Level: beginner
Yes/No questions
Yes/No questions are questions which we answer with Yes or No. Look at these statements:
They are working hard.
They will be working hard.
They had worked hard.
They have been working hard.
They might have been working hard.
We make Yes/No questions by putting the first part of the verb in front of the subject:
Are they working hard?
Will they be working hard?
Had they worked hard?
Have they been working hard?
Might they have been working hard?
- Yes/No questions 1
- ReorderingHorizontal_MTYxNjY=
- Yes/No questions 2
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Negatives
We make negatives by putting not after the first part of the verb:
They are not working hard.
They will not be working hard.
They had not worked hard.
They have not been working hard.
They might not have been working hard.
In spoken English, we often reduce not to n’t:
They aren't working hard.
They won't be working hard.
They hadn't been working hard.
They haven't been working hard.
They mightn't have been working hard.
- Negatives 1
- Negatives 2
Present simple and past simple questions and negatives
For all verbs except be and have, we use do/does or did to make Yes/No questions in the present simple and past simple:
| They work hard. | > | Do they work hard? |
| He works hard. | > | Does he work hard? |
| They worked hard. | > | Did they work hard? |
For all verbs except be and have, we use do/does + not or did + not to make negatives in the present simple and past simple:
| They work hard. | > | They do not (don't) work hard. |
| He works hard. | > | He does not (doesn't) work hard. |
| They worked hard. | > | They did not (didn't) work hard. |
Here are the question forms and negative forms for be in the present simple and past simple:
| Positives | Questions | Negatives |
|---|---|---|
| I am (I'm) | Am I? | I am not (I'm not) |
| He is (he's) | Is he? | He is not (He's not/He isn't) |
| She is (she's) | Is she? | She is not (She's not/She isn't) |
| It is (it's) | Is it? | It is not (It's not/It isn't) |
| You are (you're) | Are you? | You are not (You're not/You aren't) |
| They are (they're) | Are they? | They are not (They're not/They aren't) |
| Positives | Questions | Negatives |
|---|---|---|
| I was | Was I? | I was not (I wasn't) |
| He was | Was he? | He was not (He wasn't) |
| She was | Was she? | She was not (She wasn't) |
| It was | Was it? | It was not (It wasn't) |
| You were | Were you? | You were not (You weren't) |
| They were | Were they? | They were not (They weren't) |
We make questions and negatives with have in two ways. Usually we use do/does or did:
Do you have plenty of time?
Does she have enough money?
Did they have any useful advice?
I don't have much time.
She doesn't have any money.
They didn't have any advice to offer.
but we can also make questions by putting have/has or had in front of the subject:
Have you plenty of time?
Has she enough money?
Had they any useful advice?
and make negatives by putting not or n't after have/has or had:
I haven't much time.
She hasn't any money.
He hadn't any advice to offer.
- Present simple and past simple questions and negatives 1
- Present simple and past simple questions and negatives 2
Wh-questions
Wh-questions are questions which start with a word like what, when, where, which, who, whose, why and how.
- Question words
Questions with when, where, why
We form wh-questions with these words by putting the question word in front of a Yes/No question:
| They are working in a shop. | > | Where are they working? |
| They have been working hard for their exams. | > | Why have they been working hard? |
| They arrived at six. | > | When did they arrive? |
Questions with who, what, which
When we ask who, what and which about the object of the verb, we put the question word in front of a Yes/No question:
| He is seeing Joe tomorrow. | > | Who is he seeing tomorrow? |
| I want a computer for my birthday. | > | What do you want for your birthday? |
| I'd prefer some tea. | > | Which would you prefer, tea or coffee? |
- Wh-questions 1
When we ask who, what and which about the subject of the verb, the question word takes the place of the subject:
| Barbara gave me the chocolates. | > | Who gave you the chocolates? |
| Something funny happened. | > | What happened? |
| The dog frightened the children. | > | Which dog frightened the children? |
We sometimes use what or which with a noun:
What subjects did you study at school?
Which English newspaper started in 1986?
What subjects does everyone have to study?
Which newspaper do you prefer, The Times or the Guardian?
- Wh-questions 2
Questions with how
We use how for many different questions:
How are you?
How do you make questions in English?
How long have you lived here?
How often do you go to the cinema?
How much is this dress?
How old are you?
How many people came to the meeting?
- Questions with how 1
- Questions with how 2
Questions with verbs and prepositions
When we have a question with a verb and a preposition, the preposition usually comes at the end of the question:
| I gave the money to my brother. | > | Who did you give the money to? |
| She comes from Madrid. | > | Where does she come from? |
| They were waiting for an hour. | > | How long were they waiting for? |
- Questions with verbs and prepositions 1
- Questions with verbs and prepositions 2
Level: intermediate
Other ways of asking questions
We sometimes use phrases like these in front of a statement to ask questions:
Do you know …?
I wonder …
Can you tell me …?
For Yes/No questions, we use the phrases with if:
| This is the right house. | > | Do you know if this is the right house? |
| Everyone will agree. | > | I wonder if everyone will agree. |
| Mr Brown lives here. | > | Can you tell me if Mr Brown lives here? |
For wh-questions, we use the phrases with a question word:
Do you know who lives here?
I wonder how much this dress is.
Can you tell me where she comes from?
We often use do you think …? after question words:
How much do you think this dress is?
Where do you think she comes from?
Who do you think lives here?
- Indirect questions 1
- Indirect questions 2
Negatives with the to-infinitive
When we make a negative with the to-infinitive, we put not in front of the to-infinitive:
He told us not to make so much noise.
We were asked not to park in front of the house.
Hello sir
The question is ‘you have to bring me a pair of gloves. (transform into a negative sentence)’
You should not fail to bring me a pair of gloves.
Don’t you have to bring me a pair of gloves?
Out of the above given two responses which one is correct and why
Kindly help
Hello Tanvi nagda,
The negative of have to in terms of form is don't/doesn't have to, so this would give you this sentence:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello The LearnEnglish Team,
Is the sentence "Do no go on the grass" correct? If it is, could you kindly explain how it differs from the sentence "Do not go on the grass"?
Thank you for your assistance.
Hello Sep80,
No, 'do no go' is not correct; the correct negative command form is 'do not go' or 'don't go'.
We generally don't say this and instead say something like 'Stay off the grass'.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello!
Could you please clarify the following:
Could you please tell me which option (if any) is correct:
1. Should I go there every time or it doesn't matter?
2. Should I go there every time or it doesnt' matter?
And could you please help me with similiar questions, in which both parts are in Present Simple
1. Do you do this at a specific time or doesn't it matter?
2. Do you do this at a specific time or it doesn't matter?
I'm very very grateful for your precious and immense help and thank you very much for the answer to this post!!!
Hello howtosay_,
Of the first two, 1 is correct. The apostrophe replaces the letter 'o' in 'not'.
Of the second two, in informal speaking people would say either one, i.e. both can be correct. I would probably say 'or does it not matter?'; I'd also use that form in writing.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello sir ,
Thank you for the answer .
I want to ask can you guid me to where are affirmative clause and imperative in your page .
Hello g-ssan,
Affirmative clauses are described on the Verb phrases page. I'd also recommend the Clause structure and verb patterns page for that, and the imperative is briefly mentioned on the latter page as well. You can also read more about the imperative on the Cambridge Dictionary Grammar's Imperative clauses page.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir ,
Can you tell me in this sentence "Ask them when I can visit them next week "
Why we but the subject "I" after "when "directly ? . Why we should say "Ask them When can I visit them next week? ".
Hello g-ssan,
The key here is to understand that the clause with 'when' is not a question. The verb form is imperative ('Ask them...') which makes it a command or instruction, and there is no need for inversion as you would have in a question. Here are some other examples:
Even when the introductory phrase is a question such as 'Can you tell me...' or 'Do you know...' the following clause has normal word order:
The question here is in the first part; the rest is just a normal affirmative clause.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello! Could please kindly help me if these sentences are correct: 1) what do you not read/like? 2) what don't you read/like? 3) what do not you read? . Could you also please advice where to find grammar rules about how to form negative question sentences.'Not' comes after auxiliary do/does or before the main verb in the question sentence? Thank you!
Hello Annavictor,
Sentences 1 and 2 are grammatically correct; sentence 2 is by far the more natural-sounding.
Sentence 3 is incorrect.
When contracted, the negation is attached to the auxiliary. When not contracted, the negation follows the subject. Other items, such as adverbs, would come after the negating particle and before the main verb:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Sir,
I have read that when it comes to subject questions we are supposed to make the verb in 3rd person singular for example:
A: They visit us every day.
B: Who visits us every day?
Then why there is not "was" instead of "were" in this example:
A: My documents were lost.
B: Whose documents were lost?
Thank you in advance
Hello Zuzanna12,
Although it's true that subject questions are very often followed by a third-person singular verb, that is not always the case. You've found one example ('Whose documents were lost?'), but there are others -- for example:
The verb has to agree with its subject. When we have a subject question with just a question word (e.g. 'Who phoned?' or 'What happened?'), then the verb is singular unless the situation makes it clear that the subject is plural.
In the case of 'Whose documents were lost?', the subject of the question is really about which documents, which is a plural subject. Or in my example above, it's clear that at least two people live in the person's house, so the verb needs to be plural.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Tks LearnEnglish team. After this lesson I think I literally won't say "I don't know...". I gonna to say "I wonder if..." or "Do you know if..."
Hello. Could you please help me choose the correct answer? Why?
- Amani: Didn’t you buy any flour?
- Heba: No, I bought (no - some) to make cakes.
Thank you.
Hello Ahmed Imam,
The correct answer is 'some'.
'Some' can be used before a noun (as a determiner) or as a pronoun, so it can stand alone:
'No' can only be used as a determiner:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again. Can we answer using "No," with an affirmative sentence?
Thank you.
Hello Ahmed Imam,
In the following short exchange, 'some' is the grammatically correct option.
- Amani: Didn’t you buy any flour?
- Heba: No, I bought (no - some) to make cakes.
But it's an answer that's a bit odd. Amani seems to think that Heba didn't buy any flour but is asking to be sure. Heba says 'no', but then says she bought some. That could perhaps make sense in a very specific context, but out of context I find it odd.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sir,
Which could happen during a picnic?
is using "Which" in above question right? why does writer use "Which" instead of "What"?
Hello Sidra,
We generally use 'which' as a question word when there is limited range of options. Without knowing the situation this question was asked in, I'm afraid it's difficult for me to explain why 'which' was used here.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
It’s a part 3 question asked by the examiner in IELTS exam. She said “Which could happen during the picnic?” not “What could happen during the picnic?”
I want to know the difference between two questions, in terms of their meanings.
Hello again Sidra,
If I remember correctly, part 3 refers back to part 2. So I suppose the examiner was referring to a few different options in part 2, but I'd need to know more to be able to explain this specific case.
As I said before, we use 'what' to ask a more open-ended question, that is, when we don't have a range of options in mind. For example, if we were just beginning to speak about sports, I could ask you 'What's your favourite sport?'. In this case, we haven't discussed any specific sports yet.
But imagine we started speaking about sports and then spoke specifically about football, rugby and cricket. If I wanted to find out which of those three you like the most, I'd say 'Which is your favourite?' In this case, 'which' indicates that I'm speaking about those three sports that we've just been discussing. It would be incorrect to say 'What' here if I was referring to those three sports.
I hope this helps you make sense of it.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Ok It’s clear now.
Thanks a lot.
Stay blessed.
Hi Mason2afm,
Sentence b is correct. In a negative question, not should be positioned after the subject (my request).
Sentence a is grammatically possible if you make the contraction: Why hasn't my request been fulfilled?.
Have a look at this page from the Cambridge Dictionary (see the 'Not and n’t in questions' section) for more explanation and examples. I hope it helps!
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Slava B,
Shifting 'not' can change the meaning, but in your example it has little effect beyond the style as the second part of the sentence removes any possible ambiguity.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi integrala,
It should be: Can you guess what we are working on these days?
We don't invert 'we are' because there's already inversion earlier in the question ('Can you'). The verb 'work(ing)' needs the preposition 'on' to link it to an object (e.g. 'working on a project').
The first question (Can you guess on what we are working?) is grammatically correct too, but putting the preposition 'on' in this position is very formal in style and less commonly used.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Akash Rathore,
Only sentences 1 and 3 are correct. 'one and a half years' is considered plural, and so the verb forms need to be plural.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello knownman,
Thanks very much for telling us about this. I've just changed the Short forms page so that people can comment there now.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Zizo,
The verb 'is' goes at the end, as in the second sentence, but I'm afraid the sentence is still a bit strange in a general context.
Do you mean something like 'Who do you think the most famous actor in the world is today?' The word 'most' creates a superlative form.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello amrita_enakshi,
Anna does not write a story is correct.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'the meaning changes' here. Of course the meaning changes from positive to negative, but the time reference and the action described do not change.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello AkiraTa05,
I think the first sentence is fine with or. In fact, I think or is the more natural choice here.
The second sentence is more problematic. It's unusual to use or in negative sentences, so I think the sentences sound rather clumsy if nor is replaced. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is incorrect, but it certainly has a worse style, in my opinion.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello LubNko525,
All of these sentences mean the same thing. They are progressively more formal. In other words, the first one is the one you'd be most likely to see or hear in speaking or writing these days, followed by 1 and then lastly 2.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello liching,
The first sentence is correct.
The choice of verb is determined by the first item in the list, so we would say this:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi AsahiYo20,
Yes! The meaning is the same. But, the version with any is more emphatic.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello anurat227,
Those are a lot of questions! As for the first three, the first two mean the same thing in general. The third one isn't really correct, though you might hear people use it in informal contexts.
The second pair of phrases you ask about have different verb forms, so they are different that way, but as with the first phrases you asked about, otherwise there is no difference in general.
As for the third pair, again, there's no difference in general, though I would remark that people don't use 'neither ... nor' very often in all but formal contexts any more.
As for your last question, I also prefer the plural forms that you suggest. In most cases, there'd be no difference in meaning.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team