When forming interrogative sentences, the verb to do is used in the appropriate tense, person and number (in Past Simple — did, in Present Simple for the 3rd person singular — does, for the rest — do). It is placed before the subject, and the main verb in infinitive form after the subject.
Question word + auxiliary (or modal) verb + subject + predicate + object + rest of the sentence. Easier — with an example: What (question word) are (auxiliary verb) you (subject) cooking (predicate)?
What is an interrogative sentence in English?
An interrogative sentence is one of the types of sentences that is generally used to ask a question, and at the end it is surrounded by a question mark (?) In the text.
How to make an interrogative sentence in grade 2 English?
Scheme: Question word + auxiliary verb + predicate + addition + circumstance? In English, there is such a concept as questions to the main member of the sentence — the subject. These phrases start with who or what.
How to make an interrogative English out of an affirmative sentence?
If the first part is an affirmative sentence, then in the second part not must be placed after the interrogative or modal verb. If the first part of the question is a negative sentence, then the not particle is not used in the second part. You have done the homework, haven’t you?
When a question doesn’t need an auxiliary verb?
If the verb to be is in the role of the predicate and we ask the question in Present Simple or Past Simple, then neither auxiliary nor modal verbs are needed. In such cases, to form a question, you only need to rearrange the predicate and subject.
How to compose 5 types of questions in English?
General table of 5 types of questions
| Question | Use cases |
|---|---|
| General question | We ask when we want to find out general, basic information. |
| Special question | We ask to find out certain, specific information that interests us. |
| Question to the subject | We set it when we want to know who is performing the action. |
How to put a sentence into an interrogative one?
The question should start with the main part of the sentence, not with a subordinate clause. Since the auxiliary verbs here are Will and Would, the word order here is: Will (Would) + subject + verb: Will you help him, if he asks you?
How are these affirmative sentences?
affirmative sentence — A sentence in which the connection established between the subject of speech and what is said about it is realized as really existing (cf. negative sentence) …
How is an interrogative sentence formed?
The interrogative word is placed at the beginning of the sentence, followed by the verb (or auxiliary verb), the subjects — and then the rest of the sentence.
How to make an interrogative from an affirmative sentence?
An affirmative sentence implies that you are reporting a fact or express an opinion, an interrogative one — that you want to find out about them from someone. To transform a statement into a question, you can move the auxiliary verb, move the «to be» verb in one form or another, or add the «to do» verb.
How do I ask a general question?
How common questions are formed at different times In a common question, the reverse word order is used. This means that we will put the auxiliary verb in the first place, the subject in the second, and the main verb in the third. He (subject) goes (main verb) to work every day.
How is the Present Simple interrogative form formed?
The interrogative form is formed using the auxiliary verb do (does — in the 3rd person singular), which is placed before the subject, and the infinitive of the main verb without the particle to.
What is the word order in the English interrogative sentence?
In the first place the necessary QUESTIONAL WORD is put, in the second — the FAVORABLE, in the third place — the SUBJECT, in the fourth place are the SECONDARY members of the sentence.
How to make an interrogative sentence in Past Simple?
The structure of the special question is almost the same as that of the general one — in the first place is the interrogative word, in the second — the auxiliary verb, in the third place is the subject, in the fourth — the predicate in the form of the infinitive. Typical of the past simple tense is a special question starting with when.
Open-Ended interrogative sentences
Open-ended interrogative sentences are very common in English. This is a question when you want to get more information about something. We often invert the subject and the verb and add a question word.
There are 8 question words in English.
What
What is used to ask for more information about people or things. When you don’t know something you can use What.
What is in that cake?
What is she doing
What do you do?
We also use what when we are surprised. We often just shout What…??
We use What…for to ask for the reason similar to Why.
What did you do that for?
What is that tool for?
Where
We use Where to show the location or place.
Where is my car?
Where are you now?
Where are you going?
Where can I buy a new car?
We also use Where to ask at what stage of a process/situation you are at.
Where are you on the Jefferson report?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Who
We use Who to discover the subject of the action. For example. Peter joined the football team. But…. If we don’t know that Peter joined then we ask the question Who joined the football team? (See below for why we don’t use “did” in this sentence)
Who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final?
Who is the best singer at the moment?
Who painted your house?
When
We use When to describe the time of a situation or event.
When did you buy your guitar?
When did Peter and Jane start dating?
When did you watch Batman?
Why
We use Why to discover the reason for something.
Why did you quit running?
Why did you buy that phone?
Why do we need curtains?
Which
We use Which when there is a choice to make
Which football team do you support?
Which do you prefer? tea or coffee?
Which musical instrument do you want to play?
Whose
We use whose to ask who owns something.
Whose bag is this?
Whose sunglasses are these?
Whose bike is this?
How
We use How to describe the process so another person can understand.
How do you tie a shoelace?
How did he do that?
How do you download a video from Youtube?
For more information about Wh Questions read my article here.
Other Types of Interrogatives
Yes/No Questions
Yes/No questions are closed questions. The answer to these questions is usually some form of Yes/No or Maybe. We usually ask these questions when we want to confirm something. They start with the auxiliary verb(do, be, have or modal verb)
Examples
Did you have fun last night? Yes
Are you from Ireland? Yes
Have you ever been to Disneyland Paris? Yes
Can you cycle a unicycle? No
Question Tags
A question tag is a sentence with a question at the end. It’s used to check or confirm that you’ve understood something correctly.
For example:
The restaurant is lovely, isn’t it?
We also use question tags to confirm things that we think are true.
You have done your homework, haven’t you?
Special questions in English are as easy to learn as general questions. Especially if you are learning the topic after you learned the general questions.
It can also be said that the topic “special questions” is an addition to the topic “general questions”.
Remember to read How to learn English with audiobooks for FREE
Why do we need special questions?
Special questions are questions that we ask in order to get additional information. We ask a special question when a general question is not enough.
Because we ask general questions to get a yes or no answer:
Question: Jack do you have any friends?
We ask this question just to find out yes/no if John has friends:
Answer: Yes, I do.
But what if we want to find out more. If we need to know how many friends John has?
The words “how many” are additional question words. These words turn a general question into a special one.
How many friends do you have?
Or we can use even a longer phrase:
How many of your friends do you like?
These additional words or phrases are the difference between a special question and a general question.
Special questions in the English language may differ in length, but their structure is always the same.
Examples:
Where did you find this doctor?
Where will you go with your history?
What do you feel for me?
How do you even know he was driving?
Where will this bizarre man stay?
How to form Special questions in English
We put a question word or phrase at the beginning of the sentence. Then we put an auxiliary verb or a modal verb or the verb to be. Then we put the subject. We can then add the rest of the sentence if needed.
Examples:
Where did you get this information?
Why did you get this information?
When did you get this information?
From whom did you get this information?
For what did you get this information?
The scheme looks like this:
Question word or phrase (when, why, how much, where) + Auxiliary verb (do, will, did) or modal verb (can, should, may) or verb to be (am, were, are) + Subject (I, We, John, People) + main verb (read, work, go) + rest of the sentence if necessary.
What do you know about love?
How can you think of food now?
How to answers special questions
The answer to a special question may be short:
Question: When are you going to see your aunt?
Answer: Tomorrow.
Or long:
Question: When are you going to see your aunt?
Answer: I am going to see her tomorrow.
In any case, the main purpose of answering a special question is to provide the necessary information.
Look at the different options for special questions and answers.
Question: When are you going to tell him?
Answer: Tomorrow morning.Question: How do I start screen sharing?
Answer: You should click the red button.Question: When do you want to meet him?
Answer: I don’t want to meet him at all!Question: Why are you pretending to laugh?
Answer: Because your joke isn’t funny.Question: How do we drop five points?
Answer: We lost the game.Question: Why does she need to leave town?
Answer: Because she needs to find a new job.Question: When do you want me to leave?
Answer: Now!
Special Question to the subject
Remember that in a subject question, the word order remains the same as in an affirmative sentence.
In a special question to the subject, we put a question word in the place of the subject:
We made a big sand statue on the beach.
We -> Who +?
Who made a big sand statue on the beach?
Negative form of special questions
A negative special question is no different from a positive special question, except for the negative particle not, which we put after the subject.
Auxiliary verbs/modal verbs/the verb to be with a negative particle not are usually abbreviated (n’t):
is not – isn’t
are not – aren’t
was not – wasn’t
were not – weren’t
do not – don’t
does not – doesn’t
did not – didn’t
have not – haven’t
has not – hasn’t
will not – won’t
can not – can’t
must not – mustn’t
should not – shouldn’t
Examples of negative special questions:
Why doesn’t she ever want you to leave the house?
Why didn’t you send him money?
Where didn’t you see me?
Why doesn’t she like me?
Where can’t you find a relic robe?
Why didn’t you run after them?
Question words
Take a look at the most popular question words we use to form special questions:
- which
- what
- whose
- What kind of
- who
- whom
- where
- whither
- whence
- when
- how
- How often
- How much
- How many
- How old
- How long
- What about
- What for
- What kind
Take a look at examples of using some of these words:
Why.
Why have you come at this hour?
Why did you buy such a fast car?
Why have you never called her?
When.
When can I come to see your office?
When can I get my video?
When did young people become so confident?
How.
How do you survive?
How will I ever repay you?
How do you two gentlemen feel about comedy?
How old.
How old was the boy you babysat for?
How old are your children, Joe?
How old will you be next year?
How many.
How many of us will survive?
How many countries have elected women?
How much.
How much fun was that?
How much time do we have?
How much fuel does the tank contain?
How long.
How long have we played this game?
How long has he served you?
How often.
How often have you visited her?
How often have we heard it?
How often do you get a gift like that?
What.
What work can I do?
What book do you want to read?
What person is that, then?
What kind.
What kind of family is this?
What kind of charm is that?
What for.
What for do you want her back again?
What for do you object to live in the palace?
What about.
What do you think about everything you just said?
Whom.
Whom did you hand the material?
Whom are you calling “darling”?
Whom can I contact for help?
Whose.
Whose interest does this serve?
Whose idea was the home invasion?
Whose side is he taking?
Where.
Where do they get these numbers?
Where will you go in the heat?
Where do you spend your time?
Who instead of whom
Who is a very popular question word.
Note that in modern English we usually use who instead of whom. However, if we want to make the sentence more formal we can use whom.
Whom do I fire for this? = Who do I fire for this?
What and which
The words what and which are very similar in meaning. When and how to use them correctly?
We use what when we are choosing from a variety of items or objects. Or when we ask about things or concepts in a general sense, without having in mind the choice among a specific number of things or concepts.
What do you know about being a manager?
What person are you?
We use which when we select from a limited number of items or objects:
Look at those cars. Which car are we talking about?
It’s a late time. Which restaurant is still open?
What vs What kind of
What is the difference between the question word What and the phrase What kind of?
It seems that what and what kind of are very similar and interchangeable. But in fact, there is a slight difference between them:
We use What if we ask a question in order to get an answer about what kind of object it is.
What house is that over there?
What car did you have before?
We use what kind of when we ask a question to find out about the quality, properties, characteristics of an item or object.
What kind of work is it, exactly?
What kind of car do you say it was?
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The question mark must be attached to the first and last word of the sentence. In this way, you should avoid placing the opening and closing signs separate from the sentence to which you want to give that expression of doubt or question.
How do you write a question within a text?
Question marks (?) are used, as we all know, to denote a question. And the exclamation marks (! ) are used to indicate an exclamatory sentence (Example: “How I like to read!”), exhortative (Example: “Come here, please!”) or imperative (Example: that!” «Do not do that!»).
How are questions written in Spanish?
Who? When? Where? How? Why? That? How many?
- To ask questions in Spanish we can use the words above. called interrogative pronouns. …
- — Who? = Who?
- — When? = When?
- — Where? = Where?
- — How? = How?
- — Because? = Why?
- — That? = What?
- — How many? = How much?
What are the question marks examples?
Question marks are double signs, they are written to indicate the beginning and end of a question.
…
Examples:
- What do you think about it?
- How did you find out what happened?
- Have you called your parents?
- What is your name?
- Where do you live?
- What do you do for a living?
- What is your favorite sport?
- What do you prefer to eat?
How should question marks be used?
The question marks (?) And exclamation marks (!) Enclose sentences that, respectively, question or exclaim. The former are used to delimit direct interrogative sentences; the latter mark exclamatory sentences, also in direct style, and interjections.
How do you write an exclamatory question?
b) The question marks and exclamation marks are written glued to the first and last word of the period they frame, and separated by a space from the words that precede or follow them; but if what follows the closing sign is another punctuation mark, no space is left between the two: Let’s see …
How to ask a question within another question?
Either the question that is included within another is entered as a quoted text and, therefore, must appear between quotation marks, or it is an indirect interrogative, and, therefore, it must be written without question marks.
Types of research questionsType of research questionFormulationExplanatory/exploratory researchHow is X a consequence of? How did it happen? What are the causes? Predictive tests Up to what point will X happen? What will make X happen? What should actors be prepared for?Ещё 6 строк
What are the 5 W’s in journalism?
Five W’s
- What: are the events, actions or ideas that constitute news. …
- Who/Who: are the protagonists, the characters that appear in the news. …
- When: places the action at a specific time. …
- Where: the space or place where the events occurred.
What are the key words to ask questions?
which, which. how much, how much, how many, how many and how much (as neutral). who, who, who, who. They are used to ask both direct questions (with question marks?)
What are interrogative sentences and 10 examples?
Interrogative sentences are those units of meaning that, in principle, ask the interlocutor for some specific information.
…
When are they used?
- That. For example: What do you like to do in your free time?
- Where. For example: Where did you leave the keys?
- When. …
- How. …
- Which. …
- Who.
What sign Stops speech to draw attention to what follows?
Two points «:»
This punctuation mark ( : ) represents a pause greater than the comma and less than the period. It stops the speech to draw attention to what follows, which is always closely related to the preceding text.
What is the exclamation mark and examples?
The exclamation mark indicates that the sentence expresses satisfaction, surprise, amazement, joy, supplication, command, desire, pleasure, strangeness, etc. They are double signs, they are written to indicate the beginning and end of an exclamation. Examples: It’s very cold!
How do you read texts when they have exclamation marks?
These are read according to what you want to present or express, for example, if you express joy this is read with joy. The exclamation marks cause that within a text they are found with a direct and exclamatory style at the same time. Example of a phrase with exclamation marks: It’s very cold in here!