Special questions in English are very common and are used regularly. Should be studied specific cases their use and individual varieties, formation scheme and nuances.
Special questions are asked to obtain specific information about a phenomenon or subject. A specific feature of such questions in English is the presence of question words. How to ask questions in English is described here. When forming special question serves as the basis general question. To make it special, it is enough to supplement the question with a question word, which is placed at the beginning of the sentence.
Did they visit the exhibition? - Did they visit the exhibition?
When did they visit the exhibition? - When did they visit the exhibition?
In this case, the auxiliary verb must be placed before the noun, and the semantic verb must be placed after it.
The general scheme for forming a special question is as follows:
question word + auxiliary verb + subject + predicate + other parts of the sentence.
What is she writing? - What is she writing?
A special question can be put to different members offers. Due to this, we can obtain information about what specifically interests us.
A separate category consists questions with who in English, as well as questions with what. This type issues highlighted in total mass. Its peculiarity is the absence of auxiliary verbs when forming special questions to the subject. It's simple - just replace the subject with who or what, adding also a questioning intonation. IN general view The scheme for forming a question to the subject looks like this: question word + predicate + other parts of the sentence.
Who has built this bridge? -Who built this bridge?
Questions with what english language, like questions with who, can be posed to an addition - a member of a sentence that allows you to obtain additional information and answers next questions: whom? what? to whom? what? What? The word who or what is placed at the beginning of the sentence.
They are waiting for the taxi. - They are waiting for a taxi.
What are they waiting for? -What are they waiting for?
She read a new book at the library. - She read new book in library.
What did she read at the library? - What did she read in the library?
The question “what is this?” with the corresponding question word what is asked in relation to an inanimate subject or object. If we're talking about about a person, the question “who is this?” is applied. with the question word who?
What did he write? - What he wrote?
What is she? - Who is she? (by profession)
Interrogative the word what can also be part of interrogative phrases. Their list is given below.
What is he doing for a living? - What does he do for a living?
An auxiliary verb in a special question in English is not needed in all cases. If a sentence is composed using the semantic verb to be, you can ask a question by changing the places of the subject and predicate.
Last Sunday she was at home. - She was at home last Sunday.
Where was she last Sunday? -Where was she last Sunday?
If there is a modal verb, there is also no need to use an auxiliary. The question is formed by rearranging the subject and predicate.
They can meet at the bus stop. - They can meet at the bus stop.
Where can they meet? -Where can they meet?
The examples given clearly show how to ask questions in English.
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", which 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?”
Under construction separated question according to 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 you will learn how to write questions in English. I will try to teach this material in an extremely accessible and understandable form, taking into account the variety of problems that students often make. A practical task with answers will help you consolidate and test your knowledge. Writing questions is usually difficult for English language learners. Declarative sentences, as a rule, do not cause problems - you just need to remember what form the verb takes - Vs, Ves, V2, V3 and place it after the subject: “He likes tea”, “I have been waiting for you for half an hour." (I've been waiting for you for half an hour).
But writing questions requires an understanding of the structure English sentences in general, and the question in particular: auxiliary or modal verb+ subject + semantic verb:“Does he like tea?”, “Have you've been waiting for me for half an hour." You should always remember about auxiliary verbs, which are the key to correctly formed questions. (Let me remind you that the name “auxiliary” speaks for itself - these are verbs that help form interrogative and negative English sentences).
Stages of writing questions in English
- So, how to write questions in English? Before asking ANY question in English, find the verb in such a question, think about what kind of verb it is - the verb to be, the modal verb (can, must...), the main verb (main verb).
- determine the time question. If you feel that you will easily get confused with the timing of a question, then make this issue affirmative sentence. For example: “Does your husband like mushrooms? “Your husband loves mushrooms.” This is real indefinite time(The Present Indefinite) - he loves mushrooms in general. Here are 9 example sentences - 9 tenses English verb:
- “Your husband likes mushrooms, doesn’t he?” - present indefinite tense.
- "Who broke the printer last week?" - past indefinite tense.
- “When will you come to me?” - future indefinite time ( The Future Simple).
- “Are the children swimming or eating now?” - present continuous tense.
- “What were your colleagues doing at 5 pm yesterday?” - The Past Continuous.
- “Will they be working at the library tomorrow from 3 to 5?” - future continuous tense (The Future Continuous)
- "He's already written a letter, hasn't he?" - the present perfect tense(The Present Perfect).
- “Did she leave before you called?” - past perfect tense.
- “Will you translate the article by 6 o’clock?” - future perfect tense (The Future Perfect).
- Once you have found the verb and determined the tense of the sentence, begin to build a question taking into account some important points: a) sentences with the verb to be (example 1), modal verbs (example 2), verb to have (example 3) form questions by rearranging these verbs in first place, before the subject; b) other questions usually require auxiliary verbs (example 4).
Example 1 (to be):
"Are you hungry?" To be hungry - in English it contains the verb to be. This means that we will make up questions based on the material already studied about the verb to be, namely: we put the verb to be in first place, without adding anything. You only need to pay attention to the time, for example: “Are you hungry?” - present tense, which means we need such - am, is, are - “Are you hungry?” “Were you hungry?” - past tense, which means we use - was, were - “Were you hungry?”
Example 2 (modal verbs):
“Can you find this program?” “Can” is a modal verb (can), so we compose questions in the same way as with the verb to be - moving the modal verb to 1st place - “ Can you find this program?
Example 3 (to have):
"Does he have a car?" I repeat: the verb to have comes first, as do modal verbs, as does the verb to be - “Has he a car? / Has he got a car?”
Example 4 (main verbs):
"How much does it cost?". To translate this question, I follow my own algorithm outlined above: 1. “cost” - main verb; 2. time - The Present Simple (how much does it cost in general, always); 3. since in this question there is no verb to be, a modal verb or a verb to have, you need to choose an auxiliary verb - this is “does” (because it is used before “he, she, it” in The Present Simple). It turns out: “How much does it cost?” It seems that everything is simple.
Data step by step instructions will help you translate any question, under 2 conditions:
- You understand what English verb tenses are and how to use them;
- You understand (more details about the types of questions in the next post).
Exercise.
Translate these questions into English. (If you need help determining the tense, see the explanation above - I have written down all the tenses for these sentences.) Determine the type of question yourself (if you remember).
- Your husband loves mushrooms, doesn't he?
- Who broke our printer last week?
- When will you come to me?
- Are your children swimming or eating now?
- What were your colleagues doing yesterday at 5 pm?
- Will they be working at the library tomorrow from 3 to 5?
- He already wrote the letter, didn't he?
- Did she leave before you called?
- Will you have translated the article by 6 pm?
- You've been waiting for me for half an hour, aren't you?
- Your husband likes mushrooms, doesn’t he? (Disjunctive question)
- Who broke our printer last week? (Special question - to the subject)
- When will you come to me? (Special question)
- Are your children swimming or eating now? (Alternative question)
- What were your colleagues doing yesterday at 5 o’clock in the evening? (Special question)
- Will they be working in the library from 3 till 5? (General question)
- He has written a letter, hasn’t he? (Disjunctive question)
- Had she left before you called? (General question)
- Will you have translated the article by 6 p.m.? (General question)
- You have been waiting for me for half an hour, haven’t you? (Disjunctive question)
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86 thoughts on “ How to write questions in English?”
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Hello, Sveta!
Here are the questions you need:
1. How long have you been to Brazil?
2. What is the weather like in Brazil? (to be in Present Indefinite)
3. What have you been doing there?
4.Where are you now? (to be in Present Indefinite)
5. What are you going to do after dinner?For each proposal on the issue. Help me please!
Like many big cities, London has problems with traffic and
pollution. Over 1,000,000 people a day use the London Underground.
People who want to drive into the city center pay some money, but there are still too many cars in the streets. The air isn’t clean, but it is
cleaner than it was 100 years ago.
For me, the best thing about London is the parks. There are five in
the city centre.
London consists of four main parts: The City of London, The
City of Westminster, The West End, The East End. The most
beautiful part of London is the West End. The best hotels, restaurants
and shops are located here. The oldest part of London is the City,
which is the commercial and trading center of London. The East End
is the working part of London, its industrial centre. And Westminster
is the aristocratic official part of London, its administrative centre.
help me write 5 questions for this text
Greetings from Brazil! I’ve been here since Monday and I am having a fantastic time at the Rio Carnival. I love it here. The weather is wonderful and the atmosphere of the carnival is amazing.
I’ve been dancing every night in the streets to the samba music. I’ve taken lots of photos of the amazing costumes to show you when I get back. Right now I’m lying on the beach relaxing. Later I’m having dinner at a local restaurant and then I’m going back to the party.
help translate the questions: what was the name of Epimetheus's wife? Who brought the box to the house of Pandora and Epimetheus? Why was Pandora interested in the box? What was in the box? What did Pandora release from the box? What was left in the box? How many times did Pandora open the box?
Question / question
IN this material We will try to figure out with you how to give answers to questions in English.
Note: How to explain to a child how to write answers to questions in English to read
First, let's figure out how to make an interrogative sentence in English. To do this you need to know the word order. In any English sentence, the order of words is strict and clear, any violation leads to an error.
Typically, a feature interrogative sentences in English is the presence of auxiliary and modal verbs.
For example,
Is it a dog? - This is a dog?
(Sentence in present simple tense, auxiliary verb “is”)
Do you swim? - You swim?
(Sentence in present simple tense, auxiliary verb "do")
Does he go? - He walks?
(Sentence in present simple tense, auxiliary verb “does”)
Did she fly? - Did she fly?
(Sentence in past simple tense, auxiliary verb "did")
Can you jump? -You can swim?
(Sentence in present simple tense, modal verb "can")
May I come in? - Can I come in?
(Sentence in present simple tense, modal verb "may")
Now let's look at the word order in an interrogative sentence in English:
1. question word (what, which, when, where, why, how, how much, how long, etc.)
2. auxiliary or modal verb
3. subject (who, what)
4. semantic verb (the verb that gives meaning to the entire sentence)
5. addition
6. circumstance of place (where, where)
7. circumstance of time (when, what time).
To reveal the secret of correctly answering an interrogative sentence in English, you need to follow only two rules:
1. Know the translation of the question, and for this you need to master the vocabulary.
Note: The easiest memorization technique English words contained in the ““ section.
2. The answer itself is hidden in the question itself, i.e. you need to listen to it carefully, hear the words, understand the structure, change your face if necessary.
How to answer a question in English?
The answer to the question can be complete (repetition of the entire sentence) or short. If you are just starting to learn English, then it would be better to first learn how to give a complete answer to a question.
Full answer to the question in English
Once the word order in an interrogative sentence has been learned, it will not be difficult to answer the question. The full answer is used less frequently; it contains a verb in full form and all related words:
Look closely at the diagram below. You just need to reverse the order of the words in the interrogative sentence.
Scheme of a positive answer to the question: subject + semantic verb + object + adverbial place + adverbial tense.
For example,
Do you like apple? – Yes, I like apple.
Scheme of a negative answer to the question: subject + auxiliary or modal verb + negative particle“not” + semantic verb + object + adverbial place + adverbial tense.
For example,
Do you like apple? – No, I don’t like apple.
Short answer to a question in English
Of course, the question can be answered with simple words yes or no. This is possible in colloquial speech. But despite the brevity of spoken language, foreigners know how to correctly and beautifully use a short answer, and use it. We should know this too.
Short answer principle: after yes/no We add the basis of the sentence (subject + auxiliary or modal verb).
Scheme:
Yes, subject + auxiliary or modal verb.
No, subject + auxiliary or modal verb + negative particle “not”.
How does this happen:
1. Listen to the question carefully, especially its beginning, since at the beginning there is an auxiliary or modal verb and a subject.
2. Mentally change their places. Add yes or no.
For example,
Does she like cheese? – Yes, she does.
Is he swimming in the river? – Yes, he is.
Can you swim? – No, I can’t.
(Abbreviations in negation)
Do you know Mr. Wallace? - No, I don’t.
Remember!
If the short answer is negative, then a negative particle not.
Writing answers to questions in English
There are five types of questions in English. Let's take a closer look at each of them together. Each of the five types of interrogative sentences has its own word order, which you need to remember in order to learn how to ask questions correctly.
1. Question to the subject
In a sentence of this type, we maintain direct word order, leaving all members of the sentence in their places. You just need to find the subject in the sentence and replace it with a suitable question word, i.e. a question to which the subject answers: either Who? -who?, or What? -What? A question to the subject does not require the use of an auxiliary verb in the present and past tense. You just need to remember that the verb-predicate in the present tense takes the third person singular form.
Google shortcode
What forced you to do this? – What forced you to do this?
What made you worry? -What made you worry?
Who works in this office? – Who works in this office?
Who traveled to the south? – Who traveled south?
Who likes swimming? – who likes to swim?
2. General question
In this case, the question is asked about the entire sentence, question word in this case, no, and the answer is always clear: either “yes” or “no.” Questions of this type are also known in English as “yes / no question”. To translate such a sentence from Russian into English, you need to remember the following word order: Auxiliary verb (depending on the number of the subject and what grammatical tense the sentence belongs to) – subject – predicate – minor members.
Do you often go shopping? – Yes, I do – Do you go shopping often? - Yes
Does she like studying? - No, she doesn’t - Does she like studying? - No
Is this film interesting? – yes, it is – is this film interesting? - Yes
Are you hungry? - no, I am not - are you hungry? - No
Notice how easy it is to pose a general question to English declarative sentences. You just need to find the subject, choose the appropriate auxiliary verb for it and put it at the beginning of the sentence.
We live in a comfortable flat – Do we live in a comfortable flat?
He studies at a college – Does he study at a college?
They usually come here - Do they usually come here?
This student is very prospective – is this student very prospective?
My favorite colors are red and white – are my favorite colors red and white?
3. Alternative question
This question can be asked to each member of the sentence and you need to follow the same word order as when asking a general question, but with one feature - the sentence implies a choice between two persons, objects, actions or qualities and requires the use of the conjunction “or”. Let's pose an alternative question to the following sentence: We finished cooking dinner at 2 o’clock - we finished cooking dinner at 2 o’clock.
Did we finish cooking dinner at 2 or 3 o’clock? – did we finish cooking dinner at 2 or 3 o’clock?
Did we finish cooking or eating dinner 2 o’clock? – Have we finished cooking or is there lunch at 2 o’clock?
4. Special question
A special question is asked to any member of an English sentence and requires the use of a question word, and the word order is also reversed: in the first place (When? What? Where? etc.) is an auxiliary verb (depending on the number of the subject and on the fact that what grammatical tense does the sentence belong to) – subject – predicate – minor members.
When does your lesson begin? – When does your lesson start?
What are you doing here? - What are you doing here?
When did you buy this vase? – When did you buy this vase?
5. Dividing question
The presence of such a question in the English language allows you to unobtrusively ask about things of interest, and in addition express either doubt, surprise, or confirm what was said. A similar phrase is translated into Russian as “isn’t it? , is not it?". Similar question is divided into two parts: the first part is the sentence itself without changing the word order, the second part is a question consisting only of an auxiliary verb related to the grammatical tense of the sentence and a subject. If the sentence is affirmative, then the second part - the question - will be negative, and if the sentence is negative, then, on the contrary, the question will not contain a negation.
Your sister is a student, isn’t she? – your sister is a student, isn’t she?
You are not busy, are you? – you are not busy, are you?
He goes to bed very late, does not he? — he goes to bed very late, right?
She doesn’t eat meat, does she? – She doesn’t eat meat, does she?
Knowing the rules, you can easily correctly compose any interrogative sentence. 