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Questions

December 16, 2013 by Bret Tutor

Questions

Question Marks Over Man Showing Confusion And Uncertainty

Basic Question Structure

In English, formulating a question is very simple. Its basic structure is as follows: auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

auxiliary verb subject main verb
Do they like oranges?
Are you eating candy?
Will the baby get a gift?
Have they seen the elephant?

Exception!
There is an exception to be made for the verb be when it is in the simple present or simple past. When this is the case no auxiliary verb is necessary. Instead, we just invert be and the subject. Some examples are below:

Statement: He is a boy.
Question: Is he a boy?

Basic Question Types

In English the three basic types of questions are as follows:
1. Yes/No Questions (“Yes” or “No” will answer the question)
2. Question Word Questions ( we will receive information through the question’s answer)
3. Choice Questions (choices are outlined in the question and its answer is one of the choices)

1. Yes/No Questions

auxiliary verb subject main verb Answer (Yes or No)
Do you eat apples? Yes, I do.
Can they fish? Yes, they can.
Has the student completed the assignment? No, he hasn’t.
Did she go abroad? No, she didn’t.
Exception!
verb be,
simple present
and simple past
Is
(auxiliary verb)
Luis
(subject)
Mexican? Yes, he is.
Was
(auxiliary verb)
Sally
(subject)
away? No, she wasn’t

2. Question Word Questions

question word auxiliary verb subject main verb Answer Information
Where do the boys work? In an office downtown.
When will they get Married? In August.
Who (m) did she choose? She chose her sister.
Who has been there? Alex has been there.
Who* went there? Alex went there.
Why hasn’t Thomas bought it? Because he doesn’t have the money.
Exception!
verb be,
simple present
and simple past
Where is
(auxiliary verb)
Caracas
(subject)
In Venezuela.
How was
(auxiliary verb)
the speech
(subject)?
Very inspirational.

We normally do not use an auxiliary verb in the past and present simple when who* is the subject.

3. Choice Questions

auxiliary verb subject main verb OR
Answer (the question)
Do the ladies want cream or sugar? Sugar, please.
Will he take Oak street or Elm street? He will take Oak.
Did they go to lunch or home? They went to lunch.
Exception!
verb be,
simple present
and simple past
Is
(auxiliary verb)
his house
(auxiliary verb)
on the right or on the left? It’s on the right.
Were
(auxiliary verb)
the shoes
(subject)
cheap or expensive? Cheap.

Filed Under: Verbs Tagged With: Grammar, Questions, Verbs

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