Asking questions L4.00
|
|
“Do you like video games?” “Yes, we do.” |
Construction
These
are the basic forms for constructing questions:
|
‘To be’ |
(Modal) auxiliary verbs |
Other verbs |
|
‘be’ + subject Are you hungry? Was it interesting? Is there any cake? |
auxiliary + subject + main verb Will we finish on time? Have you had lunch? Can you swim? |
‘do’ + subject + bare infinitive Did
he go to the seminar? Do you like skiing? Does he work in Toulouse? |
Using question words
1.
When we ask a question with ‘what’,
‘which’, ‘where’,
‘when’, ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘whose’, ‘why’ or ‘how’, the word order in
the table
above remains the same:
Why are you hungry?
How fast can you
swim?
Where do you like
skiing?
2.
However, question words can refer to either an object
or a subject. Note the different constructions:
|
Object |
|
Subject |
|
|
Who did you see? What does Tim want? Which colour does he prefer? |
[I saw John.] [Tim wants a beer.] [He prefers blue.] |
Who saw John? Who wants a beer? What is his favourite colour? |
[I saw John.] [Tim wants a beer.] [Blue is his favourite colour.] |
Here
are some more examples of question words asking about a subject:
What happened this morning?
How many people go to work by car?
Who arrived first?
Note that ‘who’
can be used to ask about either an object or subject but ‘whom’ is
only
used for
objects:
Who do you want to invite? 
Whom do you want to invite? 
[Note
that
although correct, this is rare.]
Who wants a drink?
Whom wants a drink? 
Questions with prepositions
Most of the
time, the
preposition is placed at the end of the question. It sounds more
natural and
conversational.
Who did you give the file to?
Which city does she work in?
However, you
might
occasionally hear a more formal structure:
To whom did you give the file?
In which city does she work?
Other ways to ask questions
As well as
the forms
mentioned above, we also use these:
|
Type
of question |
Examples |
|
Indirect
questions |
Do you know what time the train leaves? Could you tell me if there’s a bank near here? |
|
Negative
questions |
Don’t you
like coffee? Isn’t it
ready yet? |
|
Echo questions |
“I asked her to marry me?” “You did what?!” “I asked her and she said yes.” “She said yes?!” |
|
Questions with tags |
You like
coffee, don’t you? It’s
ready, isn’t it? |
For
more information, see individual rules.
Definitions
These
words and expressions are related to questions:
|
Expression |
Explanation |
Examples |
|
Closed
question |
It requires a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type answer. |
“Did you enjoy your trip?” “Yes, it was great, thanks.” “Shall we go to the cinema?” “No, not tonight.” “Do you like chocolate?” “Absolutely!” “Is it raining again?” “I’m afraid so.” |
|
Open
question |
It asks for specific information. |
How was your trip? Where is the cinema? Why do we have to work late? |
|
Short
answers |
Short affirmative or negative responses used in
conversation and sometimes followed by further information. |
“Do you like chocolate?” “Yes, I do.” “Is it raining again?” “No it isn’t. It’s sunny today.” |