1. March 4, 2010 Topic: “Questions” Language focus: Yes/No questions
Open questions
Subject/Object questions

2. Yes – No questions
In questions that can be answered with either yes or no, we put an auxiliary verb:
Are you coming?
Yes, I am / No, I’m not
Can you drive a truck?
Yes I can / No, I can’t
Do you know his name?
Yes, I do / No, I don’t
Did you arrive on time?
Yes, I did / No, I didn’t
Have you heard the news?
Yes, I have/No, I haven’t
Will you have time?
Yes, I will / No, I won’t

3. Open questions:
We use question words such as what, who, where, when, why and how to ask for more information. The question word comes before the auxiliary verb.
To ask about We use
a thing What is the brand name?
Which (one) book is it? (choice of alternatives)
a person Who is the Chief Executive?
a place Where do you come from?
a reason Why are you increasing your prices?
a moment in time What time is the meeting starting?
When did the plane land?
duration How long did you stay in England?
the number of times How many times have you been to England?

4. To ask about We use
possession Whose car is that?
quantity (count. nouns) How many books did you order?
quantity (uncount. nouns) How much money do you earn?
frequency How often do you go to dentist?
distance How far is the cinema?
description What kind of films do you like?

5. We use what if there are many possible answers and which if there are fewer possible answers:
What is their policy?
Which of these books is yours?
If who or what is the subject of the sentence, we don’t use any auxiliary verbs:
Who takes care of all the arrangements?
What happens when things go wrong?
If who, what, which or whose asks about the object, we use an auxiliary verb. The preposition comes at the end:
Who did you go with?
What are you talking about?
Whose car did you see?

6. Subject or object question?
1. What company do you work for?
2. Who works for that company?
Three questions for you:
How is Q1 different from Q2?
What is the subject of the verb in Q1?
What is the subject of the verb in Q2?

7. Answers:
Q1 asks about the object, i.e. what company the person works for whereas Q2 asks about the subject, i.e. who works for that company.
In Q1 ‘you’ is the subject.
In Q2 ‘who’ is the subject.

8. Language practice Form the following questions and write ‘O’ for Object question or ‘S’ for Subject question next to each of them:
Who / write / Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen / Charles Dickens
Where / come from / Manga comics.
Japan / China
Where / die / John Lennon.
Los Angeles / New York
Which country / win / the 2002 World Cup.
Germany / Brazil
When / end / the Vietnam War.
1963 / 1975
Who / invent / the electric light bulb.
Thomas Edison / Alexander Bell

9. Who / direct / the Star War films.
Steven Spielberg / George Lucas
When / walk on the moon / the first man.
1969 / 1970
Where / live / polar bears.
the North Pole / the South Pole
How many countries / belong to / the United Nations.
127 / 191
Which machine / invent / Guglielmo Marconi / in 1895.
the television / the radio
Who marry / Tom Cruise / in 1990.
Penelope Cruz / Nicole Kidman
When / Nelson Mandela / become President of S.Africa.
1964 / 1994

10. Answers: Who wrote Pride and Prejudice? S
Jane Austen
Where do Manga comics come from? O
Japan
Where did John Lennon die? O
New York
Which country won the 2002 World Cup? S
Brazil
When did the Vietnam War end? O
1975
Who invented the electric light bulb? S
Thomas Edison

11. Form questions with the following phrases:
Somebody broke the window.
Something fell off the shelf.
I bought something.
Somebody did the washing-up.
Something woke me up.
I lost XXXX yesterday but fortunately XXXX found it.
I needed some advice, so I asked XXXX. He said XXXX.
Steve and I played tennis yesterday. XXXX won. After the game we XXXX.
I met XXXX on my way home this evening. She told me XXXX.
XXXX phoned me last night. She wanted XXXX.

12. Keys: Who broke the window? What fell off the shelf? What did you buy?
Who did the washing-up?
What woke you up?
What did you lose? Who found it?
Who did you ask? What did he say?
Who won (the game of tennis)? What did you do after the game?
Who did you meet on your way home? What did she tell you?
Who phoned you last night? What did she want?