Simple Guide to Asking Questions in English

What is a question?

Kind of question

Closed questions

Closed questions demand a yes/no, true/false or right/wrong answer.

When we want to ask yes/no questions we can use do/does, am/is/are or have/has as question words. We use do or have or am with personal pronouns (I), we use does or has or is with third person singular pronouns (he, she, it) and with singular noun forms. We use do or have or are with other personal pronouns (you, we, they) and with plural noun forms.

Yes/no questions with the verb be are created by moving the verb be to the beginning of the sentence. In other words the subject and the verb change their positions in statements and questions.

Statement :

I Am From England

Question :

Am i from England?

When forming questions in the present continuous tense use the verb be.

I	am	speaking English.	=	Am	I	speaking English?
You	are	speaking English.	=	Are	you	speaking English?
He	is	speaking English.	=	Is	he	speaking English?
She	is	speaking English.	=	Is	she	speaking English?
It	is	speaking English.	=	Is	it	speaking English?
We	are	speaking English.	=	Are	we	speaking English?
They	are	speaking English.	=	Are	they	speaking English?

When forming questions in the present simple tense use the verb be, do, or have. The auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.

To Be

            If there is one verb in the statement and the verb is a form of be , simply switch the positions of the subject and verb.

I	am	English.	=	Am	I	English?
You	are	English.	=	Are	you	English?
He	is	English.	=	Is	he	English?
She	is	English.	=	Is	she	English?
It	is	English.	=	Is	it	English?
We	are	English.	=	Are	we	English?
They	are	English.	=	Are	they	English?

To Do

If there is one verb in the statement and the verb is do, simply switch the positions of the subject and verb.

I	do.	=	Do	I?
You	do.	=	Do	you?
He	does.	=	Does	he?
She	does.	=	Does	she?
It	does.	=	Does	it?
We	do.	=	Do	we?
They	do.	=	Do	they?

To Have

            If there is one verb in the statement and the verb is have, (with or without got to show possession), switch the positions of the subject and verb.

I	have	(got) an English book.	=	Have	I	(got) an English book?
You	have	(got) an English book	=	Have	you	(got) an English book?
He	has	(got) an English book	=	Has	he	(got) an English book?
She	has	(got) an English book	=	Has	she	(got) an English book?
It	has	(got) an English book	=	Has	it	(got) an English book?
We	have	(got) an English book	=	Have	we	(got) an English book?
They	have	(got) an English book	=	Have	they	(got) an English book

We can also form this style of question with Do…have…? here there is no subject-verb inversion, do is placed before the subject.

I	have breakfast every morning.	=	Do	I	have breakfast every morning?
You	have breakfast every morning.	=	Do	you	have breakfast every morning?
He	has breakfast every morning.	=	Does	he	have breakfast every morning?
She	has breakfast every morning.	=	Does	she	have breakfast every morning?
It	has breakfast every morning.	=	Does	it	have breakfast every morning?
We	have breakfast every morning.	=	Do	we	have breakfast every morning?
They	have breakfast every morning.	=	Do	they	have breakfast every morning?

If there is one verb, and the verb is not a form of be, the process is more complex. To form a question add the correct form of the verb 'to do' to the beginning. Here there is no subject verb inversion.

I	speak English.	=	Do	I	speak English?
You	speak English.	=	Do	you	speak English?
He	speaks English.	=	Does	he	speak English?
She	speaks English.	=	Does	she	speak English?
It	speaks English.	=	Does	it	speak English?
We	speak English.	=	Do	we	speak English?
They	speak English.	=	Do	they	speak English?

Answering a Closed Question

For example: "Are you from England?"

You can answer closed questions with "Yes" or "No".

You can also answer closed questions with a slightly longer answer "Yes, I am." or "No, I'm not."

Finally you can answer closed questions in the long form "Yes, I am from England." or "No, I'm not from England."

Open Questions

Open questions leave room for a description or opinion, and are more useful in eliciting information

Open questions are often called Wh.. questions:-

There are eight wh-questions - what, when, where, which, who, whom, whose and why and to this list we usually add how as they are all used to elicit particular kinds of information.

You use what when you are asking for information about something.
You use when to ask about the time that something happened or will happen.
You use where to ask questions about place or position.
You use which when you are asking for information about one of a limited number of things.
You use who or whom when you are asking about someone's identity.
You use whose to ask about possession.
You use why to ask for a reason. 
You use how to ask about the way in which something is done.

Question word	Verb	+	Answer
What	is	your name?	My name is Lynne.
When	is	the party?	The party is on Tuesday.
Where	are	you from?	I'm from England.
Which	is	your car?	The red car is mine.
Who	are	you?	I'm Lynne.
Whose	is	this web site?	It's mine.
Why	is	this web site here?	Because it is!
How	are	you?	I'm fine thanks.

What, which and whose can be used with or without a noun as a question word.

For example:-

What time is it? = What is the time? 
Which car is yours? = Which is your car? 
Whose web site is this? = Whose is this web site?

Whom can only be used to elicit information about the object of the sentence. Although using whom would be grammatically correct, we normally use who instead because it doesn’t sound so formal.

For example:-

"Whom did you see?" would normally be expressed as "Who did you see?"

Who, what, which and whose can all be used to elicit information about the subject or object of the sentence.

For example:-

If the answer is "I ate the banana." the object question would be "What did you eat?" and the subject question would be "Who ate the banana?"

 

Tag Questions

What is a tag question?

A tag question is a short question added to the end of a positive or negative statement.

For example:-

He is,	isn't he?
He does,	doesn't he?
He will,	won't he?
He can,	can't he?

 

How are they formed?

Normally a positive statement is followed by a negative tag, and a negative statement is followed by a positive tag.

For example:-

+	-
You're English,	aren't you?
-	+
You're not German,	are you?

!The statement and the tag are always separated by a comma.

The verb in the statement should be the same tense as the verb in the tag.

For example:-

Present tense	present tense
You are a good singer,	aren't you?
Past tense	past tense
You didn't go to work yesterday,	did you?
Present perfect tense	present perfect tense
You have been to London,	haven't you?

If the verb used in the statement is an auxiliary verb, then the verb used in the tag must match it. If a modal (can, could, will, should, etc.) is used in the statement, then the same modal is used in the tag part. If the statement doesn't use an auxilliary verb, then the auxiliary do is used in the tag part.

For example:-

Auxiliary verb
She is from England,	isn't she?
They aren't very nice,	are they?
She doesn't like it here,	does she?
Modal verb
You can sing,	can't you?
They shouldn't do that,	should they?
No auxiliary
He eats meat,	doesn't he?

Why do we use them?

Tag questions are used to verify or check information that we think is true or to check information that we aren't sure is true. Sometimes we just use them for effect.

We show the meaning of the tag question through intonation.

If the tag is a real question it has a rising intonation.

For example:-

The chairman's coming at 3.00, isn't he?

If the tag is not a real question it has a flat or falling intonation.

For example:-

It's a nice day today, isn't it?

 It is possible for a positive statement to be followed by a positive tag for even more effect (sarcasm, anger, disbelief, shock, concern etc.).

For example:-

Oh you will, will you?

You think you're funny, do you?