QUESTION ("YES NO","WH","TAG # (SOFTSKILL)

Yes / No questions (closed questions)

Yes / No questions are also called closed questions because there are only two possible responses: Yes or No. When forming a Yes / No question, it must include one of these verbs: BE,DO,HAVE, or a modal verb It is impossible to ask a Yes / No question without one of these verbs.

· Use the verb BE to ask Yes / No questions about the identity or description of a person, place, or thing.

question		response
Am I your friend?		Yes. / Yes, you are. / Yes, you are my friend.
Is this a good restaurant?		No. / No, it is not. / No, it is not a good restaurant.
Are these islands Greek?		Yes. / Yes, they are. / Yes, these islands are Greek.
Was his idea interesting?		No. / No, it wasn’t. / No, his idea was not interesting.
Were they happy?		Yes. / Yes, they were. / Yes, they were happy.

Note that the response can be short (Yes. / No.), or long: Yes or No followed by the subject and verb.

· Use the verb BE with a preposition to ask Yes / No questions about a present or past location.

question		response
Am I at the correct location?		No. / No, you aren’t.
Are the keys under the books?		No. / No, they are not.
Was his house on an island?		Yes. / Yes, it was.
Were the demonstrations in the center of town?		No. / No, they weren’t.

· Use the verb BE to ask a Yes / No question about a current activity or situation. This requires the present progressive: BE + (verb+ing).

question		response
Am I going with you and Tom?		Yes. / Yes, you are.
Is she working today?		No. / No, she isn’t.
Are we seeing a play tomorrow?		Yes. / Yes, we are.

· Use the verb BE to ask a Yes / No question about a past activity or situation. This requires the past progressive: WAS / WERE + (verb+ing).

question		response
Was it raining?		Yes. / Yes, it was.
Were they playing?		No. / No, they weren’t.

· Use the verb BE to ask a Yes / No question with the passive voice.

question		response
Is gold mined in Canada?		Yes. / Yes it is.
Are flowers grown here?		No. / No, they are not.
Was the book read?		Yes. / Yes, it was.

· Use the verb HAVE to ask if somebody has done something or if some action has taken place. Note that these Yes / No questions use the present perfect (HAVE + past participle).

question		response
Has your brother left?		No. / No, he hasn’t.
Have you driven before?		Yes. / Yes, I have.
Has the party started?		Yes. / Yes, it has.

· Use the verb DO to ask Yes / No questions in order to obtain facts about people, places, or things.

question		response
Do they smoke?		No. / No, they don’t.
Does it rain here?		Yes. / Yes, it does.
Did the key work?		No. / No, it didn’t.

· Use modal verbs to ask Yes / No questions about possibilities or uncertainties.

question		response
Can we stay?		Yes. / Yes, we can. / Yes, we can stay.
Could this be true?		Yes. / Yes, it could (be true).
Should they stop?		No. / No, they shouldn’t (stop).
May I help you?		Yes. / Yes you may (help me).

Remember: When asking Yes / No questions with DO or a modal verb, the main verb remains in the base form (without to).

correct		incorrect
Do you drink coffee?		~~Do you to drink coffee?~~
Does she work here?		~~Does she to work here?~~
Can I go with you?		~~Can I to go with you?~~
Should we email her?		~~Should we to email her?~~

However, if there are two verbs that follow DO, the second verb remains in the infinitive (with to).

correct		incorrect
Do you want to drink coffee?		~~Do you want drink coffee?~~
Does she like to work here?		~~Does she like work here?~~
Did you need to go home?		~~Did you need go home?~~

Note that there are several ways to answer Yes / No questions, especially when using contractions.

question	response
Is he busy?	No.
	No, he isn’t.
	No, he’s not.
	No, he is not.
	No, he isn’t busy.
	No, he’s not busy.
	No, he is not busy.

Source :

http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/blog/learn-english/grammar/questions-yes-no/

Question tags in English

We use tags in spoken English but not in formal written English.They are not really questions but are a way of asking the other person to make a comment and so keep the conversation open.Making a tag is very mechanical. To make a tag, use the first auxiliary. If there is no auxiliary, use do, does or did. With a positive sentence, make a negative tag and with a negative sentence, make a positive tag.

It's beautiful, isn't it?
He has been, hasn't he?
You can, can't you?
It must be, mustn't it?
You know him, don’t you?
He finished it, didn't he?
He will come, won't he?

It isn't very good, is it?
It hasn't rained, has it?
It can't be, can it?
Jenny doesn't know James, does she?
They didn't leave, did they?

1. Use

frequently used in spoken English when you want someone to agree or disagree

2. Form

positive statement → question tag negative → You are Tom, aren't you?
negative statement → question tag positive → He isn't Joe, is he?

3. Examples

1. with auxiliaries

You've got a car, haven't you?

2. without auxiliaries (don't, doesn't, didn't)

They play football on Sundays, don't they?
She plays football on Sundays, doesn't she?
They played football on Sundays, didn't they?

Questions tags are used to keep a conversation going. You can agree or refuse to a sentence with a question tag.

Affirmative sentence: He is from Germany, isn't he?
Negative sentence: He isn't from Germany, is he?

Possible answers are Yes or No. If you use Yes, do not use contracted forms. If you use No, contracted form are possible.

Yes, he is.
No, he is not. or No, he isn't. or No, he's not.

4. Special points

Ø Although the negative word not is not in the sentence, the sentence can be negative. Then we use the positive question tag.

· He never goes out with his dog, does he?

Ø If have is a main verb in the sentence and refers to states, there are two possible sentences – We have a car, _____?

· We have a car, haven't we? mostly British English

· We have a car, don't we? mostly American English

Ø Use will/would with imperatives (Simple Present)

· Open the window, will you?

· Open the window, would you?

· Don't open your books, will you?

Ø We use won't with a polite request

· Open the window, won't you?

Ø We use shall after Let's

· Let's take the next bus, shall we?

Ø Auxiliary must

We must be at home at 8 pm, mustn't we?

· Yes, we must

· No, we needn't

Source :

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/qu_tags.htm

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/questionstags/menu.php

WH Question Words

We use question words to ask certain types of questions. We often refer to them as WH words because they include the letters WH (for example WHy, HoW). Question words are also called wh questions because they include the letters 'W' and 'H'

STRUCTURE

      WH questions in simple present use “do” or “be”:

WH Questions with "do"

      WH   +   DO/DOES   +   SUBJECT    +   VERB

            Examples:
           * Where do you work?
           * When does she wake up?
           * Who is your brother?

WH Questions with "be"

     WH   +   BE    +    SUBJECT

            Examples:
           * Where are you from?
           * Who is that man?
           * When is your class?

WH Questions are similar to YES/NO question except they
have WH words at the start.

     Examples:
     Are you from Canada?
     * Where are you from?

Here are some example questions and answers:

* Where are you from?
* I am from Japan.

* What is your name?
* My name is Jacob.

* When do you wake up?
* I wake up at 7:30 am.

question word	function	example sentence
what	asking for information about something	What is your name?
what	asking for repetition or confirmation	What? I can't hear you. You did what?
what...for	asking for a reason, asking why	What did you do that for?
when	asking about time	When did he leave?
where	asking in or at what place or position	Where do they live?
which	asking about choice	Which colour do you want?
who	asking what or which person or people (subject)	Who opened the door?
whom	asking what or which person or people (object)	Whom did you see?
whose	asking about ownership	Whose are these keys? Whose turn is it?
why	asking for reason, asking what...for	Why do you say that?
why don't	making a suggestion	Why don't I help you?
how	asking about manner	How does this work?
how	asking about condition or quality	How was your exam?
how + adj/adv	asking about extent or degree	see examples below
how far	distance	How far is Pattaya from Bangkok?
how long	length (time or space)	How long will it take?
how many	quantity (countable)	How many cars are there?
how much	quantity (uncountable)	How much money do you have?
how old	age	How old are you?
how come (informal)	asking for reason, asking why	How come I can't see her?