how to form questions in english

Answering essay questions on an exam can be difficult and stressful, which can make it hard to provide a good answer. If the sentence has an auxiliary or modal verb, that’s the one you’ll need to move. How often? In fact, to create the interrogative form of “must”, all we have to do isinvert the subject and “must” and our interrogative is formed. Generally, just add a question word/phrase to the beginning of a yes/no question. Questions with verbs - do, does What is the time? George Grow was the editor. If your answer is “no,” we’re here to help. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page45.shtml, https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs-questions-and-negatives, https://www.englishgrammar.org/formation-questions-basic-rules/, https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/intermediate-grammar/question-tags, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow, For the sentence, “Charlie and Pam cook together often,” add “Do” to the beginning to ask, “Do Charlie and Pam cook together often?”. The Meaning Of "Simple" In "Simple Tense Form"? You’ll need to put “do” or “does” at the beginning of the question. Asking Yes/No Questions We’ll usually need to invert the word order as well, but not always. A negative question is a question that contains the word not or a negative verb contraction like didn’t (did not), weren’t (were not), etc. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Choose from a variety of pre-made themes or create your own. Questions with am - is - are - can - must - have got. wikiHow's. Click here to get a copy. The structure of a “wh- question” is usually like this: [“Wh-” Question Word/Phrase] + [Auxiliary Verb] + [Subject] + [Main Verb] + [Object or Other Information] + ? For example, you could ask, “Could you please tell me how to get to the airport?” or “Do you know how to get to the airport?”, You could also ask, “Could you please tell me the time?” or “Do you know the time?”, For example, if you want to ask, “Where is the bus stop?” you could say, “Do you know where the bus stop is?”, To find out the time, you could ask, “Could you please tell me what time it is?”, For example, if you want to confirm when you need to head to the airport, you might say to your travel companion, “We need to leave for the airport at 7:00am tomorrow morning, don’t we?”, Or, you might confirm that a friend is picking you up at a certain time by saying, “You will be here to get me at 6:30pm tonight, won’t you?”, For example, if you want to confirm when dinner will be served, you might say, “Dinner is served at 6:30pm.”, To find out where you are meeting up with someone, you could say, “We are meeting at the fountain.”. Learning how to ask questions in English will take some time and practice. (“Can you feel the love tonight?”), You see them in movie titles. In the examples above, “father” becomes “he” and “the students” become “they.”. Tom helped in the garden.Who helped in the garden? ), it goes before the verb. Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Another option would be to say, “The dining room closes at 9:00pm, doesn’t it?”. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. ¿Dónde está la biblioteca? Practice involves rewriting sentences. A tag question is simply a sentence with a question tag at the end. The object is to put these words in the correct order to form a syntactically correct question. Question Forms and Reported Speech Word order Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject comes before the verb, and it is not necessary to use 'do' or 'did': When using an indirect question, use an introductory phrase followed by the question itself in positive sentence structure. The trick is to form a basic sentence, then invert the word order to create a question. Examples: 1. Once you’ve had more practice turning basic sentences into questions, you can skip the first step of starting with a sentence and go directly to forming the question. Unlike other verbs in English which usually adopt the verb “to do” as an auxiliary, “must” does not. Be sure to use the correct tense and form, for example, “did” if the sentence is in the past tense. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published, This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. The lesson below shows you how to use do and does properly. Questions can be a little difficult in English. When you’re asking about the subject (in this case, “Nathan”) forming a sentence is pretty easy. The question word (what, ...) always comes first! When we want to be more polite we often use indirect question forms. By using our site, you agree to our. You can find the tests at the bottom of the page. For example, you could ask, “What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?” or “Which flavor is your favorite?”, Or, you could ask “What do you want to do today?” or “Which museum would you like to visit today?”, For example, you could ask, “Where do you want to meet for lunch?”. This is true for sentences with be, sentences that have auxiliary verbs (e.g. In some cases, you may also need to add additional words and phrases. Let’s say we wanted to ask about the object in this sentence. Now, you try it! All tenses in English use auxiliary verbs. You hear them in songs. Remember, the more you practice, the easier and more familiar they’ll become. Forming questions in English can be challenging when you are trying to learn the language! Present Simple Questions. What can you draw? Active Or Passive Form For 'Start'? Start using FluentU on the website or download the FluentU app from the iTunes store or Google Play store. (Notice the new form of “to play” to accommodate the new structure.). You could also ask, “How do you cook this?” to get instructions for completing a recipe. Sally won the marathon. 2. → Did Nina play the violin? Free with a Google account. There are 18 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. We also participate in other affiliate advertising programs for products and services we believe in. How much? (to ask about the number or amount). Yes/No questions are the most basic type of question. Word order in questions in English Interrogative structures in English How to form correctly ordered questions in English See also : tag questions 1. A List Of Grammar Questions? Must wego to the cinema tonight? WH- questions (Question Words)There are two main types of questions: Yes/No questions and WH- question. To make questions, we often put the verb before the subject. WH-questions are questions starting with WH-words including: what, when, where, who, whom, which, whose, why and how.Question words are used to ask about specific qualities, times, places, people and so on. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. T he main verb follows the subject, and the rest of the sentence follows it.. Second, questions almost always need a helping verb along with the main verb. So if the verb in the sentence is positive (e.g. You just replace the subject with a wh- word. However, sometimes a direct question may sound too blunt or unfriendly, especially if you’re asking someone for help or when you don’t know the person well. For an in-depth guide to five W questions with examples, see this lecture from Georgia State University. Few, Tag Questions? Since “Nathan” is a person, our wh- word is who. Note the inversion when forming an indirect question. [Auxiliary verb] + [subject] + not + [main verb] + [other information]? For example, to find out about cost you could ask, “How much does a haircut cost?” or “How much for a hot dog?”, To determine a quantity, you could ask, “How many cookies should I bake?” or “How many people will come to dinner?”. → Does Nina play the violin? Have you got a dog? Learn and practise all the question forms and question words in English, and find out about the most common mistakes. If the sentence is “Kyle played soccer yesterday,” turn the statement into a question by adding “Did” to the beginning and dropping the “-ed” off of the verb. Questions are everywhere in English pop culture. They usually begin with a verb, including auxiliary verbs (a “helping” verb that comes before the main verb) or modal verbs (such as can or would). You may even have an idea of how questions are formed. Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you Nina played the violin. FluentU is a fun tool to hear how real English speakers form and use questions. Questions: statement questions ( you’re over 18? ) Let’s start with the example sentence we used above. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. Plural Form=≫Different Meanings? This is called inversion. Pressing offers and invitations often assume the form of negative questions. Questions. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Here’s how you can change this into an indirect question: Could you please tell me where the bookstore is? Can you swim? That's the way how to form Questions. can take anywhere. “is”), you need the negative version (e.g. Must theycome for dinner? They ask the same as direct questions but are considered more formal. But don’t worry, there’s a way you can sound more polite and friendly. © 2020 Enux Education Limited. If we want to ask a question in English, the order is QWASM: Question word, Auxiliary verb, Subject, Main verb. Must youbehave that way? Nina plays the violin. But can you make your own sentences in English? _____ Practice. Amid the current public health and economic crises, when the world is shifting dramatically and we are all learning and adapting to changes in daily life, people need wikiHow more than ever. Language Focus: An explanation of how to form Yes/No questions in English Grammar Worksheet : yes-no-questions-worksheet-esl.docx (scroll down to study the exercises online) Many students are good at answering questions, but poor at making their own questions … Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 22,232 times. We replace “in the park” with where, then move where to the beginning of the sentence: Five W questions can get pretty confusing and can require lots of practice to master. For an in-depth guide to five W questions with examples, see this lecture from Georgia State University. The sentence can be anything you like, as long as it is not too complicated. Forming questions in English can be confusing. “is not”). So you ask: Didn’t you hear the news? Do Nina and Thomas play the violin? Fortunately, we can use those same sentence-building skills to form questions in English, too. Connect the two phrases with the question word or 'if' in the case the question is a yes/no question. If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn English with real-world videos. Is she a nice girl? types of English questions you should know. Quickly create quizzes to measure student knowledge, evaluate class progress, and focus on subjects that need improvement. Verb contractions are usually used in negative questions. They greet their teacher.Who do they greet? Adam walks to class on Tuesdays. 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