Making Questions
There are many different ways to form questions. We will look at two kinds of questions. One is called a yes / no question and the other is called a WH- question.
Yes / No Questions
A yes / no question is a question that can be answered with yes or no. Yes / no questions can be formed using the words is / are or do / does.
The most common type of yes / no question is formed by putting a to be verb (for example, is or are) at the beginning of a question.
Making a Question with a “To Be” Verb
Example (be-verb: IS)
| Statement | Question | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| Elliot is reading a book. | Is Elliot reading a book? | Yes, he is. No, he isn't. |
Example (be-verb: ARE)
| Statement | Question | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| They are from Greece. | Are they from Greece? | Yes, they are. No, they are not. |
Another common type of yes / no question is formed by adding do or does at the beginning of a sentence.
The form of this kind of yes / no question is: Do / Does + subject +verb*
Making a Question with “Do” or “Does”
| Statement | Question | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| I eat breakfast at 7 a.m. | Do you eat breakfast at 7 a.m.? | Yes, I do. No, I don't. |
| I listen to music. | Do you listen to music? | Yes, I do. No, I don't. |
| He doesn't work on the computer. | Does he work* on the computer? | Yes, he does. No, he doesn't. |
| We don't watch TV every night. | Do we watch TV every night? | Yes, we do. No, we don't. |
| I start work at 8 p.m. | Do you start work at 8 p.m.? | Yes, I do. No, I don't. |
| It takes* an hour to walk home. | Does it take an hour to walk home? | Yes, it does. No, it doesn't. |
