English Grammar Secrets

Asking questions 1
The basic rule for asking questions in English is straightforward: Invert the order of the subject and the first
auxiliary verb.
It is snowing. = Is it snowing?
He can speak German. = Can he speak German?
They have lived here a long time. = Have they lived here a long time?
She will arrive at ten o'clock. = Will she arrive at ten o'clock?
He was driving fast. = Was he driving fast?
You have been smoking. = Have you been smoking?
If there is no auxiliary, use part of the verb 'to do'.
You speak fluent French. = Do you speak fluent French?
She lives in Brussels. = Does she live in Brussels?
They lived in Manchester. = Did they live in Manchester?
He had an accident. = Did he have an accident?
Most questions with question words are made in the same way:
How often does she use it?
Why don't you come?
Where do you work?
How many did you buy?
What time did you go?
Which one do you like?
Whose car were you driving?
Note who, what and which can be the subject. Compare:
Who is coming to lunch? (who is the subject of the verb)
Who do you want to invite to lunch? (you is the subject of the verb)
What happened? (what is the subject of the verb)
What did you do? (you is the subject of the verb)
Note the position of the prepositions in these questions:
Who did you speak to?
What are you looking at?
Where does he come from?

English Grammar Secrets

Asking questions 2
In the section Questions 1, we looked at how to ask direct questions. To make a question, we invert the order of
the subject and the first auxiliary verb.
Where is Johnny?
Has he found it yet?
If there is no auxiliary, use part of the verb 'to do'. For example:
What time did he arrive?
How often do you play tennis?
However, when we ask for information, we often say 'Do you know?' or 'Could you tell me.?' These are
indirect questions and more polite.
Note that the word order is different. For example:
Do you know where Johnny is?
Have you any idea if he has found it?
Note that we dont use do, does or did. For example:
Could you tell me what time he arrived?
Would you mind telling me how often you play tennis?
Use if or whether when there is no question word.
Has he done it? = Do you know if he has done it?
Is it ready? = Can you tell me if it is ready?
The same changes in word order happen when we report questions. Note that in reported questions, the verb
changes to the past:
What are you doing? = He asked me what I was doing.
What have you done about it? = He asked me what I had done about it.
Do you work with Pamela? = He asked me if I worked with Pamela.

Questions and tags

To ask a question in English you must usually use one of the auxiliary verbs (be, do, have) or a
modal verb such as can, will, may. If you are expecting a yes/no answer, then the question starts
with the auxiliary or modal. Here are some examples:
Is she Japanese?
Do you like German food?
Can you play chess?
Have you seen Miho?
Must I go to school tomorrow?
Did you know the answer?
Is she coming to your party?
Will you be able to help me?
If you want more information than a simple yes/no answer, you must ask a question starting with
one of the following question words: what, where, when, why, which, who(m), whose, how. In
this kind of question you also normally use an auxiliary or modal:
What did you say?
Where does she live?
When can you play chess?
Why must I go to school tomorrow?
Which book have you borrowed?
Who has taken my calculator?
Whose bag is this?
How did you know the answer?
* Note that questions starting with the question words what/who/whose do not need an auxiliary
verb in the simple present or past. For example: What happened? Who knows the answer? Whose
parents came to Open Day?
The questions what, which, whose are often followed by a noun (before the auxiliary/modal).
The question how is often followed by an adjective. Look at the following examples:
What time must we be there?
What kind of music do you listen to?
Which painting do you like the best?
Whose parents are coming to the meeting tomorrow?
How long have you lived in Germany?
How much money do you have?
How far is your house from the school?
Do a quiz on question words.
We quite often want to ask a question containing a preposition. In spoken English the preposition
is usually put at the end of the question, as in the following examples?

Who did you go to the party with?

Who are you talking to?
What are you talking about?
Where is Miho from?
What did you say that for?
What kind of place do you live in?
Note: It is possible to begin questions with the preposition. ESL students should avoid this,
however. Even in written English such questions sound too formal: With whom did you go to the
party? From where is Miho?

A special type of question is the tag that English speakers put at the end of many statements. The
tags in the following sentences are shown in red:
It's a lovely day today, isn't it?
You live in Frankfurt, don't you?
Miho can't speak German, can she?
You haven't seen Miho, have you?
His parents are very old, aren't they?
You will remember to call me, won't you?
Tags are very common in spoken English, and have many functions. One of the common
functions is to start a conversation or help keep it going. The two basic rules about tag questions
are:
1. If the statement is negative, the tag must be positive. If the statement is positive the tag
must be negative.
- You don't like me, do you?
- You won't tell him my secret, will you?
- He doesn't speak German, does he?
- You're coming to my party, aren't you?
- She's really good at chess, isn't she?
- You haven't done your homework, have you?
2. The tense of the tag is determined by the tense of the auxiliary/modal verb of the
statement that precedes it. If the statement does not use an auxiliary/modal (i.e. it is in the
present or past simple tense), then the auxiliary to do must be used.
- She comes from Korea, doesn't she?
- You like heavy metal music, don't you?
- He got top grade in the math test, didn't he?
- I really messed up, didn't I?
A problem with tags is getting the intonation right. Basically, it depends whether or not you are
expecting an answer to your question. Look at these two examples:

He's from Italy, isn't he? (flat or falling intonation - short pause before the tag - more a
statement than a question, not really expecting an answer)
He's from Italy, isn't he? (sharply rising intonation - longer pause before the tag - a
question expecting an answer)
Do a quiz on question tags.

Wh questions (Question Words)

Types of questions

There are two types of questions:

Yes or no questions
Wh questions
Question words

Question words are also called wh questions because they include the letters 'W' and 'H'.
Question words
who

Meaning

Examples

person

Who's that? That's Nancy.

place

Where do you live? In Boston

why

reason

Why do you sleep early? Because I've got to get up early

when

time

When do you go to work? At 7:00

how

manner

How do you go? By car

what

object, idea or action

What do you do? I am an engineer

which

choice

Which one do you prefer? The red one.

whose

possession

Whose is this book? It's Alan's.

where

whom

object of the verb

Whom did you meet? I met the manager.

what kind

description

What kind of music do you like? I like quiet songs

what time

time

What time did you come home?

how many

quantity (countable)

How many students are there? There are twenty.

how much

amount, price (uncountable) How much time have we got? Ten minutes

how long

duration, length

How long did you stay in that hotel? For two weeks.

how often

frequency

How often do you go to the gym? Twice a week.

how far

distance

How far is your school? It's one mile far.

how old

age

How old are you? I'm 16.

reason

How come I didn't see at the party?

how come

Asking questions

1.If you ask about the subject of the sentence, simply add the question word at the beginning:
Example:
James writes good poems. Who writes good pems?
2.If you ask about the predicate of the sentence (the part of a sentence which contains the verb
and gives information about the subject), there are three options:
If there is a helping (auxilary) verb that precedes the main verb ( foe example, can, is, are, was,
were, will, would...), add the question word and invert the subject and the helping (auxilary)
verb.
Examples:
He can speak Chinese. What can he speak?
They are leaving tonight. When are they leaving?
If you ask about the predicate and there is no helping (auxilary) verb and the verb is "to be",
simply add the question verb and invert the subject and the verb.
Example:
The play was interesting. How was the play?
If there is no helping (auxilary) verb in the the predicate and the main verb is not "to be", add
the auxilary "do" in the appropriate form.
Examples:
They go to the movies every Saturday. Where do they go to the movies?

He wakes up early. When does he wake up?

They sent a letter. What did they send?
Related material:

Yes or No Questions
Types of questions

There are two types of questions:

Yes or no questions
Wh questions
Yes-no questions

Yes or no questions are questions whose expected answer is either "yes" or "no".
How to form yes-no questions

In English, a special word order (Verb Subject Object) is used to form yes-no questions.
Examples:
Affirmative

Yes or No Question

They are American Are they American?

She is nice

Is she nice?

The rules

1.If the main verb of the sentence is "to be", simply invert the subject and the verb to be:
Examples:
They are American. Are they American?
They are nice. Are they nice?

2.If the sentence includes a main verb and another or other helping (auxiliary) verb(s), invert the
subject and the (first) helping (auxiliary) verb.
Examples:

They are visiting Paris. Are they visiting Paris?

She has done the housework. Has she done the housework
Nancy has been working all night long. Has Nancy been working all night long?
He will be reading the book. Will he be reading the book?

3.If the sentence includes a verb which is not the verb "to be" and doesn't include a helping
(auxiliary) verb, the transformation is more complex.
a.If the verb is in the present tense, add either do or does and put the main verb in its base form:
do if the subject is the first person singular, second person singular, first person plural, second
person plural and third person plural (I, you, we, they)
Examples:
I like apples. Do you like apples?
They go to a high school. Do the go to a high school?
does if the subject is the third person singular (he, she, it).
Examples:
Nancy reads a lot. Does Nancy read a lot?
He hates basketball. Does he hate basketball?

b.If the verb is in the past tense, add did and put the main verb in its base form:
Examples:
He discovered the truth. Did he discover the truth?
She write a nice essay. Did she write a nice essay?
They did the homework. Did they do the homework?

much or many
much: uncountable nouns (milk, marmalade, money, time etc.)
many: countable nouns (bottles of milk, jars of marmalade, dollars, minutes etc.)
Examples:
How much money have you got?
How many dollars have you got?
In informal English these questions are often answered with a lot of/lots of. There is no much
difference between the two phrases.

a little or a few
a little: non countable nouns (milk, marmalade, money, time etc.)
a few: countable nouns (bottles of milk, jars of marmalade, dollars, minutes etc.)

Examples:
He has a little money left.
He has a few dollars left.

1) Questions without question words in the going to-future

Auxiliary

Are

Is

Subject

you

Hillary

going to

going to

going to

Verb

watch

read

Rest

Yes/No

TV tonight?

a book over the

weekend?

Subject

Auxiliary
(+ n't)

Yes,

am.

No,

am not.

No,

I'm not.

Yes,

she

is.

No,

she

is not.

No,

she

isn't.

No,

she isn't.

2) Questions with question words in the going to-future

Question
word

Where

Auxiliary

are

Subject

you

going to

going to

Verb

spend

Rest

your summer
holidays?

Answer
I am going to spend my
summer holidays in Italy.
I'm going to spend my
summer holidays in Italy.
He is going to have a pizza.

What

is

Frank

going to

have

for dinner?
He's going to have a pizza.

Note:
Use is with the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), am with the 1st person singular (I) and in all
other persons are.
Use going to and the infinitive after the subject in all persons.

1) Yes/No Questions and short answers - have

Auxiliary

Subject

Verb

Rest

Yes/No Subject

Auxiliary
(+ n't)

Yes,

have.

we

haven't.

Have

you

got a cat?

Have

you

got a new car? No,

Has

your brother got a bike?

Yes,

he

has.

Do

you

have a cat?

Yes,

do.

Do

you

have a new car? No,

we

don't.

Does

your brother have a bike?

he

does.

Yes,

2) Questions with question words - have

Question word Auxiliary Subject Verb

Rest

Answer

Where

have

you

got your ruler? I've got it in my pencil case.

Where

do

you

have your ruler?

Much / many
Exercises on much and many
The words much and many mean a lot of.
If a noun is in singular, we use much
Example:
much money
If a noun is in plural, we use many
Example:
many friends

I have it in my pencil case.

Use of much / many

In everyday English, we normally use much / many only in questions and negative clauses.
Example:
How much money have you got?
Carla does not have many friends.

In positive clauses with so, as or too, we also use much / many.

Example:
Carla has so many friends.
She has as many friends as Sue.
Kevin has too much money.

In all other positive clauses, however, we prefer expressions like a lot of / lots of.
Example:
Carla has a lot of / lots of friends.
Kevin has a lot of / lots of money.

In formal texts, however, much / many are also common in positive clauses. This you will notice
for example when you read English news.

Countable / Uncountable Nouns

In connection with much / many people often speak of countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a
number (that's why they are called 'countable nouns'). Countable nouns take many.
Example:
100 friends many friends

Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns cannot be used with a number
(that's why they are called 'uncountable nouns'). Uncountable nouns take much.
Example:

100 money much money