KIND OF QUESTIONS

KIND OF QUESTIONS

-          Yes/no question

correct		incorrect
Are elections next year?		Elections next year?
Does he want to stay?		He want to stay?
Have the boys eaten?		The boys eaten?
Can the dog swim?		The dog swim?

Yes / No questions are also called closed questions because there are only two possible responses: Yes or No. When forming a Yes / No question, it must include one of these verbs: BE , DO , HAVE , or a modal verb . It is impossible to ask a Yes / No question without one of these verbs.

·         Use the verb BE to ask Yes / No questions about the identity or description of a person, place, or thing.

question		response
Am I your friend?		Yes. / Yes, you are. / Yes, you are my friend.
Is this a good restaurant?		No. / No, it is not. / No, it is not a good restaurant.
Are these islands Greek?		Yes. / Yes, they are. / Yes, these islands are Greek.
Was his idea interesting?		No. / No, it wasn’t. / No, his idea was not interesting.
Were they happy?		Yes. / Yes, they were. / Yes, they were happy.

·         Use the verb BE with a preposition to ask Yes / No questions about a present or past location.

question		response
Am I at the correct location?		No. / No, you aren’t.
Are the keys under the books?		No. / No, they are not.
Was his house on an island?		Yes. / Yes, it was.
Were the demonstrations in the center of town?		No. / No, they weren’t.

·         Use the verb BE to ask a Yes / No question about a current activity or situation. This requires the present progressive : BE + (verb+ing).

question		response
Am I going with you and Tom?		Yes. / Yes, you are.
Is she working today?		No. / No, she isn’t.
Are we seeing a play tomorrow?		Yes. / Yes, we are.

·         Use the verb BE to ask a Yes / No question about a past activity or situation. This requires the past progressive : WAS / WERE + (verb+ing).

question		response
Was it raining?		Yes. / Yes, it was.
Were they playing?		No. / No, they weren’t.

·         Use the verb BE to ask a Yes / No question with the passive voice

question		response
Is gold mined in Canada?		Yes. / Yes it is.
Are flowers grown here?		No. / No, they are not.
Was the book read?		Yes. / Yes, it was.

·         Use the verb HAVE to ask if somebody has done something or if some action has taken place. Note that these Yes / No questions use the present perfect (HAVE + past participle).

question		response
Has your brother left?		No. / No, he hasn’t.
Have you driven before?		Yes. / Yes, I have.
Has the party started?		Yes. / Yes, it has.

·         Use the verb DO to ask Yes / No questions in order to obtain facts about people, places, or things.

question		response
Do they smoke?		No. / No, they don’t.
Does it rain here?		Yes. / Yes, it does.
Did the key work?		No. / No, it didn’t.

-          W/H Question

Wh– questions are so called because with the exception of the question word how, all the question words begin with the letters Wh. They are also called open questions because the number of possible responses is limitless. This means they must be answered with more information than just a simple “yes” or “no.”

Here are the WH question words:

Who whom what where when why which whose how

·         Who and whom are used to obtain information about a person or people.

question		response
Who is at the door?		Tom is at the door.
Who wants an apple?		I want an apple.
Whom is he dating? (Who is he dating?)		He is dating Anna.

·         What is used to request information about somebody or something.

What is this?	This is a bird.
What did she say?	She said to be quiet.
What have they done?	They’ve broken the window.

·         When is used to obtain information about the time period in which an action occurs.

question		response
When does Anna arrive?		She arrives at 10:30.
When can I see you again?		I don’t know.
When was the race?		The race was yesterday.

·         Where is used to obtain information about the location of a person or thing.

question		response
Where does Natasha live?		She lives in Miami.
Where were the keys?		The keys were in the car.
Where have you been?		We have been at the bank.

·         Why is used to obtain information about the reason something happens, or the reason somebody does something.

question		response
Why is the steet closed?		They are repairing it..
Why did Alex leave?		He had a meeting.
Why haven’t you called?		I lost my cell phone.

In informal American English, "How come?" is sometimes used in place of "Why?"

Why is she late?	=	How come she’s late?
Why did he stay?		How come he stayed?
Why can’t you go?		How come you can’t go?

·         Which is used to obtain information in order to make a comparison between two or more similar things or people.

question		response
Which of these pens is the best?		The black one.
Which author do you enjoy?		I enjoy reading Borges.
Which river is longer, the Nile or the Amazon?		The Nile.
Which street leads downtown?		The street on the left.

·         Whose is used to obtain information about who something belongs to.

question		response
Whose book is on the table?		That’s Tom’s book.
Whose idea was that?		It was her idea.
Whose child is this that has a cough?		He is my child.

·         How is used to obtain information about the way something happens, or the manner or way somebody behaves or does something.

question		response
How does this work?		Push the red button.
How was your mother?		She was much better.
How has the weather been?		It’s been very rainy.
How will he win the race?		By training every day.

-          TAG QUESTION

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. We use tag questions to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Is that right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure of a tag question is:

positive statement	negative tag
Snow is white,	isn't it?

- 

negative statement	positive tag
You don't like me,	do you?

Notice that the tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

·         Positive Statement Tag Questions

(+) positive statement				(-) negative tag
subject	auxiliary	main verb		auxiliary	not	personal pronoun same as subject
You	are	coming,		are	n't	you?
We	have	finished,		have	n't	we?
You	do	like	coffee,	do	n't	you?
You		like	coffee,	do	n't	you?
They	will	help,		wo	n't	they?
I	can	come,		can	't	I?
We	must	go,		must	n't	we?
He	should	try	harder,	should	n't	he?
You		are	English,	are	n't	you?
John		was	there,	was	n't	he?

Notice:

• the use of do in the two coffee questions. Remember that in Present Simple, do is optional in positive statements (You like coffee/You do like coffee). But the do must appear in the tag. The same applies to Past Simple did.
• in last two questions, no auxiliary for main verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple. The tag repeats the main verb.

·         Negative Statement Tag Questions

(-) negative statement						(+) positive tag
subject	auxiliary		main verb			auxiliary	personal pronoun same as subject
It	is	n't	raining,			is	it?
We	have	never	seen		that,	have	we?
You	do	n't	like		coffee,	do	you?
They	will	not	help,			will	they?
They	wo	n't	report		us,	will	they?
I	can	never	do		it right,	can	I?
We	must	n't	tell		her,	must	we?
He	should	n't	drive		so fast,	should	he?
You	wo	n't	be		late,	will	you?
You			are	n't	English,	are	you?
John			was	not	there,	was	he?

Notice:

·  won't is the contracted form of will not

·  the tag repeats the auxiliary verb, not the main verb. Except, of course, for the verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple.

-          Choice Questions

We use choice questions when we offer choices.

Choice questions	Answers
Would you like a house or a flat? Do you go with your family or alone? Are you a little nervous or excited?	A house, of course. With my family. A little nervous.

-          Hypothetical Questions

We ask hypothetical questions to have a general idea of a certain situation (like a questionnaire).

Examples

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Would you leave your country and your relatives behind to study abroad?

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

-          Embedded questions (indirect questions)

We use them in reported speech or in polite questions.

Examples:

She asked me if she could borrow my dictionary.
She asked me where the nearest train station was.
(not where was the nearest train station…)

Note: notice that the word order is affirmative.

Could you tell me how I can go to The Central Park?

-          Leading questions

We ask leading questions when we want to get the answer we desire.

Examples:

What do you think of the terrible side effects of drugs?