Questions

Home Questions
Questions

Questions

3 Lessons

1 hour 0 mins

Free

Introduction to questions

In any language, obtaining information can be complicated. To get information from another person requires the ability to ask questions. There are two primary forms of questions:

  • Yes / No questions (also called closed questions)
  • Wh– questions (also called open questions).

In English, the word order of a sentence usually follows this pattern:

subject verb object
He eats apples.
They drink coffee.

However, word order changes in both types of question. Note that in the question the subject follows the verb but in the response the verb follows the subject. Here are examples with closed questions.

Yes / No question Response
verb subject subject verb
Is John here? Yes, he is here
Are they Costa Rican? Yes, they are Costa Rican.

Here are examples with open questions.

Wh– question Response
verb subject subject verb
Where are Tom and Susan? Tom and Susan are there.
When was the party? The party was yesterday.

In the following examples, the questions are formed with auxiliary verbs. Note that in the question the subject is placed between the verbs. In the response, both verbs follow the subject.

Yes / No question Response
aux.
verb		 subject main
verb		 subject aux.
verb		 main
verb
Has the rain stopped? Yes, the rain has stopped.
Have they eaten? Yes, they have eaten
Should they go? Yes, they should go.
Can he stay? Yes, he can stay.

Questions formed with the auxiliary verb DO are different. The auxiliary verb is absent in the response. Here are examples with closed questions.

Yes / No question Response
aux.
verb		 subject main
verb		 subject main
verb
Do they eat meat? Yes, they eat meat.
Does the bank open at 9:00? Yes, the bank opens at 9:00.

Here are examples with open questions.

Wh– question Response
aux.
verb		 subject main
verb		 subject main
verb
Where does Mario work? He works at home.
When did Helena leave? She left yesterday.

Remember: the verb DO is essential for asking questions with all verbs except the verb BE and modal verbs.

Lessons

  1. Yes / No questions

    Elementary

    20 mins

    In English, there are two basic types of questions: Yes / No questions and Wh– questions. Yes / No questions are also called closed questions because there are only two possible responses: Yes or No

  2. Wh- questions

    Elementary

    20 mins

    Essentially, there are two types of questions: Yes / No questions and Wh- questions. Wh- questions are so called because with the exception of the question word how, all the question words begin with the letters Wh.

  3. Questions and the verb DO

    Elementary

    20 mins

    The auxiliary verb DO is required to form questions with all verbs except BE and modal verbs. Here are some examples with Yes / No questions. Remember, it is impossible to ask these questions without the auxiliary verb DO.
s2Member®