Yes No question Wh-questionForm - Expect only affirmation or rejection + with an auxialiary verb We form yes-no questions with an auxiliary verb be, do or have + subject + main verb or
Trang 1Yes No question Wh-question
Form
- Expect only affirmation or rejection
+ with an auxialiary verb
We form yes-no questions with an auxiliary verb (be, do or have) +
subject + main verb or with a modal verb + subject + main verb:
Be: Is she working very hard?
Do: Does that taste okay?
Have: Have they eaten yet?
Modal: Could you help me lift this?
- Expect a reply supplying an item
of information
+ with an auxialiary verb
We usually form wh-questions with wh- +
an auxiliary verb (be, do orhave) + subject + main verb or with wh- + a
modal verb + subject + main verb:
Be: When are you leaving?
Do: Where do they live?
Have: What has she done now?
Modal: Who would she stay with?
Where there is no auxiliary verb be, have or modal verb already present in
the statement, we use the auxiliary do, does, did:
- Statement form (no auxiliary) (1)
You usually walk to work
- Question form (2)
Do you usually walk to work?
Not: Walk you…?
(1) You liked disco music in the 70s
(2) Did you like disco music in the 70s?
Not: Liked you…?
We don’t use an auxiliary verb when
we use be as a main verb:
Is she your sister?
Not: Does she be your sister?
Without an auxiliary verb
Warning:
When what, who, which or whose is the subject or part of the subject, we do not use the auxiliary We use the word order subject + verb:
What fell off the wall? Which horse won? Who bought this? Whose phone rang?
Compare
- Who owns this bag?
+ Who is the subject of the sentence and this bag is the object We use no auxiliary verb
- Who do you love most?
Who is the object of the sentence and you
is the subject We use the auxiliary verb do
Trang 2Without an auxiliary verb
When we ask yes-no questions using the main verb be, we don’t use an auxiliary verb The word order is: be +
subject:
Is the weather nice in Turkey in the
winter?
Was she angry when you told her
about the accident?
When we ask yes-no questions with the main verb have, we can also use
the word order verb + subject, but it
sounds rather formal We use have got and do as more neutral or informal
alternatives:
Have you an identity card? (formal)
Do you have an identity
card? (neutral)
Have you got an identity
card? (informal)
Warning:
When we ask questions with the main
verb have in the past to refer to possession, we use did … have rather than had … got:
Did you have your glasses with you
when you left the car?
Had you got your glasses with you
when you left the car? (less common)
Respondin
g
Other ways of
saying yes and no include yeah, yep,
mm, okay, and nah, nope These are
informal:
A:Would you like to play tennis with
me later?
B: Okay (meaning yes) A: Have you seen Greg?
B: Nope (meaning no)
We can also give more than just
a yes or no answer We sometimes add
more information:
A: Can I grow potatoes in a pot?
Wh-questions ask for information and we
do not expect a yes-no answer to a
wh-question We expect an answer which gives information:
A: Where’s the coffee machine? (We expect
an answer about the location of the coffee machine.)
B: It’s in the room next to the reception A: How old is your dog? (We expect an
answer about the age of the dog.)
B: She’s about five I’m not very sure.
Trang 3B: Yeah They grow really well in
pots.
A:Will you be going to Ryan’s party?
B: No I’m actually going to be away
on Friday night.
Sometimes we don’t use yes or no as a
reply but the answer that we give
means yes or no:
A: Do you know Tina Gomez?
B: We’ve known each other for years
We went to the same school
(meaning yes)
A: Do you have the Thrills latest
album?
B: I’m afraid we’ve just sold the last
one! (meaning no)
We sometimes respond using the auxiliary verb from the question
instead of yes and no:
A: Has Jason had breakfast?
B: He hasn’t He’s still in bed.
yes-no questions to check or
confirm something we believe
or expect to be the case, or when we consider that something is the best thing to do:
Isn’t that Pauline’s car? (I’m
pretty sure that this is correct
I’m asking for confirmation.)
Shouldn’t we be leaving? (I
think that we should leave now.)
We form negative
yes-no questions with yes-not We
When we ask negative wh-questions, we use the auxiliary verb do when there is no other auxiliary or modal verb, even when the wh-word is the subject of the clause
Affirmative with
no auxiliary
Negative with auxiliary do Who wants an ice
cream?
Which door opened?
Who doesn’t want
an ice cream? Which door didn’t open?
Trang 4usually use the contraction n’t
If we use not in its full form,
the question sounds very formal:
Isn’t that the oldest building
on this street?
Warning:
When using the full form not,
the order auxiliary + subject (s)
+ not is more common than auxiliary + not + subject:
[AUX][s]Is that [not]not the
oldest building in this street? (formal) (preferred to
[the very
formal] Is not that the oldest
building on this street?)
- We can use
negative yes-no question
s to make invitations, offers and complaints stronger:
Won’t you stay for
dinner? (invitation; stronger than Will you stay for dinner?)
Wouldn’t you like another
coffee? (offer; stronger than Would you like another coffee?)
Can’t the manager do
something about the noise? (complaint; stronger than Can the manager do something about the noise?)
Intonation The intonation of yes-no questions is
normally either rising [rising↗ arrow]
or fall-rising [down↘ up↗ arrow]
intonation depending on the meaning
If we do not know the answer, we use rising intonation If we more or less know the answer and are looking for
The intonation of wh-questions is normally
falling The falling intonation is on the most important syllable:
Where are the keys to the back door? ↘ Why are the lights red? ↘
When we ask wh-questions to check or
clarify information that has already been given, we may use rising or fall-rising
Trang 5confirmation, we use fall-rising
intonation:
Are you warm↗ enough?
Did you once live↘ in Ireland↗? (I
think the answer is yes.)
We often use fall-rising intonation
with yes-no questions when asking a
number of questions together:
A: You’re living in ↘
Bayswater↗? [Question 1]
B: Yeah That’s right.
A: Are you renting↘ your ↗
house? [Question 2]
B: Yeah, we are.
A: Is it exp↘ensi↗ve? [Question 3]
B: It’s not very expensive for
somewhere so near the city centre.
intonation:
What↗ did you say the time was? (I know
you’ve told me before but I’ve forgotten.)
Who↘ paid↗ for the meal?
#chuatomo