ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS

A. A yes / no questions Yes/ no question Answer

= a question that may be answered by yes or no : Does he live in Chicago? : Yes, he does. OR No, he doesnt

Interogative sentences can be formed in two main ways: 1. By inversion of subject and verb, i.e by the word order VERB + SUBJECT

In modern English this method is used only with special finites (forming the tenses) e.g Is Will he your friend? they help us?

Can George speak Japanese? Are the mason spreading the mortar? Has Henry finished the project?

2. By using do (does, did) and the infinitive. The word order is: Do (does, did) + SUBJECT + INFINITIVE

Does Do Did

water boil at 100o c?

you come here? they go to the workshop?

Question of these types (1) and (2) can be answered by Yes or No

B. An information question = a question that asks for information by using a question word Information question Answer : Where does he live? : In Chicago

Question Word

Auxiliary Verb

a. She lives there Where b. They live there Where

Doe s Doe s Do Do Did

She She

Live Live?

Main Verb

Subject

There ?

They They He They

Live Live? Live Live?

There ? There ?

If the verb is in the simple present, use does (with he, she, it ) or do (with I, you, we, they) in the question. If the verb is simple past, use did. Notice: The main verb in the question is in its simple form; there is no final s or ed

c. He lived there

Where

Did

Is d. He is living there Where Is have e. They have lived there Where Where have can

He He they they

living Living? lived Lived? live

There ? If the verb has There ? Auxiliary ( a helping Verb), the same

Can f. Marry can live there

Mar y Mar y

Live?

There ?

Auxiliary is used in the question. There is no change in the form of the main verb.

g. He will be living there

Will Where will

he he

be living be living? there ?

If the verb has more than one auxiliary, only the first auxiliary preceded the subject If the question word is the subject, do not change the verb. Do not use does, do, or did Be, in the simple present (am, is, are) and simple past (were, was) precedes the subject when be is the verb.

h. John lives there i. Marry can come

Who who

can

lives come?

there ?

are

they

there ?

j. They are there

Where

are

they ?

was k. Jim was there where was

Jim Jim?

there ?

QUESTION

ANSWER

When did they arrive?

WHEN

Yesterday Next Monday

When will you come?

When is used to ask question about time

Where is she?
WHERE

At home In that drawer Because he is ill Im tired By bus Carefully Ten dollars Fifteen Twelve Ten below zero In ten minutes 50 miles an hour

Where can I find a pen? Why did he leave early?

Where is used to ask question about place Why is used to ask question about reason How generally ask about manner How is used with much and many How is also used with adjectives and adverbs

WHY

Why arent you coming with us? How did you come to school? How does he drive? How much money does it cost? How many people come? How old are you? How cold is this?

HOW

How soon can you get here? How fast were you driving? How long has he been here? How often do you write home? How far is Miami from here?

Two years

How long ask about the length of time How often asks about frequency How far asks about distance Who is used as the subject of a question. It refers to people

Every week

500 miles I can Jane and Eric

WHO

Who can answer the question? Who came to visit you?

Who is coming to dinner tonight? Who wants to come with me?

Ann, Bob, and Al We do

Who is usually followed by a singular verb even if the speaker is asking about more than one person Whom is used as the object of a verb or preposition. In spoken English, whom is rarely used; who is used instead. Whom is used only in formal questions. Note : whom, not who, is used if preceded by a preposition

Who(m) did you see? Who(m) are you visiting? Who(m) should I talk to? To whom should I talk? (formal)
WHOM

I saw George My relatives The secretary

WHOS E

Whose book did you borrow? Whose key is this? (Whose is this?)

Davids Its mine

Whose asks question about possession

What made you angry?

WHAT

His rudeness everything

What went wrong?

What is used as the subject of a question. It refers to things

What do you need? What did Alice buy? What did he talked about? About what did he talk? (formal) What kind of soup is that? What kind of shoes did he buy?

I need a pencil A book His vacation

What is also used as a object

Its bean soup Sandals

What kind of asks about the particular variety or type of something What + a form of do is used to ask questions about activities What may accompany a noun

What did you do last night?

WHAT

I studied Reading a book

What is Marry doing? What countries did you visit? What time did she come? What color is his hair? What is Ed like? What is the weather like? Hes kind and friendly Hot and humid Italy and Spain Seven oclock Dark brown

What + be like asks for a general description of qualities What + look like asks for a physical description Which is used instead of what when a question concerns choosing from a

What does Ed look like? What does her house look like?
WHICH

Hes tall and has dark hair Its a two story house The blue one

I have two pens Which pen do you want? Which one do you want? Which do you want?

Which book should I buy?

That one

definite, known quantity or group In some cases, there is a little difference in meaning between which and what when they accompany a noun, as the example

Peru and Chile Which countries did he visit What countries did he visit? Which class are you in? What class are you in? This class