Question word yes no

Yes and no, or word pairs with similar words, are expressions of the affirmative and the negative, respectively, in several languages, including English. Some languages make a distinction between answers to affirmative versus negative questions and may have three-form or four-form systems. English originally used a four-form system up to and including Early Middle English and Modern English has reduced to a two-form system consisting of ‘yes’ and ‘no’. It exists in many facets of communication, such as: eye blink communication, head movements, Morse Code, and sign language. Some languages, such as Latin, do not have yes-no word systems.

Answering yes/no question with single words meaning ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is by no means universal. Probably about half the world’s languages typically employ an echo response: repeating the verb in the question in an affirmative or a negative form. Some of these also have optional words for ‘yes’ and ‘no’, like Hungarian, Russian, and Portuguese. Others simply don’t have designated yes/no words, like Welsh, Irish, Latin, Thai, and Chinese.^[1] Echo responses avoid the issue of what an unadorned yes means in response to a negative question. Yes and no can be used as a response to a variety of situations – but are better suited when asked simple questions. While a yes response to the question, «You don’t like strawberries?» is ambiguous in English, the Welsh response ydw (I am) has no ambiguity.

The words yes and no are not easily classified into any of the eight conventional parts of speech. Sometimes they are classified as interjections, although they do not qualify as such,^{[fact or opinion?]} and they are not adverbs. They are sometimes classified as a part of speech in their own right, sentence words, or pro-sentences, although that category contains more than yes and no, and not all linguists include them in their lists of sentence words. Sentences consisting solely of one of these two words are classified as minor sentences.

Classification of English grammar[edit]

Although sometimes classified as interjections, these words do not express emotion or act as calls for attention; they are not adverbs because they do not qualify any verb, adjective, or adverb. They are sometimes classified as a part of speech in their own right: sentence words or word sentences.^[2][3][4]

This is the position of Otto Jespersen, who states that «‘Yes’ and ‘No’ … are to all intents and purposes sentences just as much as the most delicately balanced sentences ever uttered by Demosthenes or penned by Samuel Johnson.»^[5]

Georg von der Gabelentz, Henry Sweet, and Philipp Wegener have all written on the subject of sentence words. Both Sweet and Wegener include yes and no in this category, with Sweet treating them separately from both imperatives and interjections, although Gabelentz does not.^[6]

Watts^[7] classifies yes and no as grammatical particles, in particular response particles. He also notes their relationship to the interjections oh and ah, which is that the interjections can precede yes and no but not follow them. Oh as an interjection expresses surprise, but in the combined forms oh yes and oh no merely acts as an intensifier; but ah in the combined forms ah yes and ah no retains its stand-alone meaning, of focusing upon the previous speaker’s or writer’s last statement. The forms *yes oh, *yes ah, *no oh, and *no ah are grammatically ill-formed. Aijmer^[8] similarly categorizes the yes and no as response signals or reaction signals.

Ameka classifies these two words in different ways according to the context. When used as back-channel items, he classifies them as interjections; but when they are used as the responses to a yes–no question, he classifies them as formulaic words. The distinction between an interjection and a formula is, in Ameka’s view, that the former does not have an addressee (although it may be directed at a person), whereas the latter does. The yes or no in response to the question is addressed at the interrogator, whereas yes or no used as a back-channel item is a feedback usage, an utterance that is said to oneself. However, Sorjonen criticizes this analysis as lacking empirical work on the other usages of these words, in addition to interjections and feedback uses.^[9]

Bloomfield and Hockett classify the words, when used to answer yes-no questions, as special completive interjections. They classify sentences comprising solely one of these two words as minor sentences.^[3]

Sweet classifies the words in several ways. They are sentence-modifying adverbs, adverbs that act as modifiers to an entire sentence. They are also sentence words, when standing alone. They may, as question responses, also be absolute forms that correspond to what would otherwise be the not in a negated echo response. For example, a «No.» in response to the question «Is he here?» is equivalent to the echo response «He is not here.» Sweet observes that there is no correspondence with a simple yes in the latter situation, although the sentence-word «Certainly.» provides an absolute form of an emphatic echo response «He is certainly here.» Many other adverbs can also be used as sentence words in this way.^[10]

Unlike yes, no can also be an adverb of degree, applying to adjectives solely in the comparative (e.g., no greater, no sooner, but not no soon or no soonest), and an adjective when applied to nouns (e.g., «He is no fool.» and Dyer’s «No clouds, no vapours intervene.»).^[10][11]

Grammarians of other languages have created further, similar, special classifications for these types of words. Tesnière classifies the French oui and non as phrasillons logiques (along with voici). Fonagy observes that such a classification may be partly justified for the former two, but suggests that pragmatic holophrases is more appropriate.^[12]

The Early English four-form system[edit]

While Modern English has a two-form system of yes and no for affirmatives and negatives, earlier forms of English had a four-form system, comprising the words yea, nay, yes, and no. Yes contradicts a negatively formulated question, No affirms it; Yea affirms a positively formulated question, Nay contradicts it.

• Will they not go? — Yes, they will.
• Will they not go? — No, they will not.
• Will they go? — Yea, they will.
• Will they go? — Nay, they will not.

This is illustrated by the following passage from Much Ado about Nothing:^[13]

Claudio: Can the world buie such a iewell? [buy such a jewel]
Benedick: Yea, and a case to put it into, but speake you this with a sad brow?

Benedick’s answer of yea is a correct application of the rule, but as observed by W. A. Wright «Shakespeare does not always observe this rule, and even in the earliest times the usage appears not to have been consistent.» Furness gives as an example the following, where Hermia’s answer should, in following the rule, have been yes:^[13][14]

Demetrius: Do not you thinke, The Duke was heere, and bid vs follow him?
Hermia: Yea, and my Father.

This subtle grammatical feature of Early Modern English is recorded by Sir Thomas More in his critique of William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament into Early Modern English, which was then quoted as an authority by later scholars:^[13]

I would not here note by the way that Tyndale here translateth no for nay, for it is but a trifle and mistaking of the Englishe worde : saving that ye shoulde see that he whych in two so plain Englishe wordes, and so common as in naye and no can not tell when he should take the one and when the tother, is not for translating into Englishe a man very mete. For the use of these two wordes in aunswering a question is this. No aunswereth the question framed by the affirmative. As for ensample if a manne should aske Tindall himselfe: ys an heretike meete to translate Holy Scripture into Englishe ? Lo to thys question if he will aunswere trew Englishe, he must aunswere nay and not no. But and if the question be asked hym thus lo: is not an heretike mete to translate Holy Scripture into Englishe ? To this question if he will aunswere trewe Englishe, he must aunswere no and not nay. And a lyke difference is there betwene these two adverbs ye and yes. For if the question bee framed unto Tindall by the affirmative in thys fashion. If an heretique falsely translate the New Testament into Englishe, to make his false heresyes seem the word of Godde, be his bokes worthy to be burned ? To this questyon asked in thys wyse, yf he will aunswere true Englishe, he must aunswere ye and not yes. But now if the question be asked him thus lo; by the negative. If an heretike falsely translate the Newe Testament into Englishe to make his false heresyee seme the word of God, be not hys bokes well worthy to be burned ? To thys question in thys fashion framed if he will aunswere trewe Englishe he may not aunswere ye but he must answere yes, and say yes marry be they, bothe the translation and the translatour, and al that wyll hold wyth them.

— Thomas More, The Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer, pp. 430^[15][16]

In fact, More’s exemplification of the rule actually contradicts his statement of what the rule is. This went unnoticed by scholars such as Horne Tooke, Robert Gordon Latham, and Trench, and was first pointed out by George Perkins Marsh in his Century Dictionary, where he corrects More’s incorrect statement of the first rule, «No aunswereth the question framed by the affirmative.», to read nay. That even More got the rule wrong, even while himself dressing down Tyndale for getting it wrong, is seen by Furness as evidence that the four word system was «too subtle a distinction for practice».

Marsh found no evidence of a four-form system in Mœso-Gothic, although he reported finding «traces» in Old English. He observed that in the Anglo-Saxon Gospels,

• positively phrased questions are answered positively with gea (John 21:15,16, King James Version: «Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee» etc.)
• and negatively with ne (Luke 12:51, KJ: «Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division»; 13:4,5, KJ: «Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.»), nese (John 21:5 «Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.»; Matthew 13:28,29, KJ: «The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.»), and nic meaning «not I» (John 18:17, KJ: «Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples? He saith, I am not.»);
• while negatively phrased questions are answered positively with gyse (Matthew 17:25, KJ: «they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes.»)
• and negatively for example with nâ, meaning «no one» (John 8:10,11, «he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord.»).^[14]

Marsh calls this four-form system of Early Modern English a «needless subtlety». Tooke called it a «ridiculous distinction», with Marsh concluding that Tooke believed Thomas More to have simply made this rule up and observing that Tooke is not alone in his disbelief of More. Marsh, however, points out (having himself analyzed the works of John Wycliffe, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, John Skelton, and Robert of Gloucester, and Piers Plowman and Le Morte d’Arthur) that the distinction both existed and was generally and fairly uniformly observed in Early Modern English from the time of Chaucer to the time of Tyndale. But after the time of Tyndale, the four-form system was rapidly replaced by the modern two-form system.^[14]

Three-form systems[edit]

Several languages have a three-form system, with two affirmative words and one negative. In a three-form system, the affirmative response to a positively phrased question is the unmarked affirmative, the affirmative response to a negatively phrased question is the marked affirmative, and the negative response to both forms of question is the (single) negative. For example, in Norwegian the affirmative answer to «Snakker du norsk?» («Do you speak Norwegian?») is «Ja», and the affirmative answer to «Snakker du ikke norsk?» («Do you not speak Norwegian?») is «Jo», while the negative answer to both questions is «Nei».^{[14][17][18][19][20]}

Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Hungarian, German, Dutch, French and Malayalam all have three-form systems. Swedish and Danish have ja, jo, and nej. Norwegian has ja, jo/jau, and nei. Icelandic has já, jú, and nei. Faroese has ja, jú, and nei. Hungarian has igen, de, and nem. German has ja, doch, and nein. Dutch has ja, jawel, and nee. French has oui, si, and non. Malayalam has അതേ, ഉവ്വ് and ഇല്ല. Though, technically Malayalam is a multi-form system of Yes and No as can be seen from below, the former are the formal words for Yes and No.

Swedish, and to some extent Danish and Norwegian, also have additional forms javisst and jovisst, analogous to ja and jo, to indicate a strong affirmative response. Swedish (and Danish and Norwegian slang) also have the forms joho and nehej, which both indicate stronger response than jo or nej. Jo can also be used as an emphatic contradiction of a negative statement.^[18][21] And Malayalam has the additional forms അതേല്ലോ, ഉവ്വല്ലോ and ഇല്ലല്ലോ which act like question words, question tags or to strengthen the affirmative or negative response, indicating stronger meaning than അതേ, ഉവ്വ് and ഇല്ല. The words അല്ലേ, ആണല്ലോ, അല്ലല്ലോ, വേണല്ലോ, വേണ്ടല്ലോ, ഉണ്ടല്ലോ and ഇല്ലേ work in the same ways. These words also sound more polite as they don’t sound like curt when saying «No!» or «Yes!». ഉണ്ട means «it is there» and the word behaves as an affirmative response like അതേ. The usage of ഏയ് to simply mean «No» or «No way!», is informal and may be casual or sarcastic, while അല്ല is the more formal way of saying «false», «incorrect» or that «it is not» and is a negative response for questions. The word അല്ലല്ല has a stronger meaning than അല്ല. ശരി is used to mean «OK» or «correct», with the opposite ശരിയല്ല meaning «not OK» or «not correct». It is used to answer affirmatively to questions to confirm any action by the asker, but to answer negatively one says വേണ്ടാ. വേണം and വേണ്ട both mean to «want» and to «not want».

Other languages with four-form systems[edit]

Like Early Modern English, the Romanian language has a four-form system. The affirmative and negative responses to positively phrased questions are da and nu, respectively. But in responses to negatively phrased questions they are prefixed with ba (i.e. ba da and ba nu). nu is also used as a negation adverb, infixed between subject and verb. Thus, for example, the affirmative response to the negatively phrased question «N-ai plătit?» («Didn’t you pay?») is «Ba da.» («Yes.»—i.e. «I did pay.»), and the negative response to a positively phrased question beginning «Se poate să …?» («Is it possible to …?») is «Nu, nu se poate.» («No, it is not possible.»—note the use of nu for both no and negation of the verb.)^[22][23][24]

Related words in other languages and translation problems[edit]

Bloomfield and Hockett observe that not all languages have special completive interjections.

Finnish[edit]

Finnish does not generally answer yes-no questions with either adverbs or interjections but answers them with a repetition of the verb in the question,^[25] negating it if the answer is the negative. (This is an echo response.) The answer to «Tuletteko kaupungista?» («Are you coming from town?») is the verb form itself, «Tulemme.» («We are coming.») However, in spoken Finnish, a simple «Yes» answer is somewhat more common, «Joo.»

Negative questions are answered similarly. Negative answers are just the negated verb form. The answer to «Tunnetteko herra Lehdon?» («Do you know Mr Lehto?») is «En tunne.» («I don’t know.») or simply «En.» («I don’t.»).^{[3][26][27][28]} However, Finnish also has particle words for «yes»: «Kyllä» (formal) and «joo» (colloquial). A yes-no question can be answered «yes» with either «kyllä» or «joo«, which are not conjugated according to the person and plurality of the verb. «Ei«, however, is always conjugated and means «no».

Estonian[edit]

Estonian has a structure similar to Finnish, with both repetitions and interjections. Jah means «yes». Unlike Finnish, the negation particle is always ei, regardless of person and plurality. Ei ole («am/are/is not») can be replaced by pole (a contraction of the ancient expression ep ole, meaning the same).

The word küll, cognate to Finnish kyllä, can be used to reply positively to a negative question: «Kas sa ei räägi soome keelt?» «Räägin küll!» («You don’t speak Finnish?» «Yes, I do!») It can also be used to approve a positive statement: «Sa tulidki kaasa!» «Tulin küll.» («You (unexpectedly) came along!» «Yes I did.»)

Latvian[edit]

Up until the 16th century Latvian did not have a word for «yes» and the common way of responding affirmatively to a question was by repeating the question’s verb, just as in Finnish. The modern day jā was borrowed from Middle High German ja and first appeared in 16th-century religious texts, especially catechisms, in answers to questions about faith. At that time such works were usually translated from German by non-Latvians that had learned Latvian as a foreign language. By the 17th century, jā was being used by some Latvian speakers that lived near the cities, and more frequently when speaking to non-Latvians, but they would revert to agreeing by repeating the question verb when talking among themselves. By the 18th century the use of jā was still of low frequency, and in Northern Vidzeme the word was almost non-existent until the 18th and early 19th century. Only in the mid-19th century did jā really become usual everywhere.^[29]

Welsh[edit]

It is often assumed that Welsh has no words at all for yes and no. It has ie and nage, and do and naddo. However, these are used only in specialized circumstances and are some of the many ways in Welsh of saying yes or no. Ie and nage are used to respond to sentences of simple identification, while do and naddo are used to respond to questions specifically in the past tense. As in Finnish, the main way to state yes or no, in answer to yes-no questions, is to echo the verb of the question. The answers to «Ydy Ffred yn dod?» («Is Ffred coming?») are either «Ydy» («He is (coming).») or «Nac ydy» («He is not (coming)»). In general, the negative answer is the positive answer combined with nag. For more information on yes and no answers to yes-no questions in Welsh, see Jones, listed in further reading.^[28][30][31]

Goidelic languages[edit]

The Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx) do not have words for yes or no at all. Instead, an echo response of the main verb used to ask the question is used. Sometimes, one of the words meaning «to be» (Irish tá or is, see Irish syntax § The forms meaning «to be»; Scottish Gaelic tha or is see Scottish Gaelic grammar § verbs; Manx ta or is) is used. For example, the Irish question «An bhfuil sé ag teacht?» («Is he coming?») may be answered «Tá« («Is») or «Níl« («Is not»). More frequently, another verb will be used. For example, to respond to «Ar chuala sé?» («Did he hear?»), «Chuala» («Heard») or «Níor chuala» («Did not hear») are used. Irish people frequently give echo answers in English as well, e.g. «Did you hear?» Answer «I heard/I did».

Latin[edit]

Latin has no single words for yes and no. Their functions as word sentence responses to yes-no questions are taken up by sentence adverbs, single adverbs that are sentence modifiers and also used as word sentences. There are several such adverbs classed as truth-value adverbs—including certe, fortasse, nimirum, plane, vero, etiam, sane, videlicet, and minime (negative). They express the speaker’s/writer’s feelings about the truth value of a proposition. They, in conjunction with the negator non, are used as responses to yes-no questions.^{[3][32][33][34][35]} For example:

«Quid enim diceres? Damnatum? Certe non.» («For what could you say? That I had been condemned? Assuredly not.»)

Latin also employs echo responses.^[34][36]

Galician and Portuguese[edit]

These languages have words for yes and no, namely si and non in Galician and sim and não in Portuguese. However, answering a question with them is less idiomatic than answering with the verb in the proper conjugation.

Spanish[edit]

In Spanish, the words sí ‘yes’ and no ‘no’ are unambiguously classified as adverbs: serving as answers to questions and also modifying verbs. The affirmative sí can replace the verb after a negation (Yo no tengo coche, pero él sí = I don’t own a car, but he does) or intensify it (I don’t believe he owns a car. / He does own one! = No creo que él tenga coche. / ¡Sí lo tiene!). The word no is the standard adverb placed next to a verb to negate it (Yo no tengo coche = I don’t own a car). Double negation is normal and valid in Spanish, and it is interpreted as reinforcing the negation (No tengo ningún coche = I own no car).

Chinese[edit]

Speakers of Chinese use echo responses.^[37] In all Sinitic/Chinese languages, yes-no questions are often posed in A-not-A form, and the replies to such questions are echo answers that echo either A or not A.^[38][39] In Standard Mandarin Chinese, the closest equivalents to yes and no are to state «是» (shì; lit. ‘»is»‘) and «不是» (búshì; lit. ‘»not is»‘).^[40][41] The phrase 不要 (búyào; ‘(I) do not want’) may also be used for the interjection «no», and 嗯 (ǹg) may be used for «yes». Similarly, in Cantonese, the preceding are 係 hai6 (lit: «is») and 唔係 (lit: «not is») m4 hai6, respectively. One can also answer 冇錯 mou5 co3 (lit. ‘»not wrong»‘) for the affirmative, although there is no corresponding negative to this.

Japanese[edit]

Japanese lacks words for yes and no. The words «はい» (hai) and «いいえ» (iie) are mistaken by English speakers for equivalents to yes and no, but they actually signify agreement or disagreement with the proposition put by the question: «That’s right.» or «That’s not right.»^[37][42] For example: if asked, Are you not going? (行かないのですか?, ikanai no desu ka?), answering with the affirmative «はい» would mean «Right, I am not going»; whereas in English, answering «yes» would be to contradict the negative question. Echo responses are not uncommon in Japanese.

Complications[edit]

These differences between languages make translation difficult. No two languages are isomorphic at the most elementary level of words for yes and no. Translation from two-form to three-form systems are equivalent to what English-speaking school children learning French or German encounter. The mapping becomes complex when converting two-form to three-form systems. There are many idioms, such as reduplication (in French, German, and Italian) of affirmatives for emphasis (the German ja ja ja).

The mappings are one-to-many in both directions. The German ja has no fewer than 13 English equivalents that vary according to context and usage (yes, yeah, and no when used as an answer; well, all right, so, and now, when used for segmentation; oh, ah, uh, and eh when used an interjection; and do you, will you, and their various inflections when used as a marker for tag questions) for example. Moreover, both ja and doch are frequently used as additional particles for conveying nuanced meaning where, in English, no such particle exists. Straightforward, non-idiomatic, translations from German to English and then back to German can often result in the loss of all of the modal particles such as ja and doch from a text.^{[43][44][45][46]}

Translation from languages that have word systems to those that do not, such as Latin, is similarly problematic. As Calvert says, «Saying yes or no takes a little thought in Latin».^[35]

Colloquial forms[edit]

Non-verbal[edit]

Linguist James R. Hurford notes that in many English dialects «there are colloquial equivalents of Yes and No made with nasal sounds interrupted by a voiceless, breathy h-like interval (for Yes) or by a glottal stop (for No)» and that these interjections are transcribed into writing as uh-huh or mm-hmm.^[47] These forms are particularly useful for speakers who are at a given time unable to articulate the actual words yes and no.^[47] The use of short vocalizations like uh-huh, mm-hmm, and yeah are examples of non-verbal communication, and in particular the practice of backchanneling.^[48][49]

Art historian Robert Farris Thompson has posited that mm-hmm may be a loanword from a West African language that entered the English vernacular from the speech of enslaved Africans; linguist Lev Michael, however, says that this proposed origin is implausible, and linguist Roslyn Burns states that the origin of the term is difficult to confirm.^[50]

Aye and variants[edit]

The word aye () as a synonym for yes in response to a question dates to the 1570s. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it is of unknown origin. It may derive from the word I (in the context of «I assent»); as an alteration of the Middle English yai («yes»); or the adverb aye (meaning always «always, ever»), which comes from the Old Norse ei.^[51] Using aye to mean yes is archaic, having disappeared from most of the English-speaking world, but is notably still used by people from Scotland, Ulster, and the north of England.^[52]

In December 1993, a witness in a Scottish court who had answered «aye» to confirm he was the person summoned was told by a sheriff judge that he must answer either yes or no. When his name was read again and he was asked to confirm it, he answered «aye» again, and was imprisoned for 90 minutes for contempt of court. On his release he said, «I genuinely thought I was answering him.»^[53]

Aye is also a common word in parliamentary procedure, where the phrase the ayes have it means that a motion has passed.^[54] In the House of Commons of the British Parliament, MPs vote orally by saying «aye» or «no» to indicate they approve or disapprove of the measure or piece of legislation. (In the House of Lords, by contrast, members say «content» or «not content» when voting).^[55]

The term has also historically been used in nautical usage, often phrased as «aye, aye, sir» duplicating the word «aye».^[56] Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926) explained that the nautical phrase was at that time usually written ay, ay, sir.^[54]

The informal, affirmative phrase why-aye (also rendered whey-aye or way-eye) is used in the dialect of northeast England,^[57][58] most notably by Geordies.^[58]

Other[edit]

Other variants of «yes» include acha in informal Indian English and historically righto or righty-ho in upper-class British English, although these fell out of use during the early 20th century.^[52]

See also[edit]

• Affirmation and negation
• Thumb signal
• Translation
• Untranslatability

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Bob Morris Jones (1999). The Welsh Answering System. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-016450-3.—Jones’ analysis of how to answer questions with «yes» or «no» in the Welsh language, broken down into a typology of echo and non-echo responsives, polarity and truth-value responses, and numbers of forms
• George L. Huttar (1994). «Words for ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘maybe’«. Ndyuka: A Descriptive Grammar. Routledge. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-415-05992-3.
• Holmberg, Anders (2016). The syntax of yes and no. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198701859.
• Kulick, Don (April 2003). «No». Language & Communication. Elsevier. 23 (2): 139–151. doi:10.1016/S0271-5309(02)00043-5. Pdf. Archived 2015-02-27 at the Wayback Machine

Вы когда-нибудь задумывались о том, как задаётся вопрос? В русском нам достаточно изменить интонацию высказывания — и вопрос готов. Мы редко меняем порядок слов, когда хотим что-то спросить. Только в тех случаях, когда мы что-то не расслышали, мы можем сделать акцент на определённом слове.

В английском языке, чтобы задать вопрос, недостаточно просто изменить интонацию на вопросительную. Нужно менять порядок слов. Кому-то это может показаться сложным, но давайте посмотрим на проблему с другой стороны. Благодаря тому, что в английском фиксированный порядок слов, вы можете определить, где какая часть речи, даже если вы не знаете некоторых слов. По сравнению с русским вопросом, где можно менять слова местами, пока это не дойдет до абсурда, в английском все более организовано и четко.

Первый и самый простой тип вопроса — общий, на него даётся «общий» ответ — «да» или «нет». В английских учебниках этот тип вопроса называют «General Question» или «Yes/No Question«. Забегу вперед и раскрою вам один секрет: если вы научитесь задавать общий вопрос, то у вас не будет никаких проблем с альтернативными вопросами и специальными вопросами, потому что общий вопрос лежит в их основе.

Первое правило общего вопроса: глагол должен стоять перед подлежащим. Но не смысловой глагол, а вспомогательный. Строить общий вопрос начинают обычно с глаголом TO BE. Разберем на простом примере: He is a doctor.
В этом предложении есть глагол IS. Соответственно, чтобы задать вопрос, мы берем IS, перемещаем его в начало предложения и ставим перед подлежащим. Готов вопрос: Is he a doctor?

С глаголом TO BE общие вопросы составлять очень просто: ничего не добавляете, ничего не убираете, а просто переставляете глагол в начало:

They are hungry. — Are they hungry?
She is happy today. — Is she happy today?

Как видите, принцип незамысловатый. Но ведь не во всех предложениях используется глагол TO BE! Как строить вопрос в разных временах? Точно так же, только для каждого времени использовать нужно вспомогательный глагол. Вспомогательных глаголов в английском языке всего три, но каждый имеет несколько форм:
TO BE (am, is, are, was, were, will)
DO (do, does, did)
HAVE (have, has, had)

Давайте вспомним вспомогательные глаголы по временам:

Present Simple	do / does
Past Simple	did
Future Simple	will
Present Continuous	am / is / are
Past Continuous	was / were
Future Continuous	will
Present Perfect	have / has
Past Perfect	had

Чтобы построить общий вопрос, нужно взять вспомогательный глагол, поставить перед подлежащим, и вопрос готов! Поздравляю, вы научились строить общий вопрос. Спасибо за внимание.

Примерно такое объяснение получали мы в школе, примерно так же написано в учебниках. Коротко и ясно, нечего сказать. Так почему же так много людей, изучающих английский, так и не умеют правильно задавать вопросы?

Программа для начинающих обычно составлена так, что, отработав общий вопрос на примере глагола TO BE, который всегда стоит в предложении (бери и переставляй), изучающие переходят к изучению времен Present Simple и Past Simple. Эти времена считаются базовыми с точки зрения их использования, но в плане образования форм они не такие уж и простые, поэтому вызывают сложности у изучающих. Проблема в том, что в утверждениях в Present Simple и Past Simple вспомогательных глаголов нет, поэтому приходится их вспоминать, а на начальном этапе изучения, это, конечно, не всегда получается. Вот поэтому построение вопросов на английском языке и считается трудным аспектом. Хотя, если взглянуть на другие времена, которые изучаются чуть позже, общий вопрос строится элементарно просто, потому что вспомогательный глагол уже есть в утверждении и не нужно ничего добавлять, а просто поменять местами:

Вернемся к временам Present Simple и Past Simple. Чтобы построить общий вопрос, вам в первую очередь понадобится глагол-помощник: для Present Simple DO (если вы спрашиваете про I, you, we, they) и DOES (если вопрос про he, she, it), для Past Simple — вспомогательный глагол DID для всех лиц. Не забывайте, что если в предложении появляется вспомогательный глагол, то он «забирает» окончания со смыслового глагола в Present Simple, а в Past Simple «возвращает» смысловой глагол в первую форму:

They work every day. — Do they work every day?
She speaks English very well. — Does she speak English very well?
You wrote this e-mail. — Did you write this e-mail?
He listened to the teacher. — Did he listen to a teacher?

Что касается модальных глаголов, они, как и глагол TO BE, образуют общий вопрос без вспомогательных глаголов, выходя на первое место в предложении:

I can swim. — Can you swim?
They could enter the building. — Could they enter the building?
He must come here at 6. — Must he come here at 6?

Как отвечать на общий вопрос? Вариантов может быть всего два: yes и no. Конечно, никто не исключает ответы типа Maybe, I don’t know, Certainly, Of course и так далее. Но отвечая «да» или» нет» на английском языке, важно помнить несколько правил. Простой ответ «да» или «нет» в английском языке состоит из двух частей, которые разделяются запятой. Во второй части присутствует подлежащее и вспомогательный глагол, который образовывал вопрос. Вторая часть краткого ответа не переводится, но для тех, кому с трудом даётся английский, можно представить перевод. Например:

Do you drink coffee in the morning? — Yes, I do. / No, I do not.
Ты пьешь кофе по утрам? — Да, я это делаю./ Нет, я этого не делаю.

Did he tell you the news? — Yes, he did. / No, he didn’t.
Он рассказал тебе новости? — Да, он это сделал./ Нет, он этого не сделал.

Вторую часть мы не переводим на русский, но на английском краткий ответ на общий вопрос звучит именно так.

Кроме того, не забудьте, что если ваш ответ «нет», то во второй части ответа должна присутствовать отрицательная частица not. Также обратите внимание, что в повседневной речи во второй части краткого ответа используются сокращенные формы (isn’t, aren’t, don’t, doesn’t, didn’t, haven’t и так далее), исключение составляет форма am not:

Present Continuous	Are you reading?	Yes, I am.	No, I am not.
Is he sleeping now?	Yes, he is	No, he isn’t.
Are they playing?	Yes, they are.	No, they aren’t.
Past Continuous	Was he working when you came?	Yes, he was.	No, he wasn’t.
Present Simple	Do you like milk?	Yes, I do.	No, I don’t.
Does she work in an office?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn’t.
Past Simple	Did you like the meal?	Yes, I did.	No, I didn’t.
Future Simple	Will you come tomorrow?	Yes, I will.	No, I won’t.
Present Perfect	Have you met Alice?	Yes, I have.	No, I haven’t.
Has he shown you the pictures?	Yes, he has.	No, he hasn’t.

Краткие ответы могут использоваться не только в качестве ответов на вопрос. В английском языке их можно использовать для согласия с собеседником:

The weather is splendid today. — Yes, it is.
Сегодня замечательная погода. — Да, действительно.

He didn’t do well at the exam. — No, he didn’t.
Он не очень хорошо справился с экзаменом. — Да, это так. (Да, он действительно не справился).

Кроме того, краткие ответы служат как ответы на приказания, после повелительных предложений. Повелительные высказывания относятся к будущему, поэтому в кратких ответах на них используется вспомогательный глагол will:

Write neatly! — Yes, I will.
Пиши аккуратно! — Да, хорошо.

Do not open the window. — No, I won’t.
Не открывай окно. — Хорошо, не буду.

Общие вопросы в английском произносятся с восходящей интонацией, тон повышается, а в коротких ответах интонация нисходящая:

Do you like winter?↑ — Ты любишь зиму?
Yes, I do.↓ — Да.

Как видите, ничего сложного в составлении вопросов на английском нет. Все, что вам нужно — понимание основного правила и немного практики. Будьте внимательны, не забывайте про изменение порядка слов и использование вспомогательных глаголов в вопросах. Из следующих статей на Enginform вы узнаете об остальных типах вопросов.

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Успехов вам в изучении английского языка!

Present Simple: Questions (yes/no)

Do you speak English?

Наверное, это одна из немногих фраз, которую знает каждый человек, когда-либо изучавший английский язык.

А вы задумывались, как правильно построить такую фразу? Мы уже обсуждали, как образуются утвердительные и отрицательные предложения в Present Simple. Пришло время разобраться с вопросами.

В русском языке мы спокойно понимаем, что это вопрос только за счёт интонации.

Ты любишь мороженое.

Ты любишь мороженое?

В английском языке так нельзя. Здесь нам придёт на помощь вспомогательный глагол: do (does).

Вопросительное предложение строится с помощью инверсии — то есть, мы меняем порядок слов с прямого (подлежащее + сказуемое + второстепенные члены предложения) на обратный: вспомогательный глагол + подлежащее + сказуемое, а потом все остальное!

Do you like ice-cream?

Ты любишь мороженое?

С местоимениями I/we/you/they мы используем форму вспомогательного глагола — do.

C местоимениями she/he/it мы используем форму вспомогательного глагола does.

Do you swim in a river in summer?

Ты плаваешь в реке летом?

Do I really need to go there?

Мне правда нужно туда идти?

Do we have a chance to travel together?

У нас есть шанс попутешествовать вместе?

Do they have kids?

У них есть дети?

Does she bring food from home?

Она приносит еду из дома?

Does he order anything on Amazon?

Он заказывает что-то на Амазоне?

Does it (the dog) bite?

Он (пес) кусается?

Общие вопросы не случайно называются Yes/No Questions — когда мы на них отвечаем, то мы говорим либо да, либо нет.

Схема ответа универсальна:

если это согласие — Yes, подлежащее (выраженное местоимением) + вспомогательный глагол;

если отрицание — No, подлежащее (выраженное местоимением) + вспомогательный глагол в отрицательной форме.

Do they work in a bank? Yes, they do/ No, they don’t.

Они работают в банке? Да/нет.

Does he ride a bike in the park? Yes, he does/ No, he doesn’t.

Он катается на велосипеде в парке? Да/нет.

Do you have a cat? Yes, I do/ No, I don’t.

У тебя есть кошка? Да/нет.

В том случае, если при построении предложения в Present Simple сказуемое является составным именным (то есть часть сказуемого выражена существительным, местоимением, числительным, прилагательным), нам нужен глагол “to be”.

Подробнее про глагол “to be” можно прочитать здесь:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sfIwHwtEQr9566OPZJIsDbi6g3tCnbTrJDD7mVQa7vI/edit

Принцип построения вопросительного предложения совершенно такой же, как и с активным глаголом: вспомогательный глагол (am/is/are) + подлежащее + именная часть сказуемого!

Do you get it?

Надеюсь, вы скажете: Yes, I do!

We cannot do without questions. We ask questions every day. We answer questions every day. Asking questions and getting answers to them, we become smarter. By asking questions we learn.

How to ask questions correctly? What are the types of questions in English?

Don’t worry if you don’t know yet. This is an easy and very interesting topic.

General questions (Yes/No Questions)

In some languages, we can only ask questions using interrogative intonation. In English, in order to form a question, we need additional tools:

1. Auxiliary verbs.
2. Special word order.

These tools depend on the type of questions we ask.

A general question (Yes/No Question) is one of the most popular and frequently used ways to get information.

A general question is a question that we can answer simply YES or NO.

We ask a general question when we don’t need more information. We ask a general question when it is enough for us to get YES or NO.

In English grammar, we call these questions: Yes / No questions or General Questions.

Look at the examples:

Question: Are you going to work today?
Answer: Yes, I am.

Question: Do you want us to have dinner at a restaurant?
Answer: No, I don’t want to, thanks.

The word order inversion plays an important role in such questions.

It means that we put the auxiliary verb at the beginning. Not the subject. We put the subject after the auxiliary verb. Then we put the main verb. Then we can add the rest of the sentence.

Do you like your new job?

Does she know the secret?

We can also use modal verbs in general questions. In this case, we don’t need any auxiliary verbs. Because modal verb can play the auxiliary role for itself.

In such questions, we put the modal verb at the beginning of the sentence. After the modal verb, we put the subject. Then we put the main verb. Then we can add the rest of the sentence.

Could you do me a favor?

Can we help you this time?

Should I pretend to believe all that nonsense?

To form a general question with the verb to be, we also do not use auxiliary verbs. The verb to be, like modal verbs, forms questions on its own.

Is he saying something behind my back?

Are we really doing this again?

Look at the detailed explanation of what a general question consists of, this will help you better understand how we form them:

Do you know the answer?

Do (auxiliary) you (subject) know (predicate) the answer (object)? (question mark)

Can you help me?

Can (modal verb) you (subject) help (predicate) me (object)? (question mark)

Are you a writer?

Are (verb to be) you (subject) a writer (rest of the sentence) ? (question mark)

A special question differs from a general one in only one detail. A special question starts with a question word or question phrase.

We use a Special question to get additional information other than a YES / NO answer.

That is why a special question has a question word or phrase at the beginning.

Compare:

General yes / no question:

Will you go to work?

Special question with a question word:

When will you go to work?

We cannot simply answer yes/no to a Special question. Because a special question has an extra word or phrase at the beginning. This word or phrase influences the answer.

Question: Where were you yesterday?
Answer: I visited my friend Frank.

The word “where” in the question influenced the answer.

To ask a special question we usually use these question words:

• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• Which?
• Whose?
• Whom?

These question words begin with “Wh” so we often call special questions Wh-questions.

As you may have noticed, we use the same word order in Wh-questions as in General questions. We just simply add a question word (or question phrase) to the beginning of the question.

Question word + auxiliary / modal / to be verb + subject + predicate / object + rest of the sentence.

Take a look at examples:

When do you want me to leave?

Why do you stay with him?

What are you still doing here?

Why can’t you be with us tonight?

How long does he have to be in quarantine?

Questions to the subject in English

The next type of questions are Questions to the subject. We ask a question to the subject when we want to know WHO is performing the action.

Question: Who will go for a walk with you?
Answer: John.

Question: Who broke the cup?
Answer: Tom did it!

Question: Who wants a slice of delicious pie?
Answer: I would not mind a piece of the pie …

The main feature of subject questions is that we don’t use any auxiliary verbs.

We just use the words Who or What instead of the subject.

If we ask a question to the subject in the Present Simple, then we add the ending -s to the main verb.

Question word + predicate + Secondary Parts of the Sentence

Who talks like that guy?

Who loves you?

Alternative questions

Another type of question that you should understand is alternative questions.

Why do we call these questions alternative questions? Because when we ask an alternative question, we not only ask but also offer alternatives for the answer! Doesn’t that sound interesting? Take a look at examples:

Do you like it or not?

Would you like tea or coffee?

We can ask an alternative question to any Parts of the Sentence.

Note the conjunction or in these examples. The conjunction or is an important feature of alternative questions.

It is the or that separates the answer options.

We form alternative questions almost in the same way as general questions.

Auxiliary verb + subject + action + answer option + or + answer option

Will you work at the central bank or one of its branches?

Alternative questions always have the or part.

Are you going to the cinema or the theater?

Have you played football or basketball?

If we want to use several auxiliary verbs in an alternative question, then we put the first auxiliary verb before the subject, and we put the remaining auxiliary verbs immediately after the subject.

Has John been working in this department or the next one?

We can easily turn an alternative question into a Wh Alternate Question (Special Alternative Question). To do this, we put a question word, or phrase at the beginning of the question:

Who do you prefer to work with John or Tom?

When did you decide to buy a new car, today or yesterday?

Tag Questions

Tag Question is a very interesting type of question in English.

For example, we ask General Questions just to get an answer (Often this is a simple yes / no answer). Often, when we ask a general question we do not know what the answer is.

When we ask a tag question, we often expect to hear confirmation of some information that we already know. That is, when we ask a tag question, we often know or mean what the answer is!

You’re going to see your grandmother, aren’t you?

You probably noticed that such questions do not look exactly like questions? Indeed, tag questions are more like affirmative sentences.

We DO NOT use question word order in tag questions. We use direct word order.

The main feature of this type of question is in the ending. The end of a tag question is called the tag. This is why we call them Tag questions.

You like her, don’t you?

To form such a tag, we put an auxiliary verb and the subject at the end of the sentence.

Any tag question has two parts:

1. Affirmative or negative sentence.
2. Tag at the end.

In the first part, we put what we think is the answer.

In the second part, we use the tag for confirmation.

He doesn’t want to talk to me, does he?

Tag questions are very popular and convenient in the English language. We use them all the time. We often ask tag questions to start a conversation.

We also use tag questions as a way to express feelings or emotions:

• surprise
• irony
• distrust
• skepticism
• doubt
  etc.

He can’t beat me, can he?

They will help you, won’t they?

Janice doesn’t want to go to school anymore, does she?

We won’t be able to win this game, can we?

You better give up, don’t you?

If we form a tag question using the verb to have, then the end of the question can have several types:

British English: You have a new bike, have you?
American English: They have a new home, don’t they?

If we form such a question with the pronoun I, then:

• In the affirmative question, the auxiliary verb remains in the am form.
• In the negative form, the auxiliary verb changes to aren’t I. Because it is inconvenient to say am not.

Correct: I am not the perfect Princess, am I?
Correct: I am the perfect Princess, aren’t I?
Incorrect: I am the perfect Princess, am not I?

A tag question can be negative even if there is no negative particle not in the first part. Take a look at this sentence:

You rarely go outside, do you?

Note that the tag contains the verb do without the negative particle not. The first part of the sentence also has no negation. Why do we use do you instead of don’t you? Because the first part of the question contains the negative word rarely.

RULE: If the first part of a tag question contains a word with a negative meaning, then the tag part must contain a verb in a positive form.

Examples of negative words we often use:

• scarcely
• hardly
• rarely
• barely
• little
  Etc.

You barely know him, do you?

We rarely work, do we?

Negative questions

There is another popular question type in English. These are Negative questions.

We can divide negative questions into two types:

Type 1: contracted negative questions
Type 2: uncontracted negative questions

We use Contracted Questions to express:

• a polite request
• criticism
• dissatisfaction
• remark
• invitation

Why don’t you get some more champagne?

Wouldn’t you object at this point?

Why don’t you take him shopping?

Contracted negative questions begin with words such as:

• Won’t you …?
• Wouldn’t you …?
• Why don’t you …?

We use the following word order in contracted negative questions:

auxiliary verb + ending n’t + subject

Take a look at examples:

Won’t you guys go up with me, please?

Why don’t you keep your thoughts to yourself?

Wouldn’t you like to refresh yourself?

Won’t you please reconsider my request?

Such questions are considered less formal.

If you want to give a positive answer to this type of question, you should answer: YES. In case of a negative answer, you should answer: NO.

Haven’t you read what I wrote?
Yes.

Haven’t you been dreaming about this?
No.

Haven’t you people heard anything?
No.

Now let’s look at uncontracted negative questions. Such questions are more formal than contracted negative questions.

We form uncontracted negative questions using the following scheme:

Auxiliary verb + subject + not

See how it looks with examples:

Why do you not tell them I am here?

Do you not recognize your own best friend?

Why do you not want to help me?

Have you not figured that out?

Has he not been true to his vow?

Are they not a shame on their country?

Do you not dare to face me?

Have you not seen The Voice?

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For basic survival abroad you are need to know how to ask “Yes/No” questions in English.

Luckily, “Yes/no” questions are the easiest type to ask and to answer in English. The answer to yes/no questions is usually a yes or a no.

How to form yes/no questions in English:

We need an auxiliary verb (Do, Be, Have or a modal verb) and we need to place the components of the question in the following order:

[Auxiliary Verb] + [Subject] + [Main Verb] + [Object or Other Information] + ?

Examples of yes/no questions in different tenses

Examples of YES/NO present simple questions

We use the present simple to talk about routines and facts. We use adverbs of frequency with the present simple to talk about frequency. These are some examples of how to ask yes/no questions in English:

• Do you enjoy Skype English lessons?
• Do you always feel tired in the mornings?
• Does he watch T.V every day?
• Can you sing in tune?

Be careful with the verb TO BE! If the main verb in the question is “to be” you should use it in the position of the auxiliary verb as in the following examples:

• Am I boring?
• Are you OK?
• Is the concert tonight?
• Are the children afraid of spiders?

Examples of YES/NO present continuous questions

The present continuous or progressive indicates that something is occurring now, in this moment.  We have to use the verb to BE in the present tense as an auxiliary verb and the main verb in the present participle (ING) form.

• Am I boring you with my explanations?
• Are you studying English this term?
• Is the Queen feeling unwell?

Examples of YES/NO present perfect questions

When we use the present perfect we talk about something that started or happened in the past and is connected to the present, so it is still true or relevant in the present.

Here are some examples:

• Have I told you about this already?
• Have you been to Paris?
• Has your sister seen your new car yet?
• Have we met our goals yet?

Examples of YES/NO present perfect continuous questions

If you want to emphasize that something started in the past and is still actively happening in the present, we use the present perfect continuous tense. It is a combination of the present perfect and the present continuous tenses.

For example:

• Have I been working on this all day?
• Have you been sleeping enough recently?
• Have the men been bothering you?

Examples of YES/NO past simple questions

The past simple is the right tense to use when you want to describe actions that happened and were completed in the past. We need the past form of the auxiliary verb – “did”.

• Did I interrupt something?
• Did you call me?
• Did she seal the deal?
• Did they accept your pitch?

Be careful with the verb TO BE! As with the present simple, if the main verb in the question is “to be” you should use its past form in the position of the auxiliary verb. This is an important aspect of How to ask “Yes/No” questions in English:

• Was I mistaken?
• Were you late to the conference?
• Was she happy with your results?
• Were they keen on joining us?

Examples of YES/NO past continuous questions

The past progressive (or past continuous) is used to describe actions that happened in the past which continued for a period of time. The auxiliary verb is the past for of the verb “to be”  and we use the main verb in the present participle (ING) form.

• Was I bothering you with my questions?
• Were you waiting for him yesterday?
• Was Gwen working for the government?
• Were they really wearing jeans in the office?

Examples of YES/NO past perfect questions

We use the past perfect tense to connect a moment in the past to another moment in the past. The event that happened earliest is described using the past perfect and to describe the later event we use the past simple. The auxiliary verb is the past form of “to have” (HAD) and the main verb is the past participle (for regular verbs, with ED for irregular verbs we use the third column from this list). This tense is not common however it can come in handy:

• Had you thought about adopting before you tried IVF?
• Had the water boiled before you added the pasta?
• Had you met your husband when you started your business?
• Had you seen the first movie before you read the book?

Examples of YES/NO past perfect continuous questions

This tense is easy to form when you understand past perfect and continuous tenses. The meaning is similar to the past perfect tense, however the past perfect continuous indicates that the action continued for a while. The auxiliary verb is “had” and the main verb is “been + ING”. This tense is quite uncommon, but it is still important to know how to ask this type of question in English so here are some examples:

• Had you been waiting long before he arrived?
• Had the fire been burning long before the fire brigade arrived?
• Had the cat been acting unusual before you decided to take him to the vet?
• Had they been learning English before they came to Canada?

Examples of YES/NO future simple questions

The future simple (using will) is used in these main situations:

1. Promises
2. Making offers
3. Spontaneous decisions
4. Making predictions
5. Conditional structures

The questions need to start with “will” as the auxiliary verb and the main verb is the infinitive form (without to):

• Will you marry me?
• Will he help us?
• Will you have the fish?
• Will you answer him if he calls?
• Will you finish this project by Monday?

Examples of YES/NO future continuous questions

The future perfect describes something that will happen in the future for a prolonged period of time. The auxiliary is “will”, and we use “be + ING” for the main verb. Examples:

• Will I be working with John on this project?
• Will she be staying with you all summer?
• Will we be needing extra help this quarter?

Examples of YES/NO future perfect questions.

Questions using the future perfect continuous ask about an event that may or may not have finished at some point in the future. They connect a finishing event with a point in the future and are complicated to form because you need to include more information or context. As with all perfect tenses we need to use the verb to have and the past participle (ED for regular verbs).  The auxiliary verb is “will” and the verb “to have” is in the infinitive form.

Here are some examples:

• Will I have worked here long enough to receive the bonus?
• Will she have gained sufficient points to qualify for the next round in the competition?
• Will the train have left before we get to the station?

Examples of YES/NO future perfect continuous questions.

Finally, the future perfect continuous is also used to connect two future events, and again we need to provide context about the time frame. We use “will” as the auxiliary and “have been” with the ING form of the main verb:

• Will you have been studying for very long when you take the exam?
• When the financial year ends will you have been doing the books for 15 years?
• Will you have been dating Mark for longer than I will have been dating John when we get married?

I hope you find this information useful, for more information about how to ask different types of questions in English you can click the following links: 

open questions

Question tags

Indirect questions

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