QUESTION FORMATION
YES/ NO QUESTIONS Inverting the subject and the verb Adding helping verb before the subject
QUESTIONS WITH AUXILIARIES 99% of the time we need to use something called an auxiliary (a helper) to make a question in English THE VERB TO BE I am happy. Am I happy? MODAL VERBS They can speak Spanish very well. Can they speak Spanish very well? FUTURE AUXILIARY I will see you later. Will I see you later? PRESENT PERFECT AUXILIARY He hasn’t phoned us. Hasn’t he phoned us?
QUESTIONS IN PRESENT SIMPLE 1. Use auxiliaries DO / DOES at the beginning of the question. 2. In 3rd person singular CHANGE THE VERB to the base form. The “s” from the verb is added to D-o-e-s. EXAMPLES FOR DO: We have English every Wednesday. Do we have English every Wednesday? EXAMPLES FOR DOES: My pen has black ink. Does my pen have black ink? He teaches ESL. Does he teach ESL? Maria types quickly. Does Maria type quickly?
QUESTIONS IN PAST TENSE Use the auxiliary DID (for all pronouns). Change the verb back to the base form. Examples: She talked too much. Did she talk too much? I wrote my name on the test. Did I write my name on the test? The students spoke on the phone. Did the students speak on the phone?
WH Questions WHO WHAT WHERE WHY WHEN HOW WHICH Person Things Place Reason Time Process Choose WHO WHAT WHERE WHY WHEN HOW WHICH - there are WH questions about the subject and all other WH questions
1) Sentences with auxiliary verbs -You must invert the subject and the helping verb following the ‘wh’ word. Sammy is going to Florida. Subject Helping Verb Main Verb Where? Where is Sammy going?
2) Sentences without auxiliary verbs. - need to have a form of the verb “do” inserted - change the main verb to its base form - wh word is in the initial position The man broke the window. What did the man break?
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SUBJECT - when the subject of the sentence is not known, there is no inversion - when the questions is about the subject, the WH- word (who, what, which) replaces the subject and the verb is always in the singular ? is feeling sick. Who is feeling sick? ? are learning French. Who is learning French?
ASK QUESTIONS TO THE UNDERLINED PART