Our topic today is English language issues. Namely: how to ask them correctly, the difference between general and special questions, questions to the subject, and we will also talk about the use of various question words. This topic is relevant for students of any level of language proficiency, because making mistakes is possible even at a higher level when it comes to constructing questions in English. They confuse word order, miss auxiliary verbs, and use incorrect intonation. Our mission is to prevent such errors from occurring. Can we start?
The first thing you need to know about questions in English is that they differ from the structure of affirmative sentences. We usually (but not always!) ask questions in English by changing the word order: we put the auxiliary verb first before the subject. Another (main) verb is placed after the subject.
Continuing to delve deeper into this topic, it is worth mentioning what types of questions there are in the English language. The differences in the construction of those same questions in English depend on this.
5 types of questions in English
Common question in English
We ask this question when we want to know general information. Are you learning English? We can answer it with one word “yes” or “no”.
Special question
We need such questions in order to find out certain, specific information that interests us. When did you start learning English?
Question to the subject
We set it when we want to find out who is performing the action. Who teaches your English courses?
Alternative question
This is a question in which you are given a choice of 2 options. Do you study English with a teacher or on your own?
Separated question
This question requires confirmation of some information. You continue to learn English in the summer, don’t you?
Now let's look at how each of these questions is constructed in English.
General issues
When forming such questions, reverse word order is used. This means that we put the auxiliary verb in first place, the subject in second place, and the main verb in third place.
Tom likes swimming in the sea. - Does ( auxiliary) Tom ( subject) like ( main verb) swimming in the sea?
She goes to work everyday. - Does ( auxiliary) she ( subject) go ( main verb) to work everyday?
General questions in English are also constructed with modal verbs. In this case, the modal verb will replace the auxiliary verb, that is, it will be placed in first place.
Could you close the door, please? - Could you close the door, please?
May I come in? - May I come in?
Should I put on a sweater? - Should I wear this sweater?
We draw your attention to the verb to be. We can safely consider it special - in general questions there is no need to add an auxiliary verb to it.
Is he a teacher? - He is a teacher?
Was the weather good yesterday? - Was the weather good yesterday?
We form a negative general question. To do this you need to add a particle not. It will come immediately after the subject. However, if we use the short form not - n’t, she will stand in front of him. Let's look at an example:
Does she not go to work on Sunday? = Doesn’t she go to work on Sunday? - She doesn't go to work on Sunday?
Have you not watched this movie? = Haven’t you watched this movie? -Have you seen this film?
Special questions
This type of question requires an extensive and detailed explanation. A special question can be asked of any member of an interrogative sentence in English. The word order in such questions is the same as in general, only one of the question words must be placed at the beginning:
- What?- What?
- When?- When?
- Where?- Where?
- Why?- Why?
- Which?- Which?
- Whose?- Whose?
- Whom?- Whom?
In a descriptive format, we will construct a special question according to the following scheme:
Question word + auxiliary (or modal) verb + subject + predicate + object + other parts of the sentence.
Easier - with an example:
What (question word) are (auxiliary) you (subject) cooking (predicate)? - What are you cooking?
What (question word) do (auxiliary verb l) you (subject) want to eat (predicate)? - What do you want to eat?
When (question word) did (auxiliary) you (subject) leave (predicate) the house (addition)? - When did you leave home?
Due to the fact that a special question in English is posed to almost any member of a sentence (addition, circumstance, definition, subject), you can use it to find out any information.
Questions to the subject
This type of question differs from the previous topics discussed because it does not use auxiliary verbs. You just need to replace the subject with who or what, add a questioning intonation and veil - the question is ready.
The scheme for constructing a question to a subject in English is as follows:
Question word + predicate + minor parts of the sentence
Who went to the supermarket? - Who went to the supermarket?
What happened to your friend? - What happened to your friend?
Who did that? - Who did it?
At first glance it is very simple. But you should not confuse questions to the subject and special questions - questions in English to the object. An addition is a member of a sentence that gives some additional information and answers questions in English: “who?”, “what?”, “to whom?”, “what?”, “what?”. And most often the question to the addition begins with the interrogative pronoun who or whom and what. This is where there is a similarity with questions to subjects. Only context will help you understand. Examples for comparison:
The girl saw me yesterday. - The girl saw me yesterday.
Whom (Who) did the girl see yesterday? -Who did the girl see yesterday?
We are waiting for the train. - We're waiting for the train.
What are you waiting for? - What are you waiting for?
Alternative questions
Based on the name, it is clear that these questions presuppose an alternative or the right to choose. By asking them, we give the interlocutor two options.
Will you fly to England or Ireland? - Will you fly to England or Ireland?
In such a question there is always a conjunction “or” - or. The question itself is constructed as a general one, only at the end with the help of the above or We're adding choice.
Scheme for constructing a question:
Auxiliary verb + actor + action performed + ... or ...
Will they go to the park or to the cinema? - Will they go to the park or to the cinema?
Did you buy an apples or pears? - Did you buy apples or pears?
Does he work or study? - Does he work or study?
If an alternative question contains several auxiliary verbs, then we place the first one before the subject, and the rest immediately after it.
She has been studying for several years. - She has been studying for several years.
Has she been studying or working for several years? - Is she studying or working for several years?
An alternative question in English can also begin with a question word. Then such a question consists directly of a special question and the following two homogeneous members of an interrogative sentence in English, which are connected by means of a conjunction or.
When were you interrupted: at the beginning or in the middle of your speech? - When were you interrupted: at the beginning or in the middle of your speech?
Dividing questions
These questions in English can hardly be called questions in full, since their first part is very similar to an affirmative sentence. We use them when we are not 100% sure about something and want to verify or clarify information.
Dividing questions consist of two parts: the first is an affirmative or negative sentence, the second is a short question. The second part is separated from the first comma and is called tag or in the Russian version "tail". That is why dividing questions are also called tag-questions or English tail questions.
Dividing questions are very popular in spoken English. And that's why:
- They do not ask the question directly, but encourage the interlocutor to answer.
- They can express many emotions and states (irony, doubt, politeness, surprise, etc.).
- They use direct word order. A regular sentence is constructed, a “tail” is added to it, and the question is ready.
“Tails” are translated into Russian by the words “truth”, “isn’t it true”, “isn’t it so”, “correctly”, “yes”.
Let's look at examples and see for ourselves:
I am your friend, aren’t I? - I'm your friend, aren't I?
He isn’t your brother, is he? - He's not your brother, right?
They aren't at home now, are they? - They are not at home now, are they?
Your friend worked in IT, didn’t he? - Your friend worked in the IT field, didn’t he?
You used to get up at 5 a.m., didn’t you? - You used to get up at 5 am, right?
Pay attention to the “tails” for the pronoun I (I) - in a negative sentence the auxiliary verb changes.
I am not right, am I? - I'm wrong, right?
I am right, aren’t I? - I'm right, right?
If you have a sentence with a verb have, then several options for “tails” are possible with it.
You have a cat, have you? (British English) - You have a cat, right?
We have a car, don’t we? (American English) - We have a car, right?
Also sometimes there is no negative in the first part of the sentence not before the auxiliary verb and it will still be considered negative. For example: They never went there, ...What will we deliver? Right, did they! And all because the word never(never) has a negative meaning. To words like never, can be attributed rarely(rarely), scarcely(barely) hardly(hardly), Barely(barely) little(few), few(some).
They rarely go out, do they? - They rarely go out, right? ( there is a word with a negative meaning rarely)
It's unbelievable, is it? - It's incredible, right? ( the word unbelievable with a negative prefix, so the first part is considered negative)
Nothing is impossible, is it? - Nothing is impossible, right? ( nothing and impossible are words with a negative meaning)
They have nowhere to go, do they? - They have nowhere to go, do they? ( nowhere - a word with a negative meaning)
Conclusion
As you managed to replace, there is nothing difficult in asking a question and finding out the information you are interested in. We hope that this article will help you understand all the subtleties and nuances. Learn English, be inquisitive and ask correct English questions to your interlocutors. Cheers!
Big and friendly EnglishDom family
A question that requires a "YES" or "NO" answer. In our case - “Do they go to Sochi every summer? - Yes. - No.”
In Russian, to ask this question, we simply change the intonation, but the word order remains the same.
In English, to ask a general question, you need to place the auxiliary verb first in the sentence.
So, let's look at our proposal and determine the time. Present Simple. The auxiliary verbs of this tense are "do" and "does". For the pronoun "they" - "do".
We get: “Do they go to Sochi every summer?”
Answer: “Yes, they do” - “Yes.” "No, they don't" - "No."
Note! In English there are "strong verbs" that do not require an auxiliary verb. These are almost all modal verbs (“can”, “may”, “must”, etc.) and the verb “to be” (or rather its forms).
2) Alternative question. Alternative Question
A matter of choice. I’ll show you with our example: “Do they or WE go to Sochi every summer?”, “Do they DRIVE or FLY to Sochi every summer?”, “Do they go to Sochi or Murmansk every summer?”, “They go to Sochi every SUMMER or WINTER?
Conclusion: we can set an alternative to each member of the sentence. In this case, we always use the conjunction “or” - “or”. Remember it!
Let's summarize... To ask an alternative question, we bring forward the auxiliary verb (as in the general question) and do not forget to ask an alternative to any member of the sentence using the conjunction "or".
We get: “Do we or they go to Sochi every summer?”
or: "Do they go to Sochi or Murmansk every summer?"
3) Dividing question. Tag-question
Question with a “tail”)) We translate the tail “Isn’t it?”
A dividing question is constructed using the following formula:
our sentence unchanged + comma + tail?
What kind of tail is this? It consists of 2 words: an auxiliary verb and a pronoun.
Let me explain with our example:
"They go to Sochi every summer."
First of all, it is necessary to accurately determine the time.. In our case - Present Simple.. auxiliary verbs "Do"/"Does".. "They" - "Do". Let's look at our sentence again and determine whether it is negative or affirmative.. Affirmative means our tail will be negative! If the sentence were negative, the auxiliary verb would become positive, i.e. without the negative particle "not".
We complete our sentence with the pronoun from the 1st part - “they”. Attention! If in the first part of the sentence the subject is a noun, replace it with a pronoun (for example, “a table” - “it”, “books” - “they”, “Mom” - “she”).
They go to Sochi every summer, don't they?
(They go to Sochi every summer, don't they?)
Note! If the role of subject and predicate is “I am”, in the tail we write “...., aren”t I?”
4) Special question. Special Question
A question in which the speaker requests specific information. (“Where do they go every summer?”, “Who goes to Sochi every summer?”, “When do they go to Sochi?”).
A special question is often called a "Wh-Question". This is due to the fact that almost all question words begin with the letter combination “Wh”.
For example:
what? - What? Which?
where? - Where? Where?
why? - Why?
which? - which?
who? - Who?
how? - How?
when? - When?
Special question formula:
Question words + general question?
"Where do they go to every summer?"
"When do they go to Sochi?"
Special question to the subject.
"Who goes to Sochi every summer?"
We will consider this type of special question separately, since it has a different structure:
Who/What + rewrite the sentence without a subject.
Attention!!! The most important thing is Who/what - 3rd person, singular! Do you remember that in the Present Simple in this case the ending “-s/-es” is added to the verb!
We get: "Who goes to Sochi every summer?"
I'm in such a musical mood today! what if we compare English to music? The English language is just as melodic Do re mi fa sol la si...
English as music
- before- subject(that is, the one who performs the action);
- re- this is a predicate(verb, action);
- mi- addition or circumstance;
- F- auxiliary verbs(do, does, did... or linking verb);
- salt- question words(what? where? where? how? why? how much?);
- la- or (or);
- si(What, Who in questions specifically to the subject, who or what did the action).
For example:
I like music. - Do re mi;
I am listening to music.
Are you listening to music? - fa do re mi;
Do you like music? - fa do re mi.
English questions may sound different. I suggest listening to 5 different melodies - types of English questions.
General question (YesNo Questions) - Fa do re mi
As its name suggests, these are questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” Let's look at an example of this "melody" in the most common English verb tenses.
- Present Simple: Do you listen to music every day?
- Past Simple: Did you listen to music yesterday ?
- Future Simple: Will you listen to music tomorrow ?
- Present Continuous: Are you listening to music now?
- : Were you listening to music yesterday at 5 p.m. ?
- Present Perfect: Have you ever listened to Hawaiian music?
Special Question. Special question (Wh question)
Let's listen - Sol fa do re mi
- What do you listen to every day?
- When did you listen to that music?
- Where will you listen to music?
- Why are you listening to music?
- How were you listening to music?
- How many symphonies have you already listened to?
Alternative question
This is a type of question that asks for an alternative, a choice.
For example, " Do you like classical or popular music? »
Listen to one of the most common variations of this type of verb - Fa do re mi la mi
- Do you like classical or popular music?
Tag question
This is a question with a “tail”, when we say some phrase containing information that we are almost sure of and ask the interlocutor for confirmation “isn’t it?” is not it?"
You love classical music, don't you?
This is the only type of question whose main part has direct word order.
The tail contains an auxiliary verb and a subject, but if the main part of the sentence is positive, the tail must be negative, and vice versa, if the main part is negative, the tail will be positive.
Do re mi fa do
You like classical music, don’t you?
You are listening to Mozart music now, aren’t you?
You haven’t heard it before, have you?
Subject question
This melody does not like auxiliary verbs (do, does, did). And of course there is no note here BEFORE, because it is about this note (about the subject) that we ask through the note SI(Who or What did the action). Here's a note SI and becomes the subject.
Si re mi
Who likes classical music?
What inspired him to compose that Symphony?
Please note, since the note F(purple, indicating the auxiliary verbs do, does, did) is missing in this melody, verb (blue note re) is placed immediately in the required form in accordance with the grammatical tense, as in an affirmative sentence.
Who called? Past tense. Who called? The ending -ed was added to the verb, as in the affirmative sentence in the Past Simple.
Who calls you every day? Who calls you every day? The ending -s was added to the verb, as in the affirmative sentence in the Present Simple in the 3rd person singular (as with the pronouns he, she or it).
Now make 10 affirmative sentences in different tenses and ask all types of questions to each!
This way, the melodies will be firmly fixed in your memory, and you will not be out of tune.
We have made a short video lesson for you on this topic to better reinforce the material.
Enjoy watching.
Write in the comments if you liked the video?
Happy English to you!
If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.
Here you can take a lesson on the topic: Question and its varieties in English. Different types of Questions in English.
There are three types of main sentences in English. These are affirmative, also called declarative, negative and interrogative. In this lesson we will take a closer look at interrogative sentence and its varieties.
English questions are quite different from Russian ones, especially in the order of words in a sentence. Most English questions are formed using inversion (rearranging words) and the use of auxiliary verbs.
There are 5 types of questions in English (general, special, alternative, dividing, to the subject), and each of them has its own characteristics. We will dwell on each of them in detail:
1. General question General Question is the most common and important type of question in the English language. Knowing the rules for composing a general question, you can easily create all the others.
The word order in a general question is as follows:
Auxiliary verb - Subject - Predicate - Object - Adverbial modifier? For example:
Do you have a cup of coffee every morning? - Do you drink a cup of coffee every morning?
The main members of interrogative sentences are auxiliary verb, subject and predicate, since their presence is mandatory. And the remaining members of the sentence may be omitted from the sentence. For example:
Does he swim?
Do you like ice-cream? - Do you like ice cream?
If a sentence uses modal verb(all except have to and need to) or the verb to be, then the help of an additional auxiliary verb is not required, since these verbs themselves become auxiliary and are placed in front of the subject. The auxiliary verb and the subject then become obligatory parts of the sentence, and the rest can be omitted depending on the context. Let's look at examples:
Are you a manager? - Are you a manager?
Can you sing well? -Can you sing well?
May I come in? - May I come in?
Must he sign his name here? - Should he sign here?
Would you like another piece of cake? - Would you like another piece of cake?
The general question can also be negative. For example:
Don't you like this film? - Don't you like this film?
Isn't she adorable? - Isn't she adorable?
Can't we meet another day? - Could we meet another day?
We have considered many questions in the present simple tense, but how to ask Questions about past actions or future ones? Knowing the order of words in a general question, this will not be difficult. Questions in the past and future tense differ from questions in the present only by auxiliary verbs. The auxiliary verb of the past tense is did, and the auxiliary verb of the future is will.
The verbs did and will do not change for persons or numbers. Let's look at a few examples:
Do you like skating? - Do you like ice skating?
Did you like skating? - Did you like skating?
Will you like skating? - Do you like ice skating?
Does he ask you many questions? - Does he ask you a lot of questions?
Did he ask you many questions? - Did he ask you a lot of questions?
Will he ask you many questions? - Will he ask you a lot of questions? All general questions require short answers: Yes or no. Short answers in English directly depend on the auxiliary verb
, used in the question. Let's look at examples: Does she
get on your nerves? -Yes, she does.
-No, she doesn't. -Does she get on your nerves? -Yes. -No.
Did you get a good mark for this exam? -Yes, I did. -No, I didn't. -Did you get a good grade for this exam? -Yes. -No.
Can you call me later? -Yes, I can. -No, I can't. -Can you call me later? -Yes. -No.
May I come in? -Yes, you may.
2. Special question -No, you may not.
- Can I come in? -Yes. -No. question word(Special Question) is a question starting with special question words: who? (who?) what? (what?) where? (where?) when? (when?) how much? (how many?) whose? (whose?), etc. It is also popularly called Wh-question. Knowing the rules for composing general questions in English, you can easily create a special question. After all, the main rule of special questions is to ask(what, who, why)
before the auxiliary verb
, and the rest of the question remains the same as in the general question. Let's look at an example and compare:
Did you fight with him again? -Did you fight with him again?
Why did you fight with him again? - Why did you fight with him again?
Where did you fight with him again? - Where did you fight with him again? When did you fight with him again? - When did you fight with him again? Sometimes
items for which a special question is asked,
fall out of the general question. For example:
Do you speak French?
- Do you speak french?
What languages do you speak? - What languages do you speak?
Does he like watching TV in the evening? - Does he like to watch TV in the evening? What does he like watching in the evening? - What does he like to watch in the evening?
When does he like watching TV? - When does he like to watch TV?
In sentences in
modal verbs or with to be
, question words are placed again at the beginning, before these verbs. For example:
How can I help you? - How can I help you?
What is your name? - What is your name? / What is your name? Where are you from? - Where you're from? Why should I help him? - Why should I help him?
Which food is your favorite? - What is your favorite food?
Often in English special questions there are prepositions associated with the main verb. As a rule, these prepositions are put
at the very end of the sentence.
For example:
3. Alternative question What are you looking for?
Do you like apricots or peaches? - Do you like apricots or peaches?
Is he from England or from Wales? - Is he from England or from Wales?
Can she sing or dance?
-Can she sing or dance? As can be seen from the examples, the construction of alternative questions differs little from general ones, except that a conjunction is added or (or) and an additional part for selection.
The additional part is usually shortened and can be expressed in one word or a short phrase. For example:
Is she a lawyer or a judge?
- Is she a lawyer or a judge?
Did he go to his place or to his friend's? - Did he go to his place or to his friend?
Will you be in office at 5pm or at home?
- Will you be in the office by 5 pm or at home?
4. Separated question An alternative question may be similar to a special one. For example: What are you going to order: pizza or sushi? - What are you going to order: pizza or sushi? When are having a holiday: in June or in July?- When will you have your holidays: in June or July?
(Tag Question) is a type of question expressing doubt, surprise or
confirmation of what was said.
A disjunctive question is formed by adding to a normal affirmative sentence a short phrase with an auxiliary verb, casting doubt on the entire sentence. The Russian equivalent of a dividing question is "isn't it?"
In English, in order to correctly compose this short dividing part, you need to carefully study the sentence itself. If the sentence is affirmative, then the dividing part will be negative, and vice versa, if the sentence is negative, then the dividing part will be affirmative. A dividing question is formed using
auxiliary verb,
used in a sentence, and a pronoun that could replace the subject of that sentence. Let's look at an example:
John is a good student, isn't he? - John is a good student, isn't he? (the sentence is affirmative, which means the separating part is negative)
Let's try to create a few more dividing questions:
We already know that all English verbs, with the exception of to be and modal verbs, build questions using the auxiliary verbs do, does or did(if we are talking about the past). For example:
You don't like your neighbors, do you? - You don't like your neighbors, do you?
He likes his friend's sister, doesn't he?
- He loves his friend's sister, doesn't he?
They found a new babysitter, didn't they? - They found a new nanny, didn't they?
5. Question to the subject As can be seen from the examples, all dividing questions are asked with the aim of expressing doubt, being surprised, or finding confirmation of what was said. (Subject Question) is a special category of questions in which you do not need to change direct word order,
those. it remains the same as in an ordinary declarative sentence. Thus, this is the only type of question where there is no need for auxiliary verbs and no inversion (rearrangement of sentence members) occurs. For example:
Who came to the party?
- Who came to the party? What happened at the end?- What happened in the end?
How many students arrived to the lesson?- How many students came to the lesson? Often questions to the subject begin with question words For example:
who?, what?, how many/how much?
The meaning of the question to the subject lies in the fact that interrogative pronouns in it perform
the role of the subject.
Who is talking to you? -Who is talking to you? (direct word order in a sentence: Subject - Predicate - Object)
Thus, we got acquainted with all types of English questions and examined each of them separately. From the lesson we can conclude that the most important thing is to learn how to compose ordinary narrative sentences and general questions for them, then all other categories of English sentences will be much easier to compose.
Each type has its own characteristics. All five types are used in everyday communication, so knowing how and when to use them and how to respond to them is essential for every language learner.
General question (yes/no or general question)
This is the simplest and most common of the five types of questions in English. It is applied to the entire sentence and implies a simple affirmative or negative answer - yes or no. Here's an example:
I like eating sweets.
Do you like eating sweets?
Yes, I do. Jenny goes to school every day.
Please note that to construct such an interrogative sentence in the first case, an auxiliary word is used. Auxiliary do and its forms are used in combination with other verbs to form the interrogative or negative form. However, the verb to be does not require such auxiliary elements.
She is a student.
Is she a student?
No, she isn't.
You also probably noticed that in such an interrogative sentence the word order is reversed. The auxiliary or modal verb or verb comes first to be in the required form, then comes the subject and predicate, followed by the rest of the sentence.
Special question (Wh- or special question)
Among the 5 types of questions in English, this is the most recognizable. Each Wh-question begins with a question word: why, where, what, which, whom, whose etc. This feature is the reason for the appearance of this name. The general scheme for constructing a special interrogative sentence is as follows: question word, auxiliary verb, subject, predicate.
Where did you go?
What have you done?
Here you are no longer required to give a monosyllabic answer - confirmation or denial - in this case the interlocutor is interested in specific information. For example:
What kind of music do you like?
I’m into jazz, funk and lounge music.
Let us recall that the auxiliary verb is chosen in accordance with the form and tense of the predicate. For Present Simple (as in the example), use do/ does, in Past Simple it is - did, for Perfect forms – have/has/had, for Continuous or Progressive – verb forms to be (am, are, is, was/ were), to form Future you need to use will.
Where does she live?
What did you do?
Where have you been this morning?
What are you singing?
What match is on at 8 o’clock tonight?
Question to the subject
This type of question in English is asked to the subject and, like the previous one, contains a question word. Usually this Who, Whose, Whom, What etc. The peculiarity is that such an interrogative sentence has direct word order and does not need auxiliary verbs.
Which pen is yours?
What car needs to be repaired?
The answer to this type of question in English can be quite brief or more detailed. For example:
Who was in the red dress at the restaurant?
It was Sonya.
That lady in red was our senior manager’s girlfriend, Sonya.
Alternative question
In Russian it could be called “either – or”. This type of question in English is constructed using the conjunction or. You can ask it to any member of the sentence, but the question itself will always contain at least two answer options.
Do you like comedies or dramas?
Has he been sleeping or sunbathing?
Where are you going: to the cinema or to the park?
To answer, you can choose one of the options or use your own. For example:
When did you arrive: Sunday or Monday?
I arrived Sunday morning.
I arrived Saturday night.
Disjunctive or tag-question
The last of the five types of questions in English has a striking feature - an additional part that is added at the end of the sentence. The first part is an affirmative or negative sentence, which is pronounced with lowered intonation. The second part has reverse word order and is constructed using auxiliary or modal verbs chosen according to the form and tense of the verb from the first part. The “tail” is pronounced with a questioning rising intonation.
John's gone to the pub, hasn't he?
