Questions

Yes/No Questions

To form questions we put the auxiliary or modal (can, be, will, have etc) before the subject. We use do/does to form questions in Present Simple and did to form questions in Past Simple.

He is ready. →Is he ready?

She likes reading. →Does she like reading? (not: Does he likes reading?)

Ann went out yesterday. →Did Ann go out yesterday? (not: Did Ann went out yesterday?)

Wh-questions (special questions)

Wh- questions begin with a question word (who, what, where, why, when, whose, which, how etc). Whose cat is this? It's Ted's.

Where did you stay? At the Park Hotel.

When there is a preposition, it usually goes at the end of the question.

Who does this car belong to?

We use questions to ask for information or permission. We also use questions to make suggestions, requests, offers or invitations.

Asking for information: Where did you meet her? At a party.

Asking for permission: Could I borrow your pen? Yes, you can.

Making suggestions: Shall we go out? Yes, alright.

Making requests: Could you help me, please? Yes, of course.

Making offers: Would you like some cake? No, thanks.

Making invitations: Would you like to come to my wedding? Yes, I'd love to.

We normally use the following question words to ask about:

people things/animals/actions place time quantity manner reason

Who What Where When How much How Why

Whose Which How long How many

Which What time

What How often

• Who is used without a noun to ask about people. Who told you the truth?

• Whose is used to express possession. Whose pen is this? It's his.

• Which is used for people, animals or things before nouns, one/ones, of or alone. Which car is yours? There are two newspapers here. Which one would you like to read? Which of the students will come on the school trip? Which is your bag?

• Which is normally used when there is a limited choice. Which is your favourite writer - Charles Dickens or Mark Twain? (there are only two writers to choose from - limited choice)

Which can also be used with the comparative and superlative. Which is faster, a Porsche or a Fiat? Which is the best composition of all?

• What is used before a noun or alone to ask about things. What day is it today? What did he say? What's this?

What is also used for people, animals and things when there is an unlimited choice. What books do you prefer reading? (there are many books to choose from - unlimited choice)

What can also be used in these patterns: What... like?, What... for?, What colour?, What size?, What time?, What is he like?, What is it used for? etc. What's the weather like today?

• What and which are sometimes both possible. What/Which day did he leave?

Subject/object questions

If who, which or what are the subject of the question, the word order is the same as in statements. If they are the object of the question, the verb is in question form.

subject		object	subject		object
Ted	called	Ann.	Ann	called	Mary

Who called Ann? Who did Ann call?

Question Tags

• Question tags are short questions which we add at the end of a statement. We use them to ask for confirmation of, or agreement with, our statement. It's hot today, isn’t it?

• Question tags are formed with an auxiliary verb and an appropriate pronoun. They take the same auxiliary verb as in the statement if there is one, otherwise they take do/does (Present Simple) or did (Past Simple). She was at home, wasn't she? He left late, didn't he?

• A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag, whereas a negative statement is followed by a positive question tag. She plays tennis well, doesn’t she? He hasn't come yet, has he? He's always late, isn’t he? She is never late, is she?

• Everyone/someone/anyone/no one form their question tags with an auxiliary verb + they. Somebody should help her, shouldn't they?

• Question tags can be said with a rising intonation (when we are not sure and we expect an answer) or a falling intonation (when we don't expect an answer).

He works in a bank, doesn't he? (not sure) He looks horrible, doesn't he? (sure)

Study the following question tags.

1. "I am" "aren't I?" I am older than you, aren't I?

2. "I used to" "didn't I?" They used to work here, didn't they?

3. Imperative "will you/won't you/ Please help me, will you/won't you/

can you/could you?" can you/could you?

4. "Let's" "shall we?" Let's play tennis, shall we?

5. "Let me/him" etc "will/won't you?" Let him buy it, will you/won't you?

6. "Don't" "will you?" Don't do that again, will you?

7. "I have" (= possess) "haven't I?" She has your book, hasn't she?

8. "I have" (used idiomatically) "don't I?" She had an operation yesterday, didn't

she?

9. "There is/are" "isn't/aren't there?" There are some seats left, aren't there? 10. "This/That is" "isn't it?" That pen is Mary's, isn't it?

Ex.53 Rewrite the sentence as a yes/no question.

11. The Nile is the longest river. ___________________________________________________________________?

12. Earthquakes have occurred in this country. ___________________________________________________________________?

13. The volcano had erupted before. ___________________________________________________________________?

14. 200 million years ago there was only one continent. ___________________________________________________________________?

15. People were expecting a tsunami in 2004. ___________________________________________________________________?

16. Our climate will be different in 50 years’ time. ___________________________________________________________________?

17. The capital city has continued to grow. ___________________________________________________________________?

18. The Arabian Desert and the Gobi Desert are similar in size. ___________________________________________________________________?

19. The ice at the Poles has started to melt. ___________________________________________________________________?

20. Many people were injured in the earthquake. ___________________________________________________________________?

Ex.54 How much do you know about Britain today? Do the quiz to find out.

1. Which countries form Britain?

a) England and Scotland.

b) England, Scotland and Wales.

c) England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

2. What does Cymru [kum'ri] mean?

a) It's Welsh for 'Good morning^’.

b) It's Welsh for 'Goodbye’.

c) It's Welsh for 'Wales'.

3. Where did Shakespeare live?

a) In Manchester.

b) in Stratford upon Avon.

c) In York.

4. What is the most popular restaurant dish in Britain?

a) A curry dish called Chicken Tikka Masala.

b) Roast beef.

c) Fish and chips.

5. What famous building does the Queen officially open every year with a speech?

a) Parliament.

b) Buckingham Palace.

c) The White House.

6. What ancient language do some people in Scotland speak?

a) Gaelic ['geilik].

b) Celtic.

c) Basque.

Which of the questions are subject questions (S) and which are object questions (O)?

Ex.55 Choose the correct verb form to complete the questions.

1. Who did write /wrote Hamlet?

2. How many countries do belong /belong to the European Union?

3. What does BBC stand /stands for?

4. How many people do live /live in Britain?

5. Who did win /won the last general election?

6. What percentage of seats in parliament do women hold /hold women?

Match the answers a-f to the questions 1-6.

a) The British Broadcasting Corporation.

b) The Labour Party.

c) There are 25 member states.

d) 20%.

e) 58 million.

f) Shakespeare.

Ex.56 Write a question for every answer.

1. What__________________________________________?

Spiders and horror films frighten me.

2. Who__________________________________________?

My favourite British writer is Charles Dickens.

3. Where_________________________________________?

I live in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.

4. Which party_____________________________________?

I voted for the Green Party.

Ex.57 Write questions to which the words in bold are the answers.

1. Mark is decorating the living room.

__________________________________________________________________________

2. She found Steven's wallet.

__________________________________________________________________________

3. Mum made these cakes.

__________________________________________________________________________

4. Fiona's dress was ruined at the party.

__________________________________________________________________________

5. Melissa is wearing a blue dress.

__________________________________________________________________________

6. Bob is the older of the two brothers.

__________________________________________________________________________

7. Stacey has bought a new bag.

__________________________________________________________________________

8. I like the blue jumper best.

__________________________________________________________________________

9. The roof was blown off in the storm.

__________________________________________________________________________

10. I ran into Jason the other day.

__________________________________________________________________________

11. I spoke to the manager's secretary about my complaint.

__________________________________________________________________________

12. The Ethiopian runner won the 1500m race.

__________________________________________________________________________

Ex.58 Complete the questions.

1. Ryan won two races

a) 'Who_________________________________?' 'Ryan.'

b) 'How many____________________________?' 'Two.'

2. Stanley goes swimming three times a week.

a) 'Who_________________________________?' 'Stanley.'

b) 'How often___________________________________?' 'Three times a week.'

3. There are two shirts. The yellow one is mine.

a) 'Which________________________________?' 'The yellow one.'

b) 'Whose________________________________?' 'Mine.'

4. Steven has broken Jim’s mug.

a) 'Whose________________________________?' 'Jim's.'

b) 'Who__________________________________?' 'Steven.'

5. Linda is going to the theatre this evening.

a) 'Who__________________________________?' 'Linda.'

b) 'Where_________________________________?' 'To the theatre.'

6. Anne bought Ralph a present yesterday.

1. 'Who__________________________________?' 'Anne.'

b) 'Who__________________________________?' 'Ralph.'

7. There are two bags. The one on the chair is Fay’s.

a) 'Whose_________________________________?' 'Fay’s.'

b) 'Which_________________________________?' 'The one on the chair.'

Ex.59 Use the prepositions in brackets to write questions to match the statements.

1. She bought some flowers. Who____________________________________? (for)

2. I got an invitation this morning. Who_______________________________? (from)

3. Pedro comes from Spain. Where exactly________________________________? (from)

4. I read an interesting article yesterday. What______________________________? (about)

5. Lisa is excited. What________________________________? (about)

6. Linda played tennis. Who__________________________________? (with)

7. Sam wrote a letter. Who___________________________________?(to)

8. I went to a restaurant last night. Who_________________________________? (with)

Ex.60 Fill in who, whose, what, which, where, when, how long, how often, what time, why, how much, how many or how long ago.

1. '_______________ do you play football?' 'Twice a week.'

2. '_______________does the train leave?' 'Nine o'clock.'

3. '_______________is Martin?' 'In the garden.'

4. '_______________is it?' 'Half past ten.'

5. '_______________does he earn?' £1,000 a month.'

6. '_______________sisters have you got?' Two.'

7. '_______________is this book?' '£5.'

8. '_______________did he call?' 'To invite me out to dinner.'

9. '_______________is the new driver like?' 'He's very friendly.'

10. '_______________shall we do this evening?' 'Let's go out.'

11. '_______________is the office party?' 'On Saturday.'

12. '_______________have you been waiting?' 'About half an hour.'

13. '_______________is that briefcase?' 'I think it's Tom's.'

14. '_______________of these rings do you prefer?' 'The gold one.'

15. '_______________spilt coffee on the desk?' 'I did. Sorry.'

16. '_______________did you get your exam results?' 'Last Friday.'

17. '_______________did you meet Jessie?' Two years ago.'

18. '_______________is the easiest way to get to the cinema?' 'Go through the city centre.'

Ex.61 Write questions to which the words in bold are the answers.

1. They live near the beach.

_________________________________________________________________________

2. It takes ten minutes to drive to the supermarket.

_________________________________________________________________________

3. George is selfish.

_________________________________________________________________________

4. Mary is tall, with dark hair and green eyes.

_________________________________________________________________________

5. I go swimming twice a week.

_________________________________________________________________________

6. The joke made them laugh.

_________________________________________________________________________

7. They are Miss Drake's books.

_________________________________________________________________________

8. The shoes cost twenty pounds.

_________________________________________________________________________

9. The film starts at 7 pm.

_________________________________________________________________________

10. Mr Samson wants to open a shop.

_________________________________________________________________________

11. Todd has been to Spain.

_________________________________________________________________________

12. She is happy because she has won the competition.

_________________________________________________________________________

13. Alan is a very serious person.

_________________________________________________________________________

14. They moved here six months ago.

_________________________________________________________________________

Ex.62 Make negative questions using the words given.

1. A: I'm really tired today.

B: Why?_________________________ (go) to bed early last night?

2. A: ________________________(know) what time the film starts?

B: No, but I'll phone the cinema and ask now.

3. A: Let's go to see the new Brad Pitt film tonight.

B: _________________________(already/see) it?

4. A: _________________________(help) me make dinner?

B: No, sorry. I'm very busy at the moment.

5. A: __________________________(type) the reports yet?

B: No. sir. I'll finish them before I go home, though.

6. A: ___________________________(cold)?

B: No. Actually I think it's quite warm in here.

Ex.63 Underline the correct answer.

1. A: You're new here, are you/aren't you?

B: Yes. I started work here yesterday.

A: Ah. Well, you've met everyone in the office, hadn't you/haven't you?

B: Yes. There are a lot of people working here, aren't they /aren't there?

2. A: You will remember to lock all the doors when you leave, will you/won't you?

B: Of course. I'm not stupid, am I/aren't I?

A: No. But you forgot to lock the doors last week, didn't you/did you?

B: You're not going to let me forget that, aren't you/are you?

3 A: You haven't seen Linda lately, have you/haven't you?

B: I saw her today. I told you, did I/didn't I?

A: Oh, yes! She didn't mention the party, did she/didn't she?

B: No, she didn't. It's tomorrow night, is it/isn't it?

Ex.64 Fill in the correct question tags and short answers.

1. A: You've seen that film, _______________?

B: Yes, _______________.

2. A: They want to go skiing this year, _______________?

B: No, _______________.They want to go on an adventure holiday.

3. A: He'll probably be hungry when he comes in, _______________?

B: Yes, _______________. I'll make him some sandwiches.

4. A: She likes going to the cinema, ________________?

B: No, _______________. She prefers going to the theatre.

5. A: You've been to university, ________________?

B: Yes, _______________.

6. A: I'm a bit younger than Sally, ________________?

B: Yes, _______________.

7. A: They aren't moving, _______________?

B: Yes, _______________.

8. A: You won't forget to call me, _______________?

B: No, _______________. Don't worry.

9. A: You took some photographs at the ceremony, _______________?

B: Yes, ______________. They're in this album.

10. A: He knows I'm planning a party for him, _______________?

B: No, _______________. He doesn't suspect a thing.

11. A: They have bought a new car, ________________?

B: Yes, ________________. It's a Volvo.

12. A: He works for his father, _______________?

B: Yes, ______________. His father owns a large company.

13. A: I'm not late, _______________?

B: No, _______________. You're just on time.

14. A: They'll be here in a minute, _______________?

B: Yes, _______________. We'd better tidy up.

15. A: You did the washing-up, _______________?

B: Yes, _______________ and I cleaned the kitchen.

Ex.65 Fill in the question tags.

1. You haven't got any money, _________________?

2. There’s some water in the jug, __________________?

3. She will be here n time, __________________?

4. Mum can give me a lift, ___________________?

5. You know my brother, __________________?

6. They live together, _________________?

7. We have plenty of time, _________________?

8. That boy is very clever, _________________?

9. You have a car, _________________?

10. The train will arrive soon, _________________?

11. He has finished his homework, ________________?

12. That’s my wallet, ________________?

Ex.66 Correct the mistakes.

1. 'Paul doesn't like going to the theatre.' Neither I don't.’

2. Sally is good at Maths, isn't Sally?

3. She never writes to you, doesn't she?

4. 'Mark is going to the supermarket.' 'So I am.'

5. Who did make all this mess?

6. Could you tell me when does the bus leave?

7. Come back soon, don't you?

8. She seldom receives visitors, doesn't she?

9. Everybody is here now, isn't they?

Ex.67 Cross out the unnecessary word.

1. Who did gave you this wonderful ring?

2. That was Martha's sister, wasn't it she?

3. How far is it the sports centre?

4. You don't really mean that, do you mean?

5. Didn't they not pay for the damage?

6. Don't forget to give him a call, will you not?

7. How long ago have you been studying Japanese?

8. Have you any idea what time does the train leaves?

9. They haven't got a green car, do have they?

10. 'Is Tom going away this weekend?' 'I'm not afraid so.'

11. Didn't we tell you to not watch that film?

12. We need to find out where does Bob lives.

13. Who did travelled to Portugal last month?

14. 'What is Rod look like?' 'He's generous and kind.'

Ex.68 Read the text about earthquakes. Then complete the question for each answer.