Understand English Question Formation
Question formation in English differs from the formation of other sentences in two main ways. The beginning word order is reversed. Instead of beginning with the subject, questions begin with a helping verb (or with a question word like ‘who’ or ‘what’ and then the helping verb), then the subject, then the main verb and the rest of the sentence.
In addition, (unlike affirmative sentences), questions almost always require a helping verb-- most often ‘do’-- along with the main verb. (The verb ‘be’ is sometimes an exception to this. It serves as a helping verb for the continuous tenses, but it can also stand alone.We don’t use ‘do’ together with ‘be.’ See the examples below.) The helping verb at the beginning (as well as the question word in information questions) tells us to listen for a question.
There are two kinds of questions in English.
i.e.
1. Wh – questions
When we are asking for information we begin a question with a ‘Wh-‘ question word: who, what, when, where, why, or how (as well as whom, which, how many, how much, how long, etc.)
2. Yes / No questions
When we just need a yes or no answer, we omit the question word and begin directly with the helping verb.
See the charts below for examples of some questions.
Information (Wh-) Questions
1st 2nd &3rd Helping 4th Main
Verb then rest
of the
Question
Word Verb &
Subject (usually in base form) sentence(if
any)
(information Qs)
What do you want for dinner?
Where
When
When did
the pain start? this morning?
How
How
much do
you weigh? this cough?
How
often should
I take sick?
How
long
*How
long
What
color
Example For Interrogatives
What
What do
you normally eat in the morning? I
normally eat bread and butter.
Where
Where are
you coming from? I
am coming from Galle.
How
How did you come here today? I
came hear bus us today
When
When were
you born? I
was born on March.23 1998
Why
Why didn't you come yesterday? I didn't come because I am sick
Whom
Whom
do you love most in your family? I
love my mother most in my family.
How
much
How
much money is there in your purse? There
is Rs 500/= in mu purse
How
long
How
long have you been learning English? I
have you been learning English for two months
How
far
How
far do you travel daily? I
travel about ten km daily.
How
often
How
often do you bath? I
bath twice a week.
How
many times
How
many times have you been to my place? I
have been to your place twice.
At
what time
At
what time did you get up to day? I
got up 5 o'clock today.
Which
Which is
your bag? This
is my bag.
Whose
Whose pen
are you using? I
am using my pen.
What
type of
What
type of people do you like? I
like honest people.
What
sort of
What
sort of stores of stories have you read? I
have read detective stories.
What
kind of
What
kind of pens have you brought? I
have brought Venus Pens.
What
brand of
What
brand of must I buy? I
must buy Super Flash toothpaste.
To
what extent
To
what extent have you been educated? I
have been educated up to GCE A/L.
In
what way
In
what way are you going to help me? I
am going to help you by giving money.
In
which way
In
which way can you help me? I
can help you this way.
In
what manner
In
what manner do you like to live? I
like to live in a peaceful manner.
In
which manner
In
which manner can you treat me? I
can treat you this manner.
For
what propose
For
what propose have you come here? I
have come hear to handover this letter.
With
what
With
what did mother feed you? My
mother fed me with a spoon.
What
else
What
else do you have to do in the morning? I
have to cook too in the morning.
Where
else
Where
else will you go tomorrow? I
will go to market also tomorrow.
When
else
When
else can you come here? I
can come here tomorrow as well.
How
else
How
else can you come here? I
can come here by bus too.
Whom
else
Whom
else do you love in your family? I
love my little sister too in my family.
Who
Who help
you most? My
sister helps me most.
In
what
In what do you keep your money? I keep my money in the purse.
In what do you keep your money? I keep my money in the purse.
Yes or No Questions
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(*Note that for perfect tenses the helping verb is ‘have’ and the main verb is in past participle form. For continuous tenses the helping verb is ‘be’ and the main verb is in the present participle form.)
~~~~ The following note will depict you the collocation of the question formation viz The Tag question type.
Tag question is a statement which has been transformed into a question by putting a question tag at the end.
Rule: Use a question tag based on the subject-verb of the sentence. In the basic tag question formation, the rules below apply.
SUBJECT+ VERB (POSITIVE) .... .., (NEGATIVE) VERB+SUBJECT ?
eg: She came, didn't she? OR She did come, didn't she?
They are happy to be here, aren't they?
SUBJECT+ VERB (NEGATIVE) .... , (POSITIVE) VERB+SUBJECT ?
eg: She doesn't like chores, does she?
They haven't been informed, have they?
However, this section will explain to you the exceptions of tag question formation. Not all sentence types follow the general rules above. The exceptions are as listed below.
1) | negative adverbs | ||||||||||||
| Sentences with negative adverbs such as hardly,never,barely, rarely,scarcely,seldom do not have a negative question tag at the end.
Eg;-
They seldom come, don't they?
They seldom come, do they?
He is never available, isn't he?
He is never available, is he?
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| 2) | quantifiers with negative meaning | ||||||||||||
Sentences with quantifiers denoting negative meaning such as no,none of, not one,neither of, not any, few, little, hardly any, scarcely any, not many do not require a negative question tag at the end.
Few men have the proper values to live through this age, don't they? Few men have the proper values to live through this age, do they? Little money was invested in this scheme, wasn't it? Little money was invested in this scheme, was it? |
