TYPES OF QUESTIONS
In English, there are two main types of questions which are;
- Yes / No Questions
- Wh – Questions
YES / NO QUESTIONS
Yes / No questions are the questions which are answered yes or no. It means when we are asking yes/no questions, we are expecting the answer, yes or no.
To form Yes/No questions, we use one of these verbs: auxiliary verbs ( be, do and have ) or modal verbs ( can, may,etc.).
We can not use questions words like what, how, why, who, etc. whilw making Yes/No questions.
FORMING YES/NO QUESTIONS
Yes / No questions are made, using the verb (am, is, are, was, were, have, had, do, does, did, can, will, should etc.) at the beginning of a sentence. Namely, subject and verb change their position in statement and question.
With An Auxiliary Verb ( “Be” or “Do” or “Have” ) or Modal Verb
With TO BE
The verb “ To Be ” has three forms in the present; am, is and are.
The verb “ To Be ” has two forms in the past; was and were.
| Subject | Present Form “Be” | Past Form “Be” |
| I | am | was |
| He, She, It | is | was |
| We, You, They | are | were |
Making Yes/No Questions
Be ( am, is, are, was, were ) + Subject + ….
( be as a main verb )
| Sentence | Question |
| I am a doctor. | Am I a doctor? |
| He is from England. | Is he from England? |
| We are happy. | Are we happy? |
| She was ready. | Was she ready? |
| They were the same. | Were they the same? |
( be as an auxiliary verb )
| Sentence | Question |
| I am studying English. | Am I studying English? |
| He is watching television. | Is he watching television? |
| We are working in the office. | Are we working in the office? |
| She was waiting at the bus stop. | Was she waiting at the bus stop? |
| They were coming to take me away. | Were they coming to take me away? |
Questions and Short & Long Answers
Yes + Subject + Auxiliary Verb ( + … )
No + Subject + Auxiliary Verb + Not ( + …. )
| Question | Answer ( Short -Long ) |
| Am I sympathetic? | Yes. / Yes, you are. / Yes, you are sympathetic. |
| Is she coming? | No. / No, she isn’t. / No, she isn’t coming. |
| Are they married? | Yes. / Yes, they are. / Yes, they are married. |
| Was he nervous? | No. / No, he wasn’t. / No, he wasn’t nervous. |
| Were you visiting your family? | Yes. / Yes, we were. / Yes, we were visiting our family. |
| Has the statue been painted? | No. / No, it hasn’t. / No, it hasn’t been painted. |
( generally short form is used as an answer )
With DO
The verb “ Do ” has two forms in the present; do and does.
The verb “ Do ” has one form in the past; did.
| Subject | Present Form “Do” | Past Form “Do” |
| I, You, We, You, They | do | did |
| He, She, It | does | did |
Making Yes/No Questions
Do ( as an auxiliary verb ) + Subject + Main Verb + ….
| Sentence | Question |
| I put the keys on the table. | Do I put the keys on the table? |
| She gets up early in mornings. | Does she get up early in mornings? |
| Coffee grows in Brazil. | Does coffee grow in Brazil? |
| You like spend time at home. | Do you like spend time at home? |
| They write letter to me. | Do they write letter to me? |
| We drank milk. | Did we drink milk? |
| He cleaned his room. | Did he clean his room? |
Questions and Short & Long Answers
Yes + Subject + Auxiliary Verb ( + … )
No + Subject + Auxiliary Verb + Not ( + …. )
| Question | Answer |
| Do you prefer your coffee black? | Yes. / Yes, I do. / Yes, I prefer my coffee black. |
| Do they always criticize you? | No. / No, they don’t. / No, they don’t criticize me. |
| Does it work loudly? | Yes. / Yes, it does. / Yes, it works loudly. |
| Does she like swimming? | No. / No, she doesn’t. / No, she doesn’t like swimming. |
| Did we visit our relatives? | Yes./ Yes, we did. / Yes, we visited our relatives. |
| Did he take a new car? | No. / No, she didn’t. / No, she didn’t take a new car. |
( generally short form is used as an answer )
With HAVE
The verb “ Have ” has two forms in the present; have and has.
The verb “ Have ” has one form in the past; had.
| Subject | Present Form “Do” | Past Form “Do” |
| I, You, We, You, They | have | had |
| He, She, It | has | had |
ATTENTION:1. If we use “have” as a main verb in a sentence, we use “do” as an auxiliary verb to make negative and question sentences.
Example:
- I have a car. ( have is a main verb – positive sentence )
- I don’t have a car. ( we use “do” as an auxiliary verb to make the sentence in negative )
- Do I have a car? ( we use “do” as an auxiliary verb to make the sentence in question )
2. If we use “have” as an auxiliary verb ( especially before -ed (past participle) forms to make the present and past perfect tense ) in a sentence, we use “have” to make negative and question sentences.
For Prefect Tenses (Present & Past Perfect Tenses and Present & Past Perfect Progressive Tenses )
Example:
- I have finished my homework. ( have is an auxiliary verb, finish is a main verb – positive sentence )
- I haven’t finished my homework. ( we use “have” as an auxiliary verb to make the sentence in negative )
- Have I finished my homework? ( we use “have” as an auxiliary verb to make the sentence in question )
Making Yes/No Questions
Have ( as an auxiliary verb ) + Subject + Main Verb + ….
| Sentence | Question |
| I have studied English. | Have I studied English? |
| He has finished his homework. | Has he finished his homework? |
| The film had started. | Had the film started? |
| We had locked the door. | Had we locked the door? |
| They have moved house. | Have they moved house? |
Questions and Short & Long Answers
Yes + Subject + Auxiliary Verb ( + … )
No + Subject + Auxiliary Verb + Not ( + …. )
| Question | Answer |
| Have you ever seen any rainbow? | Yes. / Yes, I have. / Yes, I have seen a rainbow before. |
| Have I met your family? | No. / No, you haven’t. / No, you haven’t met my family. |
| Has it been started? | Yes. / Yes, it has. / Yes, it has been started. |
| Had we sold our stock? | No. / No, we hadn’t. / No, we had sold our stock. |
| Had they been married? | Yes./ Yes, they had. / Yes, they had been married. |
| Has he stayed with us? | No. / No, he hasn’t. / No, he hasn’t stayed with us. |
( generally short form is used as an answer )
With MODAL VERB
( MODALS / MODAL AUXILIARIES / MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS )
There are many modal verbs in English. Here some are;
| Modal Verbs | ||
| Can | Will | Shall |
| Could | Would | Sould |
| May | Must | Ought to |
| Might | Have to | Had better |
Making Yes/No Questions
Modal + Subject + Main Verb + ….
| Sentence | Question |
| I may visit you tomorrow. | May I visit you tomorrow? |
| You can repeat it. | Can you repeat it? |
| She will pass the salt. | Will you pass the salt? |
| We should stay here. | Should we stay here? |
| They might come. | Might they come? |
Questions and Short & Long Answers
Yes + Subject + Modal Verb ( + … )
No + Subject + Modal Verb + Not ( + …. )
| Question | Answer |
| Can we get married? | Yes. / Yes, we can. / Yes, we can get married. |
| Would you like to drink tea? | No. / No, I wouldn’t. / No, I wouldn’t like to drink tea. |
| 2Might he come tomorrow? | Yes. / Yes, I might. / Yes, I might come tomorrow. |
| Should I clean my room every day? | No. / No, you shouldn’t. / No, you shouldn’t clean your room every day . |
| Will you sit down? | Yes. / Yes, I will. / Yes, I will sit down. |
| Could you tell me about yourself? | No. / No, I couldn’t. / No, I couldn’t tell you about myself. |
( generally short form is used as an answer )
