Questions

A statement is a sentence that tells you something. A question is a sentence that asks you something. A statement does not require an answer. A question requires an answer.

statement:	I like EnglishClub.
question:	Do you like EnglishClub?	Yes
question:	Why do you like EnglishClub?	Because...

A written question in English always ends with a question mark: ?

Question Structure

The basic structure of a question is:

auxiliary verb

subject

main verb

Look at these example sentences. They all have the auxiliary verb before the subject:

	auxiliary verb	subject	main verb
	Do	you	like	Mary?
	Are	they	playing	football?
	Will	Anthony	go	to Tokyo?
	Did	he	leave	early?
Why	did	he	leave	early?
When	will	he	return?

Exception! For the main verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple, there is no auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences. They all have the main verb before the subject:

	main verb be	subject
	Am	I	wrong?
	Are	they	Thai?
	Was	it	hot outside?
Why	were	you	late?

Questions are also known as "interrogatives".

Question Types

There are three basic question types:

Yes/No: the answer is "yes or no"
Question-word: the answer is "information"
Choice: the answer is "in the question"

We look at these in more detail below.

Yes/No questions

Sometimes the only answer that we need is yes or no. Look at these examples:

auxiliary verb	subject	not	main verb		answer: yes or no
Do	you		want	dinner?	Yes, I do.
Can	you		drive?		No, I can't.
Has	she	not	finished	her work?	Yes, she has.
Did	they		go	home?	No, they didn't.

Exception! Main verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple:

main verb be	subject
Is	Anne	French?
Was	Ram	at home?

Question-word questions

Sometimes we want more than yes or no for an answer. When asking for information, we usually place a question-word at the beginning of the sentence. The question-word indicates the information that we want, for example: where (place), when (time), why (reason), who (person). Look at these examples:

question word	auxiliary verb	not	subject	main verb		answer: information
Where	do		you	live?		In Paris.
When	will		we	have	lunch?	At 1pm.
Why	has	n't	Tara	done	it?	Because she can't.
Who(m)	did		she	meet?		She met Ram.
Who*	has			run	out?	Ati has run out.
Who**				ran	out?	Ati ran out.

*When the question-word is who, it acts as the subject.
**In Present Simple and Past Simple tenses, there is no auxilary verb with who.

Exception. Main verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple:

question word	main verb be	subject
Where	is	Bombay?
How	was	she?

Choice questions

Sometimes we give our listener a choice. We ask them to choose between two possible answers. So their answer is (usually) already in the question. Look at these examples:

auxiliary verb	subject	main verb		or		answer: in question
Do	you	want	tea	or	coffee?	Coffee, please.
Will	we	meet	John	or	James?	John.

Exception. Main verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple:

main verb be	subject		OR
Is	your car	white	or	black?
Were	they	$15	or	$50?

Tag Questions

You speak English, don't you?

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. We use tag questions to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Is that right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure of a tag question is:

positive statement	negative tag
Snow is white,	isn't it?

negative statement	positive tag
You don't like me,	do you?

Notice that the tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

Positive Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with positive statements. You will see that most of the time, the auxiliary verb from the positive statement is repeated in the tag and changed to negative.

(+) positive statement				(-) negative tag
subject	auxiliary	main verb		auxiliary	not	personal pronoun same as subject
You	are	coming,		are	n't	you?
We	have	finished,		have	n't	we?
You	do	like	coffee,	do	n't	you?
You		like	coffee,	do	n't	you?
They	will	help,		wo	n't	they?
I	can	come,		can	't	I?
We	must	go,		must	n't	we?
He	should	try	harder,	should	n't	he?
You		are	English,	are	n't	you?
John		was	there,	was	n't	he?

Notice:

the use of do in the two coffee questions. Remember that in Present Simple, do is optional in positive statements (You like coffee/You do like coffee). But the do must appear in the tag. The same applies to Past Simple did.
in last two questions, no auxiliary for main verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple. The tag repeats the main verb.

Negative Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with negative statements. Notice that the negative verb in the original statement is changed to positive in the tag.

(-) negative statement						(+) positive tag
subject	auxiliary		main verb			auxiliary	personal pronoun same as subject
It	is	n't	raining,			is	it?
We	have	never	seen		that,	have	we?
You	do	n't	like		coffee,	do	you?
They	will	not	help,			will	they?
They	wo	n't	report		us,	will	they?
I	can	never	do		it right,	can	I?
We	must	n't	tell		her,	must	we?
He	should	n't	drive		so fast,	should	he?
You	wo	n't	be		late,	will	you?
You			are	n't	English,	are	you?
John			was	not	there,	was	he?

Notice:

won't is the contracted form of will not
the tag repeats the auxiliary verb, not the main verb. Except, of course, for the verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple.

Answering Tag Questions

How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may repeat the tag and reverse it (They don't live here, do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful about answering tag questions. In some languages, an opposite system of answering is used, and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion!

Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts, not (necessarily) the question.

For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the correct answers:

tag question	correct answer	notes
Snow is white, isn't it?	Yes (it is).	Answer is same in both cases - because snow is white!	But notice change of stress when answerer does not agree with questioner.
Snow isn't white, is it?	Yes it is!	Answer is same in both cases - because snow is white!
Snow is black, isn't it?	No it isn't!	Answer is same in both cases - because snow is not black!
Snow isn't black, is it?	No (it isn't).	Answer is same in both cases - because snow is not black!

In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes" (meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English!

Here are some more examples, with correct answers:

The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.
The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.
The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!
Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!
Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!
Men don't have babies, do they? No.
The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

Tag Question Special Cases

Negative adverbs

The adverbs never, rarely, seldom, hardly, barely and scarcely have a negative sense. Even though they may be in a positive statement, the feeling of the statement is negative. We treat statements with these words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally positive. Look at these examples:

positive statement treated as negative statement	positive tag
He never came again,	did he?
She can rarely come these days,	can she?
You hardly ever came late,	did you?
I barely know you,	do I?
You would scarcely expect her to know that,	would you?

Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:

	intonation
You don't know where my wallet is,	do you?	/ rising	real question
It's a beautiful view,	isn't it?	\ falling	not a real question

Imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.

imperative + question tag	notes
Take a seat, won't you?	polite invitation
Help me, can you?	quite friendly
Help me, can't you?	quite friendly (some irritation?)
Close the door, would you?	quite polite
Do it now, will you.	less polite
Don't forget, will you.	with negative imperatives only will is possible

Same-way tag questions

Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-negative or negative-positive, it is sometimes possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. We use same-way tag questions to express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to make real questions.

Look at these positive-positive tag questions:

So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!
She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!
So you think that's funny, do you? Think again.

Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:

So you don't like my looks, don't you? (British English)

Asking for information or help

Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example, instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the police station is, would you?" Here are some more examples:

You don't know of any good jobs, do you?
You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?
You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?

Some more special cases

example	notes
I am right, aren't I?	aren't I (not amn't I)
You have to go, don't you?	you (do) have to go...
I have been answering, haven't I?	use first auxiliary
Nothing came in the post, did it?	treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements
Let's go, shall we?	let's = let us
He'd better do it, hadn't he?	he had better (no auxiliary)

Mixed Examples of Tag Questions

Here is a list of examples of tag questions in different contexts. Notice that some are "normal" and others seem to break all the rules:

But you don't really love her, do you?
This'll work, won't it?
Oh you think so, do you?
Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
We'd never have known, would we?
Oh you do, do you?
The weather's bad, isn't it?
You won't be late, will you?
Nobody knows, do they?
You never come on time, do you?
You couldn't help me, could you?
You think you're clever, do you?
So you don't think I can do it, don't you? (British English)
Shut up, will you!
She can hardly love him after all that, can she?
Nothing will happen, will it?

Infinitive or -ing?

Sometimes we need to decide whether to use a verb in its:

to-infinitive form - to do, to sing

or in its:

-ing form - doing, singing

For example, only one of the following sentences is correct:

I dislike to work late.
I dislike working late.

Which one?!

Use infinitive...

after adjectives, for example:

disappointed, glad, happy, pleased, relieved, sad, surprised

This includes "too + adjective" and "adjective + enough". Look at these example sentences:

I was happy to help them.
She will be delighted to see you.
The water was too cold to swim in.
Is your coffee too hot to drink?
He was strong enough to lift it.
She is rich enough to buy two.

after certain verbs, for example:

forget, help, learn, teach, train
choose, expect, hope, need, offer, want, would like
agree, encourage, pretend, promise
allow, can/can't afford, decide, manage, mean, refuse

Look at these example sentences:

I forgot to close the window.
Mary needs to leave early.
Why are they encouraged to learn English?
We can't afford to take a long holiday.

Use -ing...

when the word is the subject of a clause:

Swimming is good exercise.
Doctors say that smoking is bad for you.

after a preposition:

I look forward to meeting you.
They left without saying goodbye.

after certain verbs:

avoid, dislike, enjoy, finish, give up, mind/not mind, practise