Question Formation in English (intermediate) - by Viv Quarry.
There are two basic types of questions in English.
1. 'Wh' questions ask for specific information and start with a question word.
What Which When Where Whereabouts Why Whose How
The most common question structure is: Question word + Auxiliary Verb + Object or Main Verb.
'Wh' questions usually have a FALLING INTONATION.
|
Tense |
No verb |
Verb |
Answer |
|
Present simple |
Whose is this? |
What do you do? |
Mine. / I'm a teacher. |
|
Present continuous |
|
Where are you going? |
To the bank. |
|
Past simple |
When were you there? |
When did she do that? |
Last night. |
|
Past continuous |
|
Who were playing? |
Flamengo & Vasco. |
|
Pres. perf. simple |
|
Why haven't you done your homework? |
Because I didn't have time. |
|
Pres. perf. continuous |
|
Which report have you been working on? |
The one you asked you asked me to. |
|
Passive |
|
Whereabouts were they found? |
On the side of the mountain. |
|
will / would |
Who will be there? |
How will they get here? |
Fred. / By train. |
|
Can / could |
How could you? |
What could it be? |
I had to. / It might be a UFO. |
'What' can be followed by a noun and is usually used when there is an unlimited number of possibilities. 'Which' is normally used with a limited number of choices.
Eg. What size shoes do you take?
Which one do you like the most?
When asking about people it is better to use which. Eg. Which astronauts have landed on the moon?
'How' can combine with adjectives and adverbs.
How many (countables), How much (uncountables), How tall (height), How old (age), How big (size), How fast (speed), How often (frequency), How many times (number), How long (duration), How far (distance)
Prepositions often come at the end of a question.
Eg. What are you looking at? Which channel is the film on?
What are you afraid of? What schools did you go to?
Who did you dance with? What is it about?
Who did you give it to? Who was it written by?
Who is he getting married to? What did you do that for?
How long did you stay for? Who did you get that from?
Short reply questions with prepositions are also possible in English.
Eg. Who with? What about? What for? Who to? Who from? Where to?
'Like' in questions
'LIKE' can be used as a VERB for preference and as a PREPOSITION for description.
What does she like doing at the weekend? (VERB) = What does she enjoy doing?
What is she like? (PREPOSITION) = Describe her character (and maybe her appearance).
What does she look like? (PREPOSITION) = Describe her appearance ONLY.
NOTE! 'How is she?' REFERS ONLY TO HEALTH & WELL-BEING.
Eg. How is your mother? = Is your mother in good health.
What would you like to do next weekend? (VERB) = What do you want to do?
What is London like? (PREPOSITION) = Give me your general impressions of London.
What was the weather like? (PREPOSITION) = Describe the weather to me.
What was the food like? (PREPOSITION) = What did you think about the food?
What were the shops like in London? (PREPOSITION) = Tell me about the shops in London.
What did it look like? (PREPOSITION) = Give me a physical description of it.
2. 'Yes/No' questions ask for a positive or negative answer.
They normally start with an AUXILIARY or MODAL verb and are followed by
SUBJECT + (VERB) + OBJECT
'Yes/no' questions normally have a RISING INTONATION.
|
Tense |
No verb |
Verb |
Answer |
|
Present simple |
Am I right? |
Do I do it like this? |
Yes, you are. / Yes, you do. |
|
Present continuous |
|
Is it working? |
Yes, it is. |
|
Past simple |
Was she the manager? |
Did you enjoy it? |
No, she wasn't. / Yes, I did. |
|
Past continuous |
|
Were they fighting? |
No, they weren't. |
|
Pres. perf. simple |
|
Have they had dinner yet? |
No, they haven't. |
|
Pres. perf. continuous |
|
Has she been working all day? |
Yes, she has. |
|
Passive |
|
Was it finished on time? |
No, it wasn't |
|
will / would |
Will she be happy in her new job? |
Will you finish by 5.30? |
Yes, of course she/I will. |
|
Can / could |
Could he be right? |
Can you pass me the salt, please? |
Maybe. / Yes, here you are. |
Negative 'Yes/No' questions are used:
To show surprise:
Didn't you hear the bell? I rang it four times!
In exclamations:
Doesn't that dress look nice! (= That dress looks very nice)
When we expect the listener to agree with us:
Haven't we met somewhere before? (= I think that we have)
Be careful with the answers to negative questions:
Didn't Dave go to Canada? Yes. (He went there.)
No. (He didn't go there.)