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12 questions in English. Questions in English: how to ask and answer. Special questions, or WH questions

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 mistakes are possible even at higher levels. high level when it comes to constructing questions in English language. 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?

Forming 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 detailed 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 build 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), it can be used 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. A complement 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 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 curious and ask questions correctly. English questions interlocutors. Cheers!

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

“Were you at work today? Have you fed the cat? Can I take your pen? She is a student?" - every day we ask hundreds of these questions to our friends, colleagues and family members.

In English, these questions are called general questions because with the help of them we find out general information about a person/subject. I will tell you how to construct such questions correctly so that you can learn to ask them yourself.

In the article you will learn:

What are general questions

What are common questions in English?

A general question is asked to obtain general information. Hence the name itself - “ general".

For example: Will you go to the cinema?
(We do not specify when and where, we find out general information)

This question requires an answer " Yes" or " No" Therefore, sometimes such a question is not called a general question, but a yes/no question.

Attention: Confused about English rules? Find out how to easily understand English grammar.

How to ask a general question in English?

Let's look at three options for creating a general question.

1. Formation of a general question using auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs are words that are not translated, but only serve as pointers. They help us determine:

Time of what is happening (present, future, past);
Number of characters (many or one).

Read more about auxiliary verbs in this article.

Each tense in English has its own auxiliary verb (do/does, have/has, did, had, will). Let's look at the auxiliary verbs of the three most commonly used tenses.

1. Present Simple Tense:

does when we talk about someone in the singular (he, she, it)
do, for all other cases (I, you, we, they)

2. Past Simple Tense: did

3. Future Simple Tense: will

To formulate a question for us you need to put the auxiliary verb first in the sentence.

The general question formation scheme will be as follows:

Auxiliary verb + actor + action performed

For example, we have affirmative sentences:

They go to school.
They go to school.

They went to school.
They went to school.

They will go to school.
They will go to school.

To ask a question, we put the auxiliary verbs do, did, will in first place:

Do do they go to school?
They go to school?

Did do they go to school?
Did they go to school?

Will do they go to school?
Will they go to school?

Let's look at a few more examples.

Affirmative sentence	Question
She gets up early. She gets up early	Does she get up early? Does she get up early?
They like coffee. They love coffee	Do do they like coffee? Do they like coffee?
We will go to the park. We'll go to the park.	Will we go to the park? Shall we go to the park?
He read this book. He read this book.	Did he read this book? Has he read this book?

You can find out more about the formation of questions during the Simple group here:

2. Formation of a general question in sentences with the verb to be

Also in English there is a special type of verb - verb to be. We use it when we say that someone:

Located somewhere (He's in the park)
Is someone (She's a nurse)
Is somehow (The cat is gray)

Depending on the tense in which we use this verb, it changes its form:

In the present tense - am, are, is
In the past tense - was, were
In the future tense - will be

If the sentence contains the verb to be, then the general question is constructed according to the following scheme:

Verb to be + character + place/state/phenomenon

To ask a question, we need to put in the sentence verb to be first. For example, we have affirmative sentences:

He is a doctor.
He is a doctor.

He was a doctor.
He was a doctor.

He will be a doctor.
He will be a doctor.

They were doctors
They were doctors.

We move is, was, will to the first place and get the question:

Is he a doctor?
He is a doctor?

Was he a doctor?
Was he a doctor?

Will he be a doctor?
Will he be a doctor?

Were are they doctors?
Were they doctors?

Here are some more examples:

Read more about the verb to be in each tense in the following articles:

3. Formation of a general question with modal verbs

There are verbs in English that do not indicate an action (go, read, study), but show an attitude towards these actions (must go, can read, should study):

can/could - I can
must - must
may/might - I can
should - follows, etc.

Sentences containing such wordsdo not require an auxiliary verb(do/does, did, will, etc.). To formulate a questionwe simply move the modal verb to the first place in the sentence.

The question pattern will be as follows:

Modal verb + actor + action being performed

For example, take the affirmative sentence :

When asked can, should, may endurein first place:

Here are some more examples.

Affirmative sentence	General question
He should go to this concert. He should go to this concert.	Should he go to this concert? Should he go to this concert?
She may take these books. She can take these books.	May did she take these books? Can she take these books?
They can buy it. They can buy it.	Can do they buy it? Can they buy it?

You can read more about modal verbs in this article:

Answers to common questions in English

The answer to a common question could be:

positive (yes)
negative (no)

It can also be:

complete
short

Short positive the answer is constructed according to the following scheme:

Yes + actor + auxiliary verb/modal verb/verb to be

Example sentences:

Did he wash his car? Yes, he did.
Did he wash his car? Yes.

Does she like sweets? Yes, she does.
Does she like sweets? Yes.

Is she a doctor? Yes, she is.
She is a doctor? Yes.

Can do you open a window? Yes, I can.
Can you open the window? Yes.

At negative short answer The particle not is added to auxiliary verbs. The construction scheme will be as follows:

No + actor + auxiliary verb/modal verb/verb to be + not

Did he wash his car? No, he did not.

Did he wash his car? No.

Does she like sweets? No, she does not.
Does she like sweets? Yes.

Is she a doctor? No, she is not.
She is a doctor? No.

Can do you open a window? No, I can't.
Can you open the window? No.

Complete positive answer looks like an affirmative sentence, only at the beginning of the sentence we put yes:

Did he wash his car? Yes, he washed his car.
Did he wash his car? Yes, he washed the car.

Does she like sweets? Yes, she likes sweets.
Does she like sweets? Yes, she loves sweets.

Is she a doctor? Yes, she is a doctor.
She is a doctor? Yes, she's a doctor.

Can do you open a window? Yes, I can open a window.
Can you open the window? Yes, I can open the window.

Complete negative answer looks like a negative sentence, only at the beginning of the sentence we put no:

Did he wash his car? No, he didn't wash his car.
Did he wash his car? No, he didn't wash the car.

Does she like sweets? No, she doesn't like sweets.
Does she like sweets? No, she doesn't like sweets.

Is she a doctor? No, she is not a doctor.
She is a doctor? No, she's not a doctor.

Can do you open a window? No, I can"t open a window.
Can you open the window? No, I can't open the window.

So, we have examined the entire theory concerning general issues. Now let's move on to practice.

Reinforcement task

Translate the following questions into English:

1. Did you go to school?
2. Is she in the park?
3. Can you turn off the music?
4. Are they smart?
5. Does she like roses?
6. Should I call him?
7. Should she do this?
8. Are we going to help him?

Leave your answers in the comments below the article.

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?"

Today we will look at and, of course, examples with them. In order not to make a mistake, the main thing is to understand three things: 1) what kind of question you will have, 2) in what tense it should be asked, and 3) what should be the order of words in an interrogative sentence. In this article we will deal with the first point.

5 types of questions in English and examples with them

Usually isolated 5 types of questions in English. We will briefly dwell on each of them and consider examples.

1. General question.

Here you don't even need question words, since the question type itself does not imply their use. When asking a general question, the interlocutor expects to hear a short positive or negative answer from you.

Examples:

Are you doing your homework now? – Are you doing your homework now?

Do they go to the cinema every Friday? – Do they go to the cinema every Friday?

Was he reading a newspaper when I phoned? – Was he reading the newspaper when I called?

Will you give me a couple of recommendations? – Can you give me some recommendations?

2. Is your brother at work? – Is your brother at work? Here you will already need a question word or even a phrase. From this moment the special question should begin. Next, you should adhere to the standard question structure.

How much do these books cost? – How much do these books cost?

What is he doing here? -What is he doing here?

Where were you yesterday? - Where were you yesterday?

What city did he visit last week? – What city did he visit? last week?

Whose beg was stolen? – Whose bag was stolen?

3. Alternative question. This type of question implies OR. Before or everything looks the same as in the general question, and then a suitable addition follows.

Would you like a cup of tea or coffee? – Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?

Is he doing his homework or playing computer games? - He does homework or plays computer games?

Will they go on a business trip on Tuesday or Wednesday?

Does Bob speak Spanish or Italian? – Does Bob speak Spanish or Italian?

Were they in Egypt or Turkey last summer? – Were they in Egypt or Turkey last summer?

4. Separated question.

5. Question to the subject.

The last two types of questions require special attention, so we will consider them separately.

How to ask a dividing question in English? Examples

If you don't know, it's worth brushing up on auxiliary verbs, as you'll definitely need them. Pay attention to the structure of the question and examples.

Declarative sentence + , + auxiliary verb + not + person

Negative sentence + , + auxiliary verb + person

He is doing his homework now, isn’t he? – He does his homework, doesn’t he?

Miranda was in Germany last week, wasn’t she? – Miranda was in Germany last week, wasn’t she?

They speak Russian, don’t they? – They speak Russian, don’t they?

You haven’t forgotten to phone her, have you? “You didn’t forget to call her, did you?”

They won't leave for Prague, will they? – They won’t go to Prague, will they?

As you can see, the second part of the question (the tail) depends on what kind of beginning you had. One of the parts (and not two at the same time) must be negative.

How to ask a question to a subject in English? Examples

Now let's see how to ask a question to the subject in English. Examples and explanations will help you avoid mistakes. The very good news about this type of question is that you don't need an auxiliary verb. But you need to be 100% sure that you will have a question specifically for the subject. Most often these questions start with who and they are addressed to the person who performs the action. That is, we will answer with the very person we are asking about.

In Russian, to turn a statement into a question, it is enough to change the intonation:

The lawn needs to be mowed. – Does the lawn need to be mowed?

Questions in English are structured differently; to construct them you need:

Questioning intonation.
Rearranging words in a sentence.
Auxiliary verbs (not always).

There are five types of questions in English.

Types of questions in English

There are five types of questions in English. This article provides general review interrogative sentences, read about them in more detail using the links below:

– imply a positive or negative answer.
– begin with a question word: when? When? what? What? etc., require a detailed answer.
- a type of special question, asked not to any member of the sentence, as a special one, but to the subject.
– questions with “or”, suggesting a choice between two or more options.
- this is an analogue of questions with “isn’t it?”, “Isn’t it true?” in Russian like: “Good day, is not it?"

1. General question in English

implies a “yes” or “no” answer, or a more detailed positive or negative answer. It is built according to the following scheme:

As you can see, these questions can be answered “yes” or “no”.

I will give more examples with answers.

Do you know this guy? – Yes.

Do you know this guy? - Yes.

Could you do me a favour, please? - Sure, no problem.

Could you do me a favor? - Sure, no problem.

Do you need any help? - No, thanks.

Do you need help? - No thanks.

As you can see, the answers are not necessarily strictly “yes” or “no”, but they are either negative or positive.

2. Special question

They do not require a general answer “yes/no”, but a more specific one, they start with: who? What? Which? Where? etc. Special questions are constructed according to the same scheme as general ones, the word order is the same with the only exception: at the beginning of the sentence a question word (or group of words) is placed: where, what, which, how, how long, etc.

Here are examples of special questions with answers:

What is your cat doing now? – My cat is on sleeping on the coach

What is your cat doing now? – My cat is sleeping on the sofa.

How long did it take you to paint the portrait? – It took me two months.

How long did it take you to paint this portrait? – It took two months.

3. Question to the subject

Not all textbooks highlight it as a separate type, because it is very similar to a special question. The difference is that it is not applied to any member of the sentence, but to the subject. The question pattern is very simple: the question word replaces the subject.

For example:

Statement: Sleeping makes your cat happy.
Question: What makes you cat happy?

Who wants to be a millionaire? - I do.

Who want to be a millionaire? - I want.

Who wanted to see me? – I wanted to see you.

Who wanted to see me? - I wanted to see you.

What did you change your mind? - Your speech.

What made you change your mind? - Your speech.

4. Alternative question

Implies a choice (alternative) between two or more options. As in the Russian language, it is logically impossible to answer “yes” or “no”.

Do you prefer coffee or

I prefer tea - I prefer tea.

You can answer briefly:

Do you prefer coffee or tea? – Do you prefer coffee or tea?

Alternative questions in English can also begin with a question word. In this case, the question consists of a special question followed by two homogeneous members of the sentence, connected by the conjunction or(or).

Which do you prefer: tea or coffee? – What do you prefer: tea or coffee?

5. Question with a “tail” (dissected question, Tag Question)

Another question that requires a positive or negative answer is , aka dismembered or separate question or, as it is also called, “a question with a tail” (tag – tail, tag).

Tag question is an affirmative or negative sentence, at the end of which a “tail” is added - a short general question consisting of a pronoun and an auxiliary (or modal) verb, which is part of the predicate. If the predicate is in the form or, then the short question asks do (does) or did.

In Russian, such questions correspond to questions with “isn’t it?” or “isn’t that true?” at the end.

You speak English, don't you?– You speak English, don’t you?

Yes, I do. - Yes talking.

You haven't been here have you?-You weren't here, were you?

I haven’t - I wasn’t.

Please note that if the “long part” is affirmative, then the “tail” is negative and vice versa. In the Russian version, the “tail” is always the same.

You like this place, don't you?– You like this place, don’t you?

You don't like this place, do you?-You don't like this place, do you?

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