| 4 Making yes / no questions To make questions: ¢ which can be answered with yes or no, we put the auxiliary verb before its subject: You're going on holiday soon. > Are you going on holiday soon? He's packed his case. — Has he packed his case? ¢ in the present simple or past simple (> see Units 1 and 2), we use the auxiliary verb do(es) or did to make the question: I like Tealy. = Do you like Italy? She prefers Greece. — Does she prefer Greece? (not Does she prefers Greece?) They went to Corsica. > Did they go to Corsica? +» with the verb to be, we put to be before the subject: They're in Madrid today, — — Are they in Madrid today? » with modal verbs, we put the modal verb before the subject: We can stay here. — Can we stay here? We make negative questions in the same way: They like big cities. = Don't they like big cities? She can’t stay here. — Can't she stay here? ‘These questions often express surprise: Don’t they like big cities? (= I thought they liked big cities. Am I wrong?) Can't she stay here? (= I thought she could stay here. Is that impossible?) 2 Short answers We answer a yes/no question using the same auxiliary or modal verb as in the question. If we agree with a positive question, the answer is yes: Are you going to Greece? Yes, Lam. Did you like the hotel? Yes, I did. If we agree with a negative question, the answer is no: Aren’t you going to Greece? No, I’m not. Didn’e you like the hotel? No, I didn’t. If we disagree with a positive question, the answer is no: Are you going to Greece? No, P'm not. Did you like the hotel? No, I didn't. If we disagree with a negative question, the answer is yes: Aren't you going to Greece? Yes, am. Didn’t you like the hotel? Yes, I did.3 Making questions with question words (who, what, where, why, how, which) When we use what, which or who to make questions about the subject of the verb we do not change the word order (unlike yes/no questions): The pool looks too small — What looks too small? (Answer: The pool.) This hotel offers the best view. > Which hotel offers the best view? (Answer: This hotel.) ‘We make questions about all other parts of the sentence in the same way as. yes/no questions: They'll be in Madrid tomorrow. > When will they be in Madrid? (Answer: Tomorrow.) We can't stay here because it's full. —» Why can't we stay here? (Answer: Because it’s full) She prefers to travel by train. — How does she prefer to travel? (Answer: By train.) Compare these subject and object questions: Molly's visiting Susan, > Who's visiting Susan? Molly. (= subject) Who's Molly visiting? Susan. (= object) A In a subject question, who is always followed by a singular verb: Who is coming to your party? (not Who-are-coming?) unless two or more people are actually mentioned in the question: Who are your favourite singers? A Remember the difference between these questions with like: What does Molly like? (= what does she enjoy?) She likes dancing. Whar does Molly look like? (= tell me about her appearance) She's pretty. What's Molly like? (= tell me about her character and / or appearance) She's intelligent and pretty. 4 Question tags We often make a statement into a question by adding a question tag at the end. The verb in the tag must match the form of the auxiliary verb in the statement. If the statement is positive, the tag is negative: < - They're going to Greece, aren't they? (speaker expects the answer yes) If the statement is negative, the tag is positive: - + You aren't going to Greece, are you? (speaker expects the answer no)We make question tags: ¢ in the piesent simple or past simple with do(es) or did for all verbs except to be: You like the seaside, don't you? Molly prefers Greece, doesn’t she? Your friends aren't in Madrid now, are they? © with the same auxiliary or modal as in the statement: We can stay here, can’t we? They haven’e arrived yet, have they? AThe question tag for let’s is shall we? Let's go to France, shall we? AvThe question tag for I am is aren't I? Tam doing the right exercise, aren't I? ‘The question tag for I'm not is am I? T’'m nor in the right place, am I? We use question tags: ¢ to check that something we have just said is true. This is not a real question so our voice does not rise at the end: They've going to Greece, aren’ they: # to ask a question. Our voice rises at the end: Se They're going to Greece, aren't they? 5 Agreeing with statements To agree with statements we use so (for positive statements) and neither or nor (for negative statements) and put the verb before its subject. We can do this: with the verb io be: We're lost. SoamI. with an auxiliary verb: Lwent to Spain last year. So did they. Ldon’t want to quarrel. Neither do I. * with a modal: He can't speak French. Nor can I.