Interrogative sentences with question word

• Классификация вопросов в английском языке
• Общие вопросы
• Альтернативные вопросы
• Специальные вопросы
• Вопросы к подлежащему
• Разделительные вопросы
• Тест по теме: «Вопросительные предложения в английском»

Классификация вопросов в английском языке

При изучении английского языка большое значение имеет синтаксис – раздел грамматики, посвященный построению предложений. Причина в том, что строй этого языка предполагает строгий порядок слов в предложении.

Задавая вопрос, недостаточно произнести предложение с вопросительной интонацией и поставить знак вопроса в конце. Вопросы формируются по определенным схемам, которые различаются в зависимости от типа вопроса.

Основные виды вопросов:

• Общий
• Альтернативный
• Специальный
• Вопрос к подлежащему
• Разделительный

Интонация зависит от типа вопроса. Общие вопросы произносятся с низким восходящим тоном в конце предложения. В специальных  — интонация отличается нисходящей шкалой. Альтернативные сочетают восходящий и нисходящий тон. 

Общие вопросы

К общим вопросам в английском языке относятся те, которые требуют ответа «да» или «нет». Цель вопроса – получить от собеседника подтверждение какой-либо мысли.

Does Leila have any nephews? — У Лейлы есть племянники?

Порядок слов в таких предложениях называется инверсией: то есть прямой порядок слов (подлежащее + сказуемое + второстепенные члены) нарушается. В начало вопроса выходит вспомогательный глагол.

Do you collect stamps? — Ты коллекционируешь марки?

В качестве вспомогательных глаголов могут выступать have/has, will/shall, had, was/were и модальные глаголы.

Should I call her parents? — Следует ли мне позвонить ее родителям?

Are you listening to me? — Ты меня слушаешь?

Weren’t you at the concert last night? — Разве ты не был на концерте вчера вечером?

Альтернативные вопросы

Альтернативные вопросы в английском языке очень похожи на общие по цели и структуре. Их единственное отличие – наличие двух вариантов на выбор, озвученных в самом вопросе.

Такие вопросы строятся по тому же принципу, что и общие: на первом месте стоит вспомогательный глагол, затем подлежащее, основной глагол и/или второстепенные члены. Но в структуре предложения обязательно должен быть союз «or».

Did you buy a red or a green dress? — Ты купила красное или зеленое платье?

Are you listening to me or to the radio? — Ты слушаешь меня или радио?

Специальные вопросы

Специальные вопросы задаются к одному из членов предложения, то есть цель вопроса – выяснить определенную подробность, какое-либо обстоятельство или факт.

Специальные вопросы всегда начинаются с вопросительных слов, начинающихся на «wh» (what, why, where), поэтому их называют «wh-questions».

When did you see Alice? — Когда ты видел Элис?

Предложения строятся по тому же правилу, что и общие вопросы, только первое место занимает вопросительное слово. Далее идет вспомогательный или модальный глагол, затем подлежащее, вторая часть сказуемого и/или второстепенные члены.

What are they fixing today? — Что они сегодня ремонтируют?

Where will you live during the holiday? — Где ты будешь жить во время отпуска?

Why should I listen to you? — Почему я должен слушать тебя?

Вопросы к подлежащему

Вопросы к подлежащему по сути относятся к специальным вопросам, но выделяются в отдельный блок, так как строятся по другим правилам. После вопросительного слова (Who или What) порядок слов в предложении остается прямым. Но следует обратить внимание на предложения в Present Simple.  К смысловому глаголу прибавляется окончание 3л.ед.ч – «-S» или «-ES».

Who knows the answer? — Кто знает ответ?

Такой вопрос очень легко построить – вместо подлежащего ставится нужное вопросительное слово, далее порядок остается прежним.

Who came to the tutorial? — Кто пришел на урок?

What made you think about it? — Что заставило тебя об этом подумать?

Разделительные вопросы

Разделительные вопросы, которые также часто называют «tag-questions», то есть «вопросы с хвостиком», очень характерны для английского языка. Цель разделительного вопроса – уточнить информацию, получить подтверждение своей мысли, выразить сомнение или удивление.

She has three children, doesn’t she? — У нее трое детей, да?

Вопросительная часть в разделительном вопросе строится таким образом: от сказуемого в первой части предложении выделяется вспомогательный глагол, он используется с частицей «not», если основная часть утвердительная, или без частицы, если она отрицательная, далее ставится подлежащее, выраженное местоимением.

You will help me, won’t you? — Ты же поможешь мне, да?

Sarah can’t swim, can she? — Сара же не умеет плавать, так? 

1. What is an Interrogative Sentence?

I’ll give you a hint: look at the title of this section. An interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks something. In other words, it’s a question! An interrogative sentence will always end with a question mark (?) and this makes them easy to spot. Along with the other types of sentences, like declarative and exclamatory sentences, interrogative sentences make up the common parts of conversations.

By using interrogative sentences, you can do a lot of different things. You can get information, make requests or suggestions, and lots more. Hopefully, this article will answer all your interrogative sentences about interrogative sentences!

2. Examples of Interrogative Sentences

Interrogative sentences are a very important part of the way we talk to one another. They’re how we ask for input from other people and invite them to share what they think. Interrogative sentences are also the way we get information that we need.

Example 1

Dude, where’s my car?

In this example, we’re asking for information about where the car is. It’s a clear question, and we can tell right away because of the question mark and the question word “where”—we’ll talk more about these special words later on.

Example 2

Are you ready to leave?

This example has that question mark, but it doesn’t have a clear question word. It’s still asking for information, but in a different way. This is a yes-or-no question, which is another question type that I’ll explain in section IV.

Interrogative sentences are a necessary part of language, and you’ll definitely be familiar with them. Let’s get into the details, shall we? (See, there’s another question!)

3. Parts of Interrogative Sentences

a. Subject

Like any sentence, an interrogative sentence must have a subject. The subject of a sentence is the person, thing, or noun that is being described. In an interrogative sentence, the subject is being asked about.

Example

Where is the house?

In this question, the subject is the house. We’re trying to figure out something about the house, and that makes the house the subject of the question.

b. Pronoun

Sometimes the subject might be harder to find, maybe if it’s a pronoun. A pronoun is a word like he or it that replaces a noun, so then you don’t have to keep repeating it.

Example

Is she awake?

Now the subject of the sentence is she, because we’re asking about this girl and trying to find out if she is awake. The subject will always be the person, place, or thing that you are asking for information about.

If you’re having trouble finding the subject of an interrogative sentence, try rearranging the sentence into a statement that answers the question. In this example, “Is she awake?” would become “She is awake.” Now we can clearly see that the sentence is describing the subject “she” and the it is easier to find!

c. Verb

In the same way that every sentence needs a subject, an interrogative sentence needs a verb. A verb is an action word that describes what something is doing. In an interrogative sentence, the verb will help ask about the subject.

i. Linking Verb

It might be a linking verb. A linking verb connects the subject to more information about the subject. Common linking verbs are is, are, am, and any form of the verb “to be.” Often, these verbs will begin the question, because they help ask about the subject’s state of being.

Example

Am I too early?

The linking verb am lets us ask about the state of being of the subject, which is I. If we rearrange the question into a statement we get “I am too early” and we can see the way the linking verb does its job. It links the subject, I, to more information: too early. This is the way that many questions are formed, with a linking verb at the beginning.

ii. Action Verb

Sometimes a question will use other kinds of verbs. You’re probably going to see action verbs a lot. An action verb is an action that can be done, like run or sleep.

Example

            Did you read?

The verb read is an action verb, because it is an action that we can do. By using action verbs, we can ask if someone has or will do that action. They’re helpful for making suggestions about things you want to do with friends—or asking if you really have to do those chores.

Questions can also use more than one kind of verb. In fact, that happens pretty often. But the most important thing to remember is that an interrogative sentence is still a sentence. They have to follow all the same verb rules as any other kind of sentence, even if they rearrange the words a little bit.

4. Question Words

Not all interrogative sentences will use question words, but they’re still very common. A question word is a word that helps ask for specific information. Question words are also called WH words, because most of them start with W-H.

Who, what, where, when, why, and how are all of the question words that will help you make interrogative sentences. Each of these words is meant to ask for a certain kind of information. Usually, a question will start with one of these question words.

Example 1

            When do you want to go to bed?

This interrogative sentence starts off with the question word when. This lets us know right away that the sentence is a question, and the answer to the question will involve a time. Each question word will do the same things when it is used in a question: tell us this is a question, and tell us what kind of information will be in the answer.

5. Types of interrogative sentences

a. Yes/No Questions

These types of interrogative sentences can be answered with a yes or a no. You’ve probably asked someone a yes or no question today!

Here are a few examples:

• Have you brushed your teeth?
• Does he like to read?
• Can they come downstairs?

b. WH Questions

A WH interrogative sentence uses one of the question words that we talked about earlier. If you see any of the question words who, what, where, when, why, or how in a question, then you’re dealing with a WH interrogative sentence.

These questions ask for a specific kind of answer depending on which question word is used. Here are some examples and explanations of the answer that the question word wants.

• When will you go to school?
  • Ask this question to find out a time.
• Where is she going?
  • Ask this question to find out a location.

Questions that use how can be a bit trickier to answer. These are more open-ended than interrogative sentences that use the other question words. When you ask a how question, the answer should describe how something happens. Here’s an example how question and an example answer to help you understand.

Example

            Question: How can I ask better questions?

            Answer: Start by figuring out what kind of information you want!

When you know what kind of information you want—time, location, person—you can quickly choose the right question word that will give you the answer you’re looking for.

c. Alternative Questions

An alternative interrogative sentence will give someone options to choose from. They’re similar to yes or no questions, but instead of yes or no the answer will choose an option from the question. There’s no limit to the amount of options you can put into an alternative interrogative sentence, but try to keep it to a small number. The person you’re asking might forget some of the options if you have too many! Here are some examples of alternative interrogative sentences. The different options are colored in red.

• Do you want a candy cane or a chocolate bar?
• Would you like this book or that book?
• Should I get coffee, tea, or water?

Each of these questions offers a choice. They list options for someone to choose from, and that makes them alternative interrogative sentences.

d. Tag Questions

A tag question is just a declarative sentence with a question tagged onto the end. Declarative sentences make statements of fact. Usually the tag at the end will allow for a yes or no answer, but not always. Here’s a chart with declarative sentences and those same sentences turned into tag questions.

Declarative sentence	Tag question
You have a new sweater.	You have a new sweater, right?
The snow is pretty.	The snow is pretty, isn’t it?

You can see how easy it is to form tag questions. Just add your question tag at the end and there it is! Tag questions can be useful when you want to spice up the way you ask questions, or when you don’t decide that you want to ask a question until the end of your sentence.

6. How to Write Interrogative Sentences

When you’re writing your interrogative questions, the most important thing to consider is the kind of information you’re looking for. Do you want a simple yes or no, or do you want someone to pick an option from a list? There are many ways you can ask something, but each one might give you a different answer. It’s important to understand how to ask correctly.

1. Start by figuring out what you want to know.
2. Then, go over the list of question types and decide which kind of interrogative sentence will give you the answer you want.

If you want to ask your friend to go to the movies, you probably want to use a yes/no question. Using a WH question with when might sound rude, because you’re assuming that your friend wants to go without asking them.

Some questions may ask for the same answer in different ways, and that gives you a choice. For example, a yes/no question can give you the same type of information as a tag question. Here are two examples that show how you can use different forms to get the same answer.

Example 1

Do you want to go to the movies?

This is a yes/no question. The person you’re asking will answer with a yes or a no.

Example 2

You want to go to the movies, right?

Now we’ve used a tag question, and the words get a bit rearranged. We’re still asking for the same information though, and the person can answer with a yes or a no just like before.

The difference is the way the question is asked. The first example, the yes/no question, seems a bit more polite than the tag question. The choice depends on how you want to ask the question and what information you want to know.

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An interrogative sentence is one of the functional categories of sentencethat consists of question word(s) like what, why, how, when, do, is, are, will, etc. Interrogative sentences are also called questions because of their purpose of use.

Sentences that we use to ask questions are called interrogative sentences. An interrogative sentence is always followed by a question mark or note of interrogation. There are four kinds of interrogative sentences: verbal questions, wh questions, tag questions, and alternative questions.

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In this post, I’ll discuss the characteristics and types of interrogative sentences. Let me begin with the characteristics of interrogative sentences.   

6 Characteristics of an Interrogative Sentence

The fundamental characteristic of an interrogative sentence is that it is a direct question that must be punctuated with a note of interrogation. I have studied several grammar books and scholarly articles on interrogative sentences. From my research,  I found six characteristics in total. Here they are:

1. An interrogative sentence is used to ask questions or request information.

Example: What’s your name?

This is an ideal example of an interrogative sentence because the speaker is looking for an answer (name) to a question through this sentence.

2. It must have question word(s): interrogative pronouns or auxiliary verbs.

Example: How are you?

The sentence consists of the question word “How” which is an interrogative pronoun here.

3. An interrogative sentence/question always ends with a question mark.

Example: Where are you from?

The sentence ends with a question mark (?).

4. Interrogative sentences can be affirmativeor negative.

Example 1: Is he your younger brother? (Affirmative Interrogative)

Example 2: Why do you not meet your teacher? (Negative Interrogative)

5. Interrogative sentences can be in any tense: present, past, or future.

Example 1: When do you go to the office every day? (Present)

Example 2: When did you go to the office yesterday? (Past)

Example 3: When will you go to the office tomorrow? (Future)

6. Structurally, interrogative sentences are formed from their assertive/declarativecounterpart.

Example:

He won the game. (Assertive)

Did he win the game? (Interrogative)

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In total, interrogative sentences can be of four kinds based on their function and structure. The purpose of every question is to get an answer. Sometimes the answer can be a simple yes or no. One’s question also may require information or an explanation as an answer. Depending on the nature of the answer, we can determine the type of that particular question.

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Four kinds of questions

Question Type	Examples
Verbal or Yes-No or True-false Questions	Are you a student? Is there any doctor in our group? May I go there?
Wh Questions	What are you doing this evening? How old is your elder brother? Where have you been for the last few days?
Tag Questions	She is a skilled driver, isn’t he? He likes playing cricket, doesn’t he? They did a great job, didn’t they?
Choice or Alternative Questions	Is your new phone black or white? Do you like hills or seas? Will you go home or gym?

Verbal or Yes-No or True-False Questions

A question that begins with a verb is called a verbal question. These kinds of questions are asked to know whether a statement is true or false. You can always answer a verbal question with YES or NO, and for this reason, this type of question is also called a Yes-No question.

Example 1: Are you an actor? Answer: Yes.

Example 2: Do you play guitar? Answer: No.

Example 3: Can you cook? Answer: Yes.

The sentences above are examples of verbal questions that begin with a verb and can be answered with Yes or no. Example 1 starts with the verb “are,” which is a to be verb in this particular sentence. The second sentence begins with an auxiliary verb “do,” whereas example 3 starts with the modal “can.”

Thus, we find that a verbal interrogative sentence or question can begin with a to be, auxiliary, or modal verb. Let’s see some more examples of verbal questions.

Verbal Questions	Examples
With “to be” verb at the beginning	Is this good? Are they okay? Was there any guard? Were you attentive in the class? Am I stupid?
With “auxiliary” verb at the beginning	Do you love beef curry? Did you go there alone? Does he take care of you? Do we have someone better at this? Do they really care?
With “modal” verb at the beginning	Will you come back soon? Can you help me? May I come in? Should I leave this? Would you please call him right now?

Verbal questions can be affirmative or negative. Affirmative verbal questions are asked with a positive assertion, whereas negative verbal questions are asked with a negative assertion.

Affirmative verbal questions	Negative verbal questions
Is this your bike?	Isn’t this your bike?
Are you fine now?	Aren’t you fine now?
Was that your phone?	Wasn’t that your phone?
Were they active throughout the lecture?	Weren’t they active throughout the lecture?
Do you like skating?	Don’t you like skating?
Did they receive you at the airport?	Didn’t they receive you at the airport?
Does she love you?	Doesn’t she love you?
Would you like that?	Wouldn’t you like that?
Will you accept it?	Won’t you accept it?
Can I do that?	Can’t I do that?

Wh Questions

Questions that begin with a wh-word are called wh questions. To know wh questions, we must understand what wh-word is. Wh-words are question words that usually start with w and h. There are nine wh-words that we can use to make wh questions.

What, where, when, who, whose, why, whom, which, and how are the nine wh-words that we can use to form wh questions. Remember! Though “how” doesn’t start with w and h, it is still considered a wh-word.

Every wh-word has its specific purpose to be used. Here I present the uses of every wh-word in the table. To learn the uses of all the wh-words in detail, you can read my other article titled WH Questions in English with Examples, written exclusively for wh questions.

Wh-word	Use
What	To ask about things or actions
Where	To ask about places
When	To ask about time
Who	To ask about people
Whose	To ask about possession
Why	To ask about reasons
Whom	To ask about people
Which	To ask for any specific information
How	To ask about manners or quantity

Wh questions are formed in different structures. Let’s see the structures and some examples of wh questions in the following table.

Wh question structures	Examples
Wh-word + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb + rest of the sentence?	What do you like? Where do you take it from? When will you go to bed? Who are you going with? Why did you call him? Whom do you believe? Which dress is yours?
Wh-word + main verb + rest of the sentence?	What is this? Where are they right now? When is your class? Who is the class representative? Why is this dress so expensive?
Whose + noun + main verb + rest of the sentence?	Whose bike is this?
Whose + noun + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb + rest of the sentence?	Whose party would you attend?

Tag Questions

Tag questions are short questions that take place after a statement. Verbal and wh questions are considered full-length questions, while tag questions are not.

The structure of any tag question is always verb+subject. However, the basic difference is that the tag will be negative if the statement is positive/affirmative. Similarly, if the statement is negative, the tag will be positive.

An important characteristic of a tag question is that if any “to be” or “auxiliary” verb is found in the statement, the same verb must be used in the question tag. And if there is no such verb, we use “do” or “does” following the subject-verb agreement.

Let’s see some examples of tag questions.

Example 1: He is an army officer, isn’t he?

Example 2: Reza won’t go there, will he?

Example 3: Romana likes classical music, doesn’t she?

Another characteristic of tag questions is that if the tag is negative, the “verb” and “not” have to be written as a single word in a contracted form.

Example 1: This is so lame, isn’t it? [“Isn’t” is the contraction of “is not”]

Example 2: They are selected for the next episode, aren’t they? [“Aren’t” is the contraction of “are not”]

In the following table, let’s see some contracted forms of some most common negative verbs with example sentences.

Negative verb	Contraction		Negative verb	Contraction
Am not	Ain’t		Did not	Didn’t
Is not	Isn’t		Shall not	Shan’t
Are not	Aren’t		Will not	Won’t
Was not	Wasn’t		Cannot	Can’t
Were not	Weren’t		Could not	Couldn’t
Do not	Don’t		Should not	Shouldn’t
Does not	Doesn’t		Would not	Wouldn’t

Let’s recap the characteristics of a tag question that we already discussed.

1. A tag question is not a complete sentence but rather a short question, a part of a sentence
2. A tag question is formed with a verb and a subject (verb+subject).
3. If the statement in the sentence is positive, the tag will be negative.
4. If the statement in the sentence is negative, the tag will be positive.
5. In the case of a negative tag, the “verb” and “not” have to be written in a contracted form.
6. Any auxiliary or to-be verb found in the statement must be used in the tag question.
7. If there is no to-be or auxiliary verb, do/does is used depending on the subject.

Choice or Alternative Questions

Questions that give the listener choices between two or more options are called choice/alternative questions. In a very plain sense, they can be compared to multiple-choice questions. We usually use the conjunction “or” to separate the options in an alternative question.

Alternative questions are like the general question regarding their structure. The difference is that this type of question provides choices to the listener at the end of the question. The above examples can help you get it correct.

Let’s see the structure of choice/alternative questions and some examples.

Structure: Auxilary verb + subject + main verb + options?

Example 1: Will you go now or later?

Example 2: Did you take tea or coffee?

Example 3: Do you like the sea or the hill?

Example 4: Do you want to dance or sing?

If the idea of different interrogative sentences is clear, you can post some examples in the comment box. Or, if you have any confusion, ask me in the comment box. I’ll try to provide you with feedback.

Uses  of Interrogative Sentences

Think of a world without questions. Possible? No, of course. From personal to professional life, conversations move forward by asking questions and responding to them. Interrogative sentences are primarily used to find information but also for a lot of other purposes.

Besides asking for information, we can use interrogative sentences to make requests, provide suggestions, offer someone somethingor ask for permission. Let’s see some examples of each use of interrogative sentences.

Use of Interrogative sentences	Examples
To ask for information about something or someone	How are you? What are you up to? Have you watched any sci-fi movies? Do you like latte or cappuccino? Are you a basketball coach?
To request someone for something	Would you please give me your umbrella? Do you mind coming tonight to my place? Can you send me the project proposal templates? Could you join the party tonight? May I have your precious presence tomorrow?
To provide someone with suggestions/advice	Should we take a taxi? Shall we call the cop? How about sending someone on your behalf? Can’t you go by train? Would you think twice?
To offer something to someone	May I offer you a drink? Do you fancy tea or coffee? How about a trip to the Maldives? Do you care for another glass of coke? Would you like to have white tea?
To ask for permission to do something	Would you please allow me to come with you? Is that okay if I leave now? May I call you tonight? Can I take this with me? Do you mind if I take your raincoat?

In Conclusion

Interrogative sentences are one of the most common sentence types that we need to use in our everyday conversation and writing as well. By asking questions, we can collect information and remove confusion regarding anything.

In this post, I discussed the characteristics, types, and uses of interrogative questions. I hope this helps you understand everything about interrogative sentences.

Thanks for reading.

Happy learning!

(Using interrogative sentences with subject and object questions)

100 Interrogative Sentences Examples (Daily Used Questions) ~ In order to be a successful interrogator, you must be proficient in using interrogative sentences. This means being able to ask the right questions at the right time in order to get the information you need.

What are interrogative sentences? An interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks a question. It typically begins with a question word such as who, what, when, where, why, or how.

100 Interrogative Sentences Examples

Here are 100 interrogative sentence examples to help you get started.

1. Who are you?

2. What is your name?

3. When were you born?

4. Where do you live?

5. Why are you here?

6. How are you today?

7. Have you ever been to the Moon?

8. Do you like ice cream?

9. Can you speak French?

10. Could you help me with this heavy box?

11. Would you like a cup of coffee?

12. Should we go now?

13. Might I borrow your pen, please?

14. Will you be at the meeting tomorrow?

15. What time is it?

16. How old are you?

17. How much does this cost?

18. How far is it to the next town?

19. What’s the weather like today?

20. Do you have any siblings?

21. Who is your best friend?

22. What’s your favorite color?

23. What’s your favorite food?

24. What’s your favorite hobby?

25. What kind of music do you like?

26. What’s the last book you read?

27. Do you have any pets?

28. What’s your favorite TV show?

29. What’s your dream job?

30. How many countries have you been to?

31. Are you married?

32. Do you have any children?

33. When is your birthday?

34. What’s your sign of the zodiac?

35. What’s your Chinese animal sign?

36. Who are your heroes?

37. What motivates you in life?

38. Do you have any phobias?

39. What’s your greatest achievement?

40. What’s your worst nightmare?

41. Do you believe in ghosts?

42. Have you ever seen a UFO?

43. Do you believe in life after death?

44. What’s the meaning of life, in your opinion?

45. Do you have any regrets in life?

46. Are you happy with your life so far?

47. What would you change about your life if you could?

48. Do you have any secret ambitions?

49. What are your plans for the future?

50. When do you plan to retire?

51. What kind of person do you want to be?

52. Do you have any goals in life?

53. What do you want to achieve before you die?

54. Do you think people can change?

55. Have you ever changed?

56. Who has had the biggest influence on your life?

57. What has been the best experience of your life so far?

58. And the worst experience?

59. If you could relive one moment of your life, what would it be?

60. Have you ever done anything illegal?

61. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

62. Would you do it again if given the chance?

63. Are you a risk taker or a play-it-safe kind of person?

64. What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?

65. Would you do it again knowing what you know now?

66. Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

67. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

68. Do you believe in fate or free will?

69. Do you believe in karma?

70. What’s your opinion on love and relationships?

71. Have you ever been in love?

72. If so, what happened?

73. Are you single or in a relationship?

74. If in a relationship, how long have you been together?

75. If single, do you want to be in a relationship?

76. What kind of person are you attracted to?

77. What’s the most important quality you look for in a partner?

78. Do you want to get married and have children someday?

79. If not, why not?

80. Do you believe that people can truly change?

81. What’s your idea of a perfect relationship?

82. Have you ever been heartbroken?

83. What do you think love is?

84. Is love really worth all the hassle?

85. How do you know if someone loves you?

86. Why do people fall out of love?

87. Can love last forever?

88. What do you think is the most important thing in a relationship?

89. Do you think love is enough to keep a relationship strong?

90. What do you think are the biggest problems in relationships?

91. Do you have any dating dealbreakers?

92. How do you handle arguments and disagreements with your partner?

93. Have you ever cheated on a partner or been cheated on?

94. What do you think about open relationships and polyamory?

95. What are your thoughts on same-sex relationships?

96. Do you think people should wait until marriage to have sex?

97. How important is sex in a relationship, in your opinion?

98. What’s your opinion on online dating and apps like Tinder?

99. Have you ever tried online dating?

100. What was your experience like?

In some languages, you can ask a question by changing only the intonation in the voice. This is not enough in English. In English, there is special word order in interrogative sentences.

Therefore, in English, when we see the interrogative word order, we already understand that this is a question and not a statement!

What is the interrogative word order? This is the order in which we put the auxiliary verb first in the sentence.

Take a look at these two examples:

Statement: I know you.
Question: Do I know you?

As you can see, this interrogative order still contains the main verb after the subject. That is, the subject and predicate remain in their usual order. But in the question, the predicate has an additional part: an auxiliary verb. And this auxiliary comes first.

The auxiliary verb in an interrogative sentence plays a huge role. The auxiliary verb depends on who we ask the question, who is the subject in our question.

Does she like you?

Did you throw your ring?

Have they been there before?

Will he work here someday?

Another important function of the auxiliary verb in the question is that the auxiliary verb indicates the tense. By changing the auxiliary verb, we change the meaning of the question.

Thus, if we want to know what a person is currently doing, we ask:

Do you live here?

If we are interested in the past of this person, we ask:

Did you live here?

Or we can ask about future plans:

Will you live here?

Word Order in Interrogative Sentence With the Verb To Be

We ask a question with the verb to be using the same scheme where we put an auxiliary verb at the beginning of the question.

But the main difference between to be and other verbs is that to be has no auxiliary verbs. The verb to be acts as an auxiliary verb for itself.

So to ask a question with to be we just put to be first before the subject. Compare:

I am going to spoil the plan!

Am I going to spoil the plan?

The only exception to this rule is when we form a question with the to be verb in the future.

The verb to be in the future has the form: Will be.

To ask a question with Will be, we put only Will in the first place, and be remains in its place.

Correct: Will you be there next time?
Incorrect: Will be you there next time?

Remember that we do not use auxiliary verbs with to be. Many English learners make the mistake of using auxiliary verbs to form a question with to be.

Correct: Is she here?
Incorrect: Does she here?
Incorrect: Does she is here?

Correct: Were they in your school?
Incorrect: Did they in your school?
Incorrect: Did they were in your school?

Correct: Are we friends?
Incorrect: Do we friends?
Incorrect: Do we are friends?

The verb to be in questions plays the same role as auxiliary verbs with ordinary verbs. The verb to be also changes depending on who is the subject in the sentence:

Is she your girlfriend?

Were they in your old team?

Will you be working as always?

Are we the people you are looking for?

Also, the verb to be indicates the tense we are asking about:

Past: Was she your friend?

Present: Is she your friend?

Future: Will she be your friend?

Look at all forms of the verb to be not to be mistaken when you use it:

Present:

• I am
• He is
• She is
• It is
• We are
• They are
• You are

Past:

• I was
• He was
• She was
• It was
• We were
• They were
• You were

Future:

• I will be
• He will be
• She will be
• It will be
• We will be
• They will be
• You will be

Word Order in Subject Question

A subject question has exactly the same word order as an affirmative sentence. But at the beginning, we use the question word who or what.

Who broke the vase?

Who told you the truth?

What fell to the roof?

Thus, it is the word who or what that plays the role of the subject in the sentence. But we do not know who exactly is the subject, who is this person, thing, or being. Therefore, we ask a question.

Compare the usual question in which we know who the subject is and the question to the subject.

Who did she ask about it? (The subject is she)
Who asked you about it? (The subject is who)

What did he throw from the roof? (The subject is he)
Who threw something from the roof? (The subject is who)

Who will you take with you to the dance? (The subject is you)
Who will take you to the dance? ((The subject is who)

This is your car? (The subject is you)
Whose car is this? (Subject is Whose)

Most often, we use a singular verb after the word who or what. Because by asking a question to the subject, we mean that who or what is one person or thing.

Who works here?

We can use the main verb as we do it for the plural if we and our interlocutor understand exactly that who or what in the question means several people or objects:

Who were the people you are talking about?

Word Order in Short Answer and Full Answer

A short answer to a question in English also has its own specific order.

In English, it is not customary to answer questions shortly: Yes or No.

Question: Do you like the movie?
Answer: Yes.

This answer may be considered rude.

So, in English, it is customary to form an answer in this order:

1. Affirmative or negative word.
2. Subject.
3. Auxiliary verb.

Question: Do you like the movie?
Answer: Yes, I do.

The word order in the answer above is considered correct and polite.

A full answer is even simpler. In a full answer, we keep the order of an affirmative or negative sentence. At the beginning of the sentence, we add the affirmative or negative words Yes or No.

1. Affirmative or negative word.
2. Subject
3. Predicate.
4. Object.

Question: Do you like the movie?
Answer: Yes, I like the movie. (Yes, I like / Yes, I like it)

If the answer is no, then we add an auxiliary verb with a negative particle not. In a full negative answer, the order looks like this:

1. Affirmative or negative word.
2. Subject
3. Auxiliary verb + not.
4. Predicate.
5. Object.

Question: Do you like the movie?
Answer: No, I don’t like the movie. (No, I don’t like / No, I don’t like it)

In some cases, we can add an auxiliary verb even in an affirmative full answer if we want to emphasize the main verb.

Question: Do you like the movie?
Answer: Yes, I do like the movie.

In this example, the verb do underlines the main verb like. Such an answer seems to mean:

Yes, I really like the movie.