Questions Overview 2
- 2. Questions in English have a specific word order. In question word order , an auxiliary verb must come before the subject .
- 3. The most common word order of sentences in English is: Subject Verb George is working. Jane will return.
- 4. When we make a question, this order is changed. The auxiliary of the verb comes in front of the subject. Aux. Subj. Main verb Is George working? Will Jane return?
- 5. The present simple and the past simple tenses of the verb have no auxiliary verb , however. Subject Verb Shelley smokes. You swim. They paid.
- 6. For this reason, in these two times, we use the verb to do as the question auxiliary . Aux. Subj. Main verb Does Shelley smoke? Do you swim? Did they pay?
- 7. One exception to the need of an auxiliary for question word order is: To Be Subject Verb Complement Luisa is German. Rio and SP are big cities. His answers were wrong.
- 8. In questions with the verb to be , there is no need to use an auxiliary. The verb goes in front of the subject . Verb Subject Complement Is Luisa German. Are Rio and SP big cities. Were his answers wrong.
- 9. There are several different types of questions. Confirmation questions (Yes/No) Information questions Statements as questions (He's getting married? I beg you pardon? Excuse me?) ** Tag questions Negative question One-word questions (How? Who? So?) Indirect questions**
- 10. CONFIRMATION QUESTIONS Questions that begin with the auxiliary verbs are known as confirmation or yes/no questions. All the information is already present in the sentence so we are only looking for confirmation that the information is correct ( yes ) or incorrect ( no ).
- 11. INFORMATION QUESTIONS Information questions are questions that begin with question pronouns . These pronouns identify the type of information wanted. Question pronouns are: What (things) Where (places) When (time) Why (reason) Who (person) Which (choice) Whose (possession) How (form)
- 12. They can be used alone or, especially with how and what , with other words to make phrases which specify the type of information wanted: How much How far How many What time What color Which belt
- 13. In information questions , the question pronoun or phrase will appear in front of the question auxiliary . As in confirmation questions , the question auxiliary will come before the subject . Where is Sally ? What have they done lately ? How often can she come to Brasilia ?
- 14. There is one exception to this rule. When the information that is wanted ( the question pronoun or phrase ) is also the subject of the sentence, an auxiliary is used only if it is already a part of the sentence, and it comes right after the question. Question = Subject What happened ? ( The accident happened .) Which answer is right ? ( The last one is right .)
- 15. STATEMENTS AS QUESTIONS Orally, statements may be used as questions by giving them a rising intonation. They are used when the speaker believes he knows the information but wants to check or to show surprise. You just came back from London ? These types of questions, sometimes called echo questions because they repeat what has been said, are usually used as a reaction to something that has been said and express surprise or disbelief. You can also use a question word in the place of the information that surprises: You just came back from where ?
- 16. Tag questions are the combination of a sentence with a “tag” added to it. This “tag” is made up of the auxiliary that would be used if the sentence were a question; the pronoun that matches the subject of that sentence. Tag questions aren’t difficult, are they ? Tag questions
- 17. Tag questions are used to confirm or to check information, like statement questions. This meal is wonderful, isn't it ? Katy won't be late, will she ? If the answer isn’t known, these are real questions, and a rising intonation is used with the tag question. You don’t have a pen, do you ?
- 18. Negative Questions There are two types of negative questions: Contracted More formal The negative “ not ” comes after the subject Who have you not contacted yet? Not contracted Common in polite requests, invitations, offers, complaints and criticisms. The negative “ not ” is contracted with the question auxiliary Why don’t you contact me tomorrow?
- 19. Negative Questions In answer to negative yes/no questions, yes suggests a positive answer Haven’t you done your homework? Yes . (I have done my homework.) no suggests a negative answer. Didn’t you call your mother? No . (I forgot.)
- 20. One-word questions One-word questions are used informally (orally) to ask for more information after a statement. It is the continuation of the conversation. George is going to Chicago. When? Tomorrow night. For how long? Until next week.
- 21. Indirect questions Indirect questions may or may not be actual questions. There is an introduction to the information that is needed. Direct question: What’s John doing tomorrow? Indirect question: Can you tell me what John is doing tomorrow ? Indirect question: I’d like to know what John is doing tomorrow . Because of the introduction , the information needed is no longer a question , but a dependent clause and reverts to regular word order, where the subject comes before the verb .
- 22. Indirect questions In indirect questions, the connecting point between the introduction and the information desired is the question pronoun. Could you tell me what your name is ?
- 23. Indirect questions With yes/ no questions, where there is no question pronoun , whether or if become the connecting point. Do you know if Jason is coming ?