Main points
*In most questions the first verb comes before the subject.
*‘Yes/no’- questions begin with an auxiliary or a modal.
*‘Wh’- questions begin with a ‘wh’- word.
a) Questions which can be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’ are called ‘yes/no’- questions.
- ‘Are you ready?’ – ‘Yes’.
- ‘Have you read this magazine?’ – ‘No’.
If the verb group has more than one word, the first word comes at the beginning of the sentence, before the subject. The rest of the verb group comes after the subject.
- Is he coming?
- Can Josh swim?
- Will you have finished by lunchtime?
- Couldn’t you have been a bit quieter?
- Has he been working?
b) If the verb group consist of only a main verb, you use the auxiliary ‘do’, ‘does’, or ‘did’ at the beginning of the sentence, before the subject. After the subject you use the base form of the verb.
- Do the British take sport seriously?
- Does that sound like anyone you know?
- Did he go to the fair?
Note that when the main verb is ‘do’, you still have to add ‘do’, ‘does’, or ‘did’ before the subject.
- Do they do the work themselves?
- Did you do an ‘O’ Level in German?
c) If the main verb is ‘have’, you usually put ‘do’, ‘does’, or ‘did’ before the subject.
- Does anyone have a question?
- Did you have a good flight?
When ‘have’ means ‘own’ or ‘possess’, you can put it before the subject, without using ‘do’, ‘does’, or ‘did’, but this is less common.
- Has he any idea what it’s like?
d) If the main verb is the present simple or past simple of ‘be’, you put the verb at the beginning of the sentence, before the subject.
- Are you ready?
- Was it lonely without us?
e) When you want someone to give you more information than just ‘yes’, or ‘no’, you ask a ‘wh’- question, which begins with a ‘wh’- word:
what which whose when who why where whom how
Note that ‘whom’ is only used in formal English.
f) When a ‘wh’- word is the subject of a question, the ‘wh’- word comes first, then the verb group. You do not add ‘do’, ‘does’, or ‘did’ as an auxiliary.
- What happened?
- Which is the best restaurant?
- Who could have done it?
g) When a ‘wh’- word is the object of a verb or preposition, the ‘wh’- word comes first, then you follow the rules for ‘yes/no’- questions, adding ‘do’, ‘does’, or ‘did’ where necessary.
- How many are there?
- Which do you like best?
If there is a preposition, it comes at the end. However, you always put the preposition before ‘whom’.
- What’s this for?
- With whom were you talking?
Note that you follow the same rules as for ‘wh’- words as objects when the question begins with ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’, or ‘how’.
- When would you be coming down?
- Why did you do it?
- Where did you get that from?
h) You can also use ‘what’, ‘which’, ‘whose’, ‘how many’, and ‘how much’ with a noun.
- Whose idea was it?
- How much money have we got in the bank?
You can use ‘which’, ‘how many’, and ‘how much’ with ‘of’ and a noun group.
- Which of the suggested answers was the correct one?
- How many of them bothered to come?
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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A - Part B
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See also:
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