't! No (it isn't).

the answer is the same in both cases because snow IS NOT BLACK!

In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes" (meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English! >Here are some more examples, with correct answers: ~The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does. ~The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes. ~The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't! ~Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do! ~Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't! ~Men don't have babies, do they? No. ~The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

Tag Question Special Cases

Negative Adverbs
The adverbs never, rarely, seldom, hardly, barely and scarcely have a negative sense. Even though they may be in a positive statement, the feeling of the statement is negative. We treat statements with these words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally positive. Look at these examples:

positive statement treated as negative statement

positive tag

He never came again, did he?

She can rarely come these days, can she? You hardly ever came late, did you? I barely know you, do I?

You would scarcely expect her to know would you? that,

Some More Special Cases

I am right, aren't I? You have to go, don't you?

aren't I (not amn't I) you (do) have to go...

I have been answering, haven't use first auxiliary I? Nothing came in the post, did it? treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements

Let's go, shall we?

He'd better do it, hadn't he?

let's = let us
he had better (no auxiliary)

WH Question Words Definition: A term in generative grammar for a question that is formed with an interrogative word (what, who, whom, whose, which, when, where, why, or how) and that expects an answer other than "yes" or "no." Contrast with yes-no question.

Question Word what

Function asking for information about something asking for repetition or confirmation

Example What is your name? What? I can't hear you. You did what? What did you do that for? When did he leave? Where do they live? Which colour do you want? Who opened the door? Whom did you see? Whose are these keys? Whose turn is it? Why do you say that? Why don't I help you?

what...for when where which who whom whose why why don't

asking for a reason, asking why asking about time asking in or at what place or position asking about choice asking what or which person or people (subject) asking what or which person or people (object) asking about ownership asking for reason, asking what...for making a suggestion

how

asking about manner asking about condition or quality

How does this work? How was your exam?

see examples below How far is Pattaya from Bangkok? How long will it take? How many cars are there? How much money do you have? How old are you? How come I can't see her?

how + adj/adv

asking about extent or degree how far distance how long length (time or space) how many quantity (countable) how much quantity (uncountable) how old age

how come (informal)

asking for reason, asking why