There are two kinds of questions: yes or no questions and question-word questions.
Yes or No Questions
When you ask a yes or no question, you want the answer yes or the answer no. Use the verbs be, have and do along with helping verbs such as can, will and should when you ask these questions. Here are some examples of yes or no questions, with answers.
- Is this your seat? Yes.
- Can you ride a bike? No.
- Do you like swimming? Yes.
- May I sit here? Yes.
- Don't you like pizza? No.
- Are we late? No.
In questions, the helping verb comes before the subject. The other verb comes after the subject. The verb be also comes before the subject when it is an ordinary verb rather than a helping verb.
Here are some examples of statements and the questions you can make from them. Notice that the helping verbs are printed in bold and the subjects are in color.
Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 2
Question-Word Question
Use the question words what, which, who (sometimes whom), whose, when, where and how to ask for information. The verbs be, have and do, and helping verbs such as can, will and should are also used in questions.
The helping verb comes before the subject, as it does in yes or no questions. Here are some examples. Again, the helping verb is printed in bold and the subject is printed in color.
- What is your name?
- What date is it today?
- Which boy is your brother?
- Which house do you live in?
- Who is the boy next to Alan?
- Who (or whom ) did he ask?
- Whose book is this?
- When can I come to visit you?
- When does the spring vacation start?
- Where is the pencil that I left on my desk?
- Where do the birds go when they fly away in winter?
- How can Grandma read without her glasses?
- How does a plane stay in the sky?
* Sometimes the wh-word itself is the subject of the sentence. In this case, don’t use do to form questions.
- Who wants to come with me?
- What caused the accident?
- Which is the fastest car?
- I've got my coat. Whose is this?
Question Tags
* Sometimes people finish what they are saying with a short question. Why do they do this? Because they want to know if the person they are speaking to agrees with them. This short question is called a question tag. Look at the following sentence.
- The weather is lovely today. isn't it?
The main part of the sentence is positive, but the question tag is negative. You expect the answer to a negative question tag to be yes. For example:
- “The weather is lovely today. ins't it? Yes, it is.
* Use a helping verb and the subject of the sentence to make the question tag. Notice that the subject has been replaced by a pronoun in the example sentences. The pronoun in the question tag refers to the subject printed in color.
- Tom is older than you, isn't he?
- Sally has got a dog, hasn't she?
- Anna and I can go by train, can't we?
- Peter and David should leave now, shouldn't they?
* If the main part of the sentence is positive, but the question tag is negative. You expect the answer to a negative question tag to be yes. For example:
- "The weather is lovely today, isn't it?" "Yes, it is."
Use a helping verb and the subject of the sentence to make the question tag. Notice that the subject has been replaced by a pronoun in the example sentences. The pronoun in the question tag refers to the subject printed in color.
- Tom is older than you, isn't he?
- Sally has got a dog, hasn't she?
- Anna and I can go by train, can't we?
- Peter and David should leave now, shouldn't they?
* If the main part of the sentence has I am in it, use aren’t I in the question tag.
- I’m your best friend, aren't I?
- I’m taller than Sumiko, aren't I?
* If the main part of the sentence is negative, the question tag is positive. You expect the answer to a positive question tag to be no.
- These questions aren´t very dificult, are they?
- You haven’t read this book, have you?
- Peter isn't as tall as I am, is he?
- She isn't eight yet, is she?
- There aren't many clouds in the sky, are there?
- There isn't much wind today, is there?
- There weren't any emails for me, were there?
Exercise 1
Rewrite the following statements as yes or no questions. The first one has already been done for you.
Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 2
Exercise 2
Choose one of the question words from the box to complete the sentences below. You may use some of the words more than once. The first one has been done for you.
Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 2
Exercise 3
Complete the following sentences by adding a question tag. Remember that a positive sentence needs a negative question tag, and a negative sentence needs a positive question tag. The first one has been done for you.
Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 2
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