Questions: - Wh-Questions - Yes-No Questions - Tag Questions

QUESTIONS
•WH-QUESTIONS
•YES-NO QUESTIONS
•TAG QUESTIONS
WHAT IS QUESTION?
• A question is a request for information or
action.
• When writing a question you should always
end the sentence with a question mark (?).
W.H- QUESTION
• There are eight wh-questions - what, when,
where, which, who, whom, whose and why
and to this list we usually add how as they are
all used to elicit particular kinds of
information.
WH-QUESTION
1. You use what when you are asking for information
about something.
2. You use when to ask about the time that something
happened or will happen.
3. You use where to ask questions about place or
position.
4. You use which when you are asking for information
about one of a limited number of things.
5. You use who or whom when you are asking about
someone's identity.
6. You use whose to ask about possession.
7. You use why to ask for a reason.
8. You use how to ask about the way in which
something is done.
QUESTION WORD VERB +
What is your name?
When is the party?
where are you from?
Which is your car?
who are you?
Whose is this website?
Why is this web site here?
How are you?
• What, which and whose can be used with or
without a noun as a question word.
• For example:-
• What time is it? = What is the time?
Which car is yours? = Which is your car?
Whose web site is this? = Whose is this web
site?
• Whom can only be used to elicit information about the
object of the sentence. Although using whom would be
grammatically correct, we normally use who instead
because it doesn’t sound so formal.
• For example:-
• "Whom did you see?" would normally be expressed as
"Who did you see?"
• Who, what, which and whose can all be used to elicit
information about the subject or object of the
sentence.
• For example:-
• If the answer is "I ate the banana." the object question
would be "What did you eat?" and the subject
question would be "Who ate the banana?"
YES-NO QUESTIONS
• A yes/ no question is the question that can be
answered with yes or no
• They normally begin with auxiliary verb ( verb
to be and verb to have or modal verb ( can,
could, will, would, shall. Should)
• Examples
• Are you getting married?
• Have you seen her?
• Do you want to come?
• Will they become interested?
• If there is one verb in the statement and the
verb is a form of be, simply switch the
positions of the subject and verb.
• Examples:
Statement Question
John is a doctor Is John a doctor?
The girls are here Are the girls here?

• If there are two or three verbs, simply switch
the positions of the subject and first verb.
• Example:
Statement Question
Jane is eating her dinner Is Jane eating her
dinner?
June has rented an Has June rented an
apartment apartment?
Jen has been living there Has Jen been living
since 1969 there since 1969?
FORMING A QUESTION STATEMENT
• First, count the number of verb in the sentences
• John is a doctor (1 word- verb: is (be) )
• Jane drives a sports car (1 word- verb: drives)
• Joan played basketball last night (1 word-verb:
played)
• Jane is eating her dinner (2 words-verb: is eating)
• June has rented an apartment.
(2 word- verb: has rented)
• Jen has been living there since 1969 (3 words- verb :
has been living )
• If there is one verb, and the verb is not a form of be, the
process is more complex.
• Add do/ does/ did (according to the correct usage) to the
beginning of the sentence
• Example:
Statement Question
Mrs. and Mr. Darwisy Do Mrs. and Mr.
live in that house Darwisy live in that
house?
Jane drives a car Does Jane drive a car?
Joan played basketball Did Joan play
last night basketball last night?
• In conversation, most questions are asked of
the second person (you) and answered in
the first (I)
• Example:
A: Are you come from Kedah?
B: No, I’m from Kelantan. Are you?
A: Yes, I’m from Kedah.
TAG QUESTIONS
TAG QUESTIONS
• A "tag" is something small that we add to
something larger. For example, the little piece of
cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing
instructions is a tag.
• A tag question is a special construction in English.
It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The
whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-
question at the end is called a "question tag".
• We use tag questions at the end of statements to
ask for confirmation. They mean something like:
"Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very
common in English.
auxiliary + not+ personal pronoun
subject + auxiliary + main verb
(same as subject)
+ -
Positive statement, negative tag?
She’s your mom, isn’t she?
You come from Spain, don’t you?
It is raining, isn’t it?
I can sleep now, can’t I?
We must know it, mustn't we?
You will be there, won’t you?
You are going to Japan, aren‘t you?
Dougie was your ex-boyfriend, wasn’t he?
She has done this, hasn’t she?
Harry drinks the juice, doesn’t he?
You have a pen, don’t you?
negative statement [-] positive tag [+]
It isn’t snowing, is it?

Jessie wasn’t there, was she?
Pete doesn’t do the works does he?
We haven’t seen that, have we?
You don’t have any money, do you?
I can’t never let it happen, can I?
They mustn’t tell her, must they?
Clara won’t be there, will she?
Stewart hasn’t read the book, has he?
The cat didn’t die, did it?
• I am right, aren't I? [aren't I (not amn't I)]
• You have to go, don't you? [you (do) have to go]
• I have been answering, haven't I? [use first auxiliary]
• Nothing came in the post, did it? [treat statements with
nothing, nobody etc like negative statements]
• Let's go, shall we?[let's = let us]
• Fletcher had better do it, hadn't he?
• But you don't really love her, do you?
• This will work, won't it?
• Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
• But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
• We'd never have known, would we?
• The weather's bad, isn't it?
• You won't be late, will you?
• Nobody knows, do they?
Answering tag questions
Answer a tag question according to the truth of
the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts,
not (necessarily) the question.
• The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.

• The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it
isn't!
• Europeans don’t like durians, do they? No, they
don’t!
• Jason and James aren’t girls, are they? No, they
aren’t!
• Men don't get pregnant, do they? No.
• The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does
it? No, it doesn't.
Question tags with imperatives
• Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives
(invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an
imperative and does not require a direct answer.
We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will,
would for orders.
• Imperative + question tag notes
Take a seat, won’t you? Polite
Silent please, can you? Quite friendly
Silent please, can’t you? Less polite
Close the door, would you? Quite polite
Do it now, will you? Less polite

Don’t forget it, will you? For -ve statements only will is
possible
Same-way question tags
Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-
negative or negative-positive, it is sometime possible to use a
positive-positive or negative-negative structure. We use same-way
question tags to express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to
make real questions.
• So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!

• She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!
• Oh! You think that's fantastic, do you? Think again.
Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:
• So you don't like my looks, don't you?

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QUESTIONS

John is a doctor Is John a doctor?

The girls are here Are the girls here?

It isn’t snowing, is it?

• The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.

Do it now, will you? Less polite

• So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!

Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:

• So you don't like my looks, don't you?

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