Write 5 general English questions. Reinforcement task

Every day we ask questions. For example, we often ask:

- How are you?

- What did you do yesterday?

Who will go to the store?

Are you going to the cafe or not?

Everyone who is learning English should know how questions are formed, because without them you will not be able to communicate. In English there is 5 types of questions.

In the article I I will explain how they differ from each other, when they are used and how they are formed.

Special questions in English

The word "special" means "designed exclusively for something." Accordingly, this question needed to find out the specific information you are interested in. Therefore, it is called special, that is, you want to clarify special information.

for example

Where are you going to rest?

We will find out specific information - the place where the person will go.

How to build a special question?

It is asked using the following question words:

• what - what,
• where - where,
• when - when
• who - who,
• why - why,
• how (much/often/long) - how (many/often/long).

A special question is built according to the scheme:

Interrogative word + auxiliary verb + character + action being performed?

Examples

Walkthrough
>> How to ask specific questions.

Question to the subject in English

The subject calls who or what the sentence is about.

In a survey, the subject is asked with the interrogative words who and what, which replace the character or object referred to in the sentence. for example

Who will pack your suitcase for you?

Therefore, we ask the question to the subject when we do not know who performed the action or has a sign.

How to construct a question to the subject?

The peculiarity of this question will be the order of words in the sentence. In this type of question, the word order never changes and goes like in an affirmative sentence. The scheme of such a proposal would be as follows:

Who + action?

For example, we have an affirmative sentence

They played tennis.
They played tennis.

We just substitute the question word who instead of they.

Who played tennis?
Who played tennis?

At the same time, we imagine that who / what is the singular person in question (he, she). Therefore, the sentence should be constructed as if in place of who/what costs he/she.

For example, we have an offer

They were in the car.
They were in the car.

When asked, we forget about they and represent he in its place, therefore, we replace were with was

Who were in the car?
Who was in the car?

Examples

Who likes to sing?
Who loves to sing?

What was in the box?
What was in the box?

Who is a doctor?
Who is the doctor?

Walkthrough:
>> How to build a question to the subject? .

Alternative questions in English

True to its name, this question involves an alternative, that is, the right to choose. Asking him we give the interlocutor two options to choose from.

Example

Will you fly to England or Germany?

In this matter, always there is a union or (or). The question itself is built as a general question, only at the end with our or we add a choice clause.

Scheme for constructing an alternative question:

Auxiliary verb + actor + action performed + ___ or ___?

Examples

Will they go to the park or to the cinema?
Will they go to the park or to the cinema?

Did buy apples or pears?
Did you buy apples or pears?

Does he work or study?
Is he working or studying?

Walkthrough:
>> How to build an alternative question correctly.

Separating questions in English

This type of question is also called a "tail question". A question expresses doubt or desire for confirmation of something.

for example

You've already packed your suitcase, haven't you?

It is divisive because consists of 2 parts, separated by a comma.

The first part is built as an affirmative or negative sentence with the usual word order.

The second part (“tail”) looks like a short question. It consists of:

• auxiliary verb (depends on the time used in the first part);
• character (I, you, he, she, they, it, we, you) used in the first part.

We translate such a "tail" into Russian as "isn't it so" / "isn't it true."

1. If the first part of the sentence is affirmative, then the second part is negative.

Affirmative sentence + auxiliary verb + not (abbreviated) + character?

Examples

He called you yesterday didn't he?
He called you yesterday, didn't he?

They play tennis every weekend don't they?
They play tennis every weekend, don't they? Examples

So, we have analyzed all five types of questions in English. Now let's move on to practice.

Reinforcement task

Make 5 types of questions from the following affirmative sentences:

1. He went to school yesterday.
2. She gave me a phone.
3. We will read this book.
4. They bought a car.
5. She doesn't like to cook.

Leave your answers in the comments below the article.

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 put the auxiliary verb in the first place in the sentence.

So, we 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! There are "strong verbs" in English that 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 question of choice. Let me show you with our example: "DO THEY or WE go to Sochi every summer?", "Do they GO or FLY to Sochi every summer?", "Do they go to Sochi or Murmansk every summer?", "Do they go to Sochi every SUMMER or WINTER?"

Conclusion: we can give an alternative to each member of the sentence. In this case, we always use the union "or" - "or". Remember it!

To summarize. To ask an alternative question, we bring forward the auxiliary verb (as in a general question) and do not forget to ask an alternative to any member of the sentence using the union "or".

We get: "Do we or they go to Sochi every summer?"
or: "Do they go to Sochi or Murmansk every summer?"

3) A dividing question. Tag-question

A question with a "tail")) We translate the tail "Isn't it?"
A disjunctive question is constructed according to the following formula:

our sentence unchanged + comma + tail?

What is this ponytail? 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, you need to accurately determine the time .. In our case - Present Simple .. auxiliary verbs "Do" / "Does .. "They" - "Do". We look again at our proposal and determine whether it is negative or affirmative .. Affirmative - it means that 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, we 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 "I am" acts as the subject and predicate, we write "...., aren" t I?"

4) Special question. Special Question

A question in which the speaker asks for 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 referred to as 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? - as?
when? - when?

Special question formula:
Interrogative 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 kind of special question separately, since it has a different structure:

Who / What + rewrite the sentence without the subject.

Attention!!! Most importantly - Who / what - 3rd person, singular! Do you remember that in Present Simple, in this case, the ending "-s / -es" is added to the verb!

We get: "Who goes to Sochi every summer?"

There are five types of questions in English:

I. General Question - General Question(for convenience of notation in further formulas, we denote this type of question by the letter T).

II. Alternative Question(question-choice).

III. Special Question Special Question

IV. Disjunctive question(question-request, declarative sentence + short question to it ( Question Tags)).

V. Question to the subject.

Characteristics of question types

I - applied to the whole offer, and it can be given short answer "yes" or "no":

Do you live in Kyiv? - Yes.
He is a student? - Not.

II - question-choice that cannot be answered with "yes" or "no" you have to choose an answer:

Do you live in Kyiv or Lvov? - I live in Kyiv.
Is he a student or a worker? - Student.

III - is put to some separate word (member) of the sentence(requires a specific answer). Based on this characteristic, we can put a question to the word - subject in the sentence, and this will also be a special question. But the construction of a question to the subject differs from the construction of all other special questions, therefore the question to the subject is taken out as an independent type of questions ( V).

Where do you live?
Who is he?

IV - corresponds to Russian questions - questions like "is not it?", "it's true?". These questions, as well as general questions, require an affirmative or negative answer, that is, the affirmation or denial of the thought expressed in the question.

I live in Kyiv, right?
He's not a student, is he?

V - to questions to the subject or to its definition short answers are usually given, which consist of the subject and the appropriate auxiliary verb in the required person, number, tense.

Who lives on Kiev? My sister does.

Building questions

1. The basis for constructing all types of questions(except the last one) is a common question. There are two ways to construct a general question:

First way refers to all sentences whose predicate is any form of verbs "to be", "to have" or modal verbs (if they are part of a complex predicate). The general question according to the first method is built according to the rule of the verb "to be".

Is not a student.
Is he a student?

I have read the book.
Have I read the book?

Second way applies to all other sentences (when the verbs listed above are not included in the predicate). The general question for the second method is built according to the formula:

Everyone knows this phrase without error, even those who cannot say anything else in English. It is taken as an example, a standard of a general question.

Using the substitution method according to this formula, you can put a general question to any sentence that fits the second method of constructing a question.

I live in Kiev.
Do I live in Kiev?

We lived in Kiev last year.
Did we live in Kiev last year?

He lives in Kiev.
Does he live in Kiev?

Having mastered the construction of the general question (which we T), we can proceed to the construction of all other questions.

2. An alternative question consists of a general question plus a choice given through the word "or" ("or").

Do you live in Kiev or in Lvov?

Briefly, this construction can be written as follows: T + "or".

3. A special question consists of a special word plus a general question.

Special questions are:

what- what, who
who- who
whose- whose, whose
where- where, where
when- when
why- why
which- which one, etc.

In all these special words, the first two letters are common. "wh", so the special question formula can be written as follows: "wh" + T

4. Separation questions consist of 2 parts: First part represents narration(declarative sentence) - affirmative or negative, a the second is a short general question for the first part (Question Tags), which consists of:

a) auxiliary (or modal) verb in the required form

b) subject (always in the form of a pronoun)

c) there is always an inverse relationship between the first and second parts: if the 1st part is positive, then the 2nd is negative and vice versa.

The tag question formula: S, + start T.

I live in Kiev.
I live in Kiev, don't I?
My friend is a student, isn't he?

Examples of the use of tag questions are discussed in scene 11.

5. To build question to subject(or its definition) in a declarative sentence, you only need to replace the subject with a question word who "who" or what "what", "which", whose "whose", which "which". No more build changes.

Question words who, what, which usually agree with the verb-predicate in the 3rd person singular.

I live in Kiev?
Who lives in Kiev?
My friend is a student.
Who is a student?

5 types of questions in English are sometimes incomprehensible to pupils, students and all those who study English. Therefore, all types of interrogative sentences in English are considered here.
1. General Questions

The general question in English is the simplest. This is a question that provides either "yes" or "no" as an answer. That is a question for general information. Therefore, sometimes this question is called "yes / no question".

It is formed by moving an auxiliary verb or modal verb to the first position in a sentence. Full rule:

Auxiliary verb + subject + semantic verb + object

The auxiliary verb depends on what tense you want to ask:

Past Simple - Did
Present Simple - Do / Does
Future Simple - Shall / Will
Past Continuous - Was / Were
Present Continuous - Am / Is / Are
Future Continuous - Shall / Will
Past Perfect-Had
Present Perfect - Have/Has
Future Perfect - Shall / Will + after the subject comes the auxiliary verb have
Past Perfect Continuous - Had + after the subject comes the auxiliary verb has been
Present Perfect Continuous - Have / Has + after the subject comes the auxiliary verb has been
Future Perfect Continuous - Shall / Will + after the subject comes auxiliary verbs have been
Future in the Past - Would

Answers to a general question can be either short (Yes / No + subject and auxiliary or modal verb) or complete. The time remains unchanged. examples:

Have you been to London? - Yes, I have (Yes, I have been to London). - Have you been to London? Yes (I was in London).

Did you buy this car? - Yes, I did (Yes, I bought this car). — Did you buy this car? — Yes (I bought this car).

Do they play football? - No, they do not (No, they do not play football). - They play football? No (they don't play football).

Could you do that? - No, I could not (No, I could not do that). - Could you do it? — No (no, I can do it).

2. Special Questions

A special question is a question for more information. This question always begins with an interrogative word (except for the interrogative words What and Who - they are used in questions to the subject).
The word order in special questions is the same as in general questions, with one exception: the auxiliary verb is preceded by an interrogative word. Examples:

What did you visit in Kyiv last time? — What have you recently visited in Kyiv?

Where do they go? — Where are they going?

How did you manage to get tickets? How did you manage to get tickets?

3. Question to the subject (Who ...? What ...?)

If there is a need to put a question to the subject, then use the interrogative words Who? and What?. The word order in the question is slightly changed from the previous two, since the subject itself is not used in relation to the subject. That is, the formula will be as follows:

Who / What + semantic verb + object

Who is he? - Who is he?

What is that? - What is it?

4. Alternative Questions

An alternative question involves two or more choices through the use of the word or. The word order in such a question is the same as in the general question.

Does she like coffee or tea? Does she like coffee or tea?

Did he buy motorbike or bicycle? Did he buy a motorcycle or a bicycle?

5. Questions with punctuation marks (Disjunctive Questions)

The dividing question is called so because it is divided into two parts by means of a coma. In the first part of the question there is a statement, and in the second - a question to this statement. The purpose of the disjunctive question is to test the veracity of the statement. These questions are often used in colloquial speech, when the interlocutor "inadvertently" tries to find out some information based on the available facts.

Part 1 - part of the dividing question - this is a typical affirmative sentence with a typical word order in it: subject - verb - application.

Part 2 is an auxiliary verb in the tense indicated in part 1 and the subject. If we build a question from a statement, then there will be objections in part 2. If we build a question from negation, then there will be an affirmation.

Example:

Are you playing tennis? You play tennis, don't you?

He goes to the gym, does not he? He goes to the gym, doesn't he?

Bill is not famous person, is he? Bill is not a known person, is he?

They have not been to Paris, have they? They haven't been to Paris, have they?

Here you can take a lesson on the topic: Question and its varieties in English. Different types of Questions in English.

There are three types of basic sentences in English. These are affirmative, also called narrative, negative and interrogative. In this tutorial, we'll take a closer look at interrogative sentence and its varieties.

English questions are quite different from Russian ones, especially in the order of words in a sentence. Most English questions are formed using inversion (permutation of words) and the use of auxiliary verbs.

In total, there are 5 types of questions in English (general, special, alternative, disjunctive, to the subject), and each of them has its own characteristics. We will dwell on each of them in detail:

1. General question(General Question) - the most common and important type of question in the English language. Knowing the rules for composing a general question, you can easily create all the others.

The word order in the general question is as follows:

Auxiliary verb - Subject - Predicate - Object - Adverbial modifier? For example:

Do you have a cup of coffee every morning? - Do you drink a cup of coffee every morning?

The main members of interrogative sentences are auxiliary verb, subject and predicate, because their presence is mandatory. And the remaining members of the proposal may be omitted from the proposal. For example:

Does he swim? - He is swimming?
Do you like ice cream? - Do you like ice cream?

If the proposal uses modal verb(everything except have to and need to) or the verb to be, then the help of an additional auxiliary verb is not required, since these verbs themselves become supportive and placed in front of the subject. The auxiliary verb and subject then become obligatory members of the sentence, and the rest may be omitted depending on the context. Let's look at examples:

Are you a manager? - Are you a manager?
Can you sing well? - Can you sing well?
May I come in? - May I come in?
Must he sign his name here? - Should he sign here?
Would you like another piece of cake? - Would you like another piece of cake?

The general question can also be negative. For example:

Don "t you like this film? - Don't you like this film?
Isn "t she adorable? - Isn't she adorable?
Can "t we meet another day? - Could we meet another day?

We considered many questions in the present simple tense, but how to ask questions about past actions or future? Knowing the order of words in a general question, this will not be difficult. Questions in the past and future tense differ from questions in the present only in auxiliary verbs. The past tense auxiliary is did, and the future is will. The verbs did and will do not change in persons and numbers. Let's look at a few examples:

Do you like skating? - Do you like skating?
Did you like skating? - Did you like skating?
Will you like skating? - Do you like skating?

Does he ask you many questions? Does he ask you a lot of questions?
Did he ask you many questions? Did he ask you a lot of questions?
Will he ask you many questions? Will he ask you a lot of questions?

All general questions require short answers: Yes or no. Short answers in English directly dependent on the auxiliary verb used in the question. Let's look at examples:

Does she get on your nerves? -Yes, she does. -No, she doesn't. - Does she get on your nerves? - Yes. - No.
Did you get a good mark for this exam? -Yes, I did. -No, I didn't. - Did you get a good grade for this exam? -Yes. -No.
Are you Jared's sister? -Yes, I am. -No, I'm not. Are you Jared's sister? -Yes. -Not.
Is he the oldest child in the family? -Yes, he is. -No, he isn't. - Is he the oldest child in the family? -Yes. -No.
Can you call me later? -Yes, I can. -No, I can "t. - Can you call me later? -Yes. -No.
May I come in? -Yes, you may. -No, you may not. - Can I come in? -Yes. -Not.

2. Special question (Special Question) is a question that begins with special question words: who? (who?) what? (what?) where? (where?) when? (when?) how much? (how much?) whose? (whose?), etc. It is also popularly called Wh-question.

Knowing the rules for composing general questions in English, you can easily compose a special question. After all, the basic rule of special questions is to put question word(what, who, why) before the auxiliary verb, and the rest of the question remains the same as in the general question. Let's take an example and compare:

Did you fight with him again? Did you fight him again?
Why did you fight with him again? Why did you fight him again?
Where did you fight with him again? - Where did you fight him again?
When did you fight with him again? When did you fight him again?

Sometimes items for which a special question is asked, out of the general question. For example:

Do you speak French? - Do you speak french?
What languages ​​do you speak? - What languages ​​do you speak?

Does he like watching TV in the evening? Does he like to watch TV in the evening?
What does he like watching in the evening? - What does he like to watch in the evening?
When does he like watching TV? - When does he like to watch TV?

In proposals in modal verbs or with to be, interrogative words are placed again at the beginning, before these verbs. For example:

How can I help you? - How can I help you?
What is your name? - What is your name? / What is your name?
Where are you from? - Where you're from?
Why should I help him? Why should I help him?
Which food is your favourite? - What's your favorite food?

Often in English special questions there are prepositions associated with the main verb. Typically, these prepositions are at the very end of the sentence. For example:

What are you looking for? -What are you looking for?
Who does he take after? - Who does he look like? / Who did he go to?
Who is she talking to? - Who is she talking to?
What are they talking about? - What are they talking about?

3. Alternative question(Alternative Question) - this is a kind of question that invites you to make a choice. In an alternative question, the union or (or) is always present. The peculiarity of this question is that the answer is, as it were, already present in the question, you only need to choose from two given objects, persons, qualities, etc. Let's look at an example:

Do you like apricots or peaches? - Do you like apricots or peaches?
Is he from England or from Wales? - Is he from England or Wales?
Can she sing or dance? - Can she sing or dance?

As can be seen from the examples, the construction of alternative questions differs little from the general ones, except that the union is added or (or) and an optional part to choose from. The additional part is usually shortened and can be expressed in one word or a short phrase. For example:

Is she a lawyer or a judge? - Is she a lawyer or a judge?
Did he go to his place or to his friend's? - Did he go to himself or to a friend?
Will you be in office at 5pm or at home? - Will you be at the office by 5 pm or at home?

An alternative question can be similar to a special one. For example:

What are you going to order: pizza or sushi? - What are you going to order: pizza or sushi?
When are having a holiday: in June or in July? - When will you have a vacation: in June or in July?

4. Separated question(Tag Question) is a type of question that expresses doubt, surprise or confirmation of what has been said. A disjunctive question is formed by adding a short phrase with an auxiliary verb to an ordinary affirmative sentence, giving the whole sentence a doubt. The Russian equivalent of the tag question is "isn't it?"

In English, in order to correctly compose this short dividing part, you need to carefully study the sentence itself. If the sentence is affirmative, then the dividing part will be negative, and vice versa, if the sentence is negative, then the dividing part will be affirmative. The disjunctive question is formed with the help of auxiliary verb, used in the sentence, and a pronoun that could replace the subject of this sentence. Let's look at an example:

John is a good student, isn't he? - John is a good student, isn't he? (the sentence is affirmative, so the separating part is negative)

Let's try to make some more dividing questions:

Linda is the most beautiful girl in the class, isn't she? - Linda is the most beautiful girl in the class, isn't she?
Jamie's parents aren't from Spain, are they? - Jamie's parents are not from Spain, are they?
We aren't going to London tomorrow, are we? - We're not going to London tomorrow, are we?
It will be the best summer in their life, won "t (will not) it? - This will be the best summer in their life, right?
He can climb any tree, can "t he? - He can climb any tree, right?

We already know that all English verbs, with the exception of to be and modal, build questions with the help of auxiliary verbs do, does or did(if we are talking about the past). For example:

You don't like your neighbors, do you? - You don't like your neighbors, do you?
He likes his friend's sister, doesn't he? - He loves his friend's sister, doesn't he?
They found a new babysitter, didn't they? - They found a new babysitter, didn't they?

As can be seen from the examples, all disjunctive questions are asked in order to express doubt, surprise, or find confirmation of what has been said.

5. Question to the subject(Subject Question) is a special category of questions in which you do not need to change direct word order, those. it remains the same as in a normal declarative sentence. Thus, this is the only type of questions where there is no need for auxiliary verbs and there is no inversion (permutation of the members of the sentence). For example:

Who came to the party? - Who came to the party?
What happened at the end? - What happened in the end?
How many students arrived to the lesson?- How many students came to the lesson?

Questions to the subject often begin with interrogative words. who?, what?, how many/ how much? The meaning of the question to the subject lies in the fact that interrogative pronouns in it perform the role of the subject. For example:

Who is taliking to you? - Who is talking to you? (direct word order in a sentence: Subject - Predicate - Object)

Thus, we got acquainted with all kinds of English questions and considered each of them separately. From the lesson we can conclude that the most important thing is to learn how to compose ordinary declarative sentences and general questions to them, then all other categories of English sentences will be much easier to compose.