Questions and answers

Use of questions
 Asking for information
 Request, suggestion, offering to help, offering something, asking permission,
complaining…
Forms
 Yes/no
- Can be answered by yes or no
- Begins with an auxiliary verb (do/will)
 Wh-question
- Begins with a question word
- What, when, who, which, whose, where, why and how
 We can use or in a question
 Or can link two clauses
 The second clause can be the negative of the first one
 This stresses the need for a yes or no answer and can sound impatient
Inversion
 In most questions theres inversion of the subject and the auxiliary
- You are leaving today / Are you leaving today?
 If there is more than one auxiliary verb, then only the first one comes before the
subject
- I could have reserved a seat / Could I have reserved a seat?
 In simple tenses we use the auxiliary verb do
- You like train journeys / Do you like train journeys?
 Be on its own as an ordinary verb can also come before the subject
- The train was late / Was the train late?
Without inversion
 In informal conversation a question can sometimes have the same word order as in a
statement
Wh-questions
 Who-someone
 What-something
 Which-one of
 Whose-someone's
 Where-somewhere
 When-at some time
 Why-for some reason
 How-somehow
 Don't confuse who's and whose
- Who's going to the party?
- Whose party is it?
 As subject and object
- Subject, Who invited you to the party?
- Object, Who did you invite to the party?
 Whom
- When who is the object of a question, Whom did you invite?
 Prepositions in questions
- A question word can be the object of a preposition
- Usually the preposition comes in the same place as in a statement
- But in formal English the preposition can come before the question word
- When whom/who is the object of a preposition there are to possible structures,
Who were you talking to? / To whom were you talking to?
 Question word + noun
- Without a noun, What will you do?
- With a noun, What action will you take?
- Which can come before one/ones or before an of-phrase, Which one shall we
take?, Which of the bands did you like best?
- We can also ask Which one of…?
 Use of who, what and which
- Who always refers to a human being
- Which can refer either to humans or to something non-human
- What refers mostly to something non-human, but it can refer to humans when
it comes before a noun
- Who cannot come before a noun or before an of-phrase
- There is a difference in meaning between what and which
- We use what when there is an indefinite number of possible answers
- We use which when there is a definite number of possible answers
 Question phrases
- What and how can combine with other words to form phrases that are often
used to begin a question
- What can come before a noun, What time is the next train?
- We use what about or how about to draw attention to something or to make a
suggestion, What about/how about some lunch?
- We use what…..for in questions about purpose or reason, What are these
screws for?
- How can come before and adjective or an adverb, How old is this building?
- How can also come before many or much
 How and what… like
- How was the film like?
 What exactly…? About how many…?
- To ask for exact information we can use exactly or precisely after a question
word, What precisely do you want to know?
- We can use it in end position
 - To ask for approximate information, we can use roughly or approximately,
they usually go in end position, they can also go before the question word or
phrase
- We can also put about before a question phrase such as what time, how many,
how much, or how long
 Else
- Else means 'other'
- What else do we need?
 Emphasizing a question
- By using on earth, What on earth do you think you're doing?
- On earth expresses the speaker's feelings. In the first example I am surprised
or annoyed about what you are doing. In the second I am pizzled about the
whereabouts of the letter
- We can also use ever, What ever/whatever can the matter be?
 Indirect questions
- We can ask a question indirectly by putting it into sub-clause beginning with a
question word or with or with if/whether. This makes the question sound less
abrupt, We need to know what the rules are.
- There is no inversion in the sub-clause
 Negative questions
- A negative yes/no question often expresses surprise
- A negative yes/no question or question with why can be a complaint, Can't
you be quiet?
- We can use Why don't/ doesn't…? or Why not…? For a suggestion
- Negative questions with who, what, or which usually ask for information,
Who hasn't returned this library book
- We can use a negative questions to ask the hearer to agree that something is
true, Haven't we met somewhere before?
- We make a question negative by putting n't after the auxiliary, Have/Haven't
they got the power back on
- Am I – aren't I
- We do not use not after the auxiliary
- In more formal English not cam come after the subject, Are we not a
democratic people?
- If the question word is the subject, n't or not comes after the auxiliary
- We can use other negative words in a wh-questions
 Yes/no answers
- The answer no agrees that the negative is true. The answer yes means that the
positive is true, Haven't they got the power back on yet? No, not yet. It's a real
nuisance / Yes, it's back, thank goodness.
 Answering questions
- Some questions can be answered in a word or phrase, but for others you need
one or more complete sentences
- We can sometimes answer with a simple yer or no, but English speakers often
use a 'short answer' like Yes, I do; No, I don't
- Other phrases instead yes or no, of course, I'm afraid, I think
 - We often add info or comment after a simple yes or no
- Requests, offers, invitations, and suggestions, we usually answer these with a
short answer, but a negative answer needs some explanation… Shall we have a
coffee? I've just had one, but you go ahead
 Question tags
- Negative tag, auxiliary + n't + pronoun
- In simple tensens we use the auxiliary verb do
- Ordinary verb be, It's colder today, isn't it?
- After I am or I'm, the tag is aren't I?, I'm late, aren't I?
- Positive tag, like a negative one, but without the n't
- We can use the subject there in a tag
- But we do not use this, thatt, these or those in the tag. We use it or they
- If the subject is a word ending in -one or -body, we use they in a tag
- If the subject is a word ending in -thing, we use it in a tag
- Three main structures
a. Positive statement + negative tag : It's your birthday, isn't it?
b. Negative statement + positive tag : It isn't your birthday, is it?
c. Positive statement + positive tag : It's your birthday, is it?
- Positive statement + negative tag
 This kind of tag asks the hearer to agree that the statement in the main
clause is true
 We can use a tag in a reply if it expresses agreement we do not need to
reply to it
 If the statement is tru we use a tag with falling inotation when speaking
 When the speaker is not sure if the statement is true the voice can rise
on the tag, asking for reassurance
- Negative statement + positive tag
 Used mostly in the same way as positive statement + negative tag
 The tag invites the hearer to respond
 Same as in positive tags the voice falls when it is obvious that the
statement is true
 With a rising intonation, the speaker expresses suspicion or
disapproval by inviting the hearer to confirm or deny something
 We can also use the structure with a rising intonation to ask a tentative
question or make a tentative request
 A negative statement can have a negative word other than not, no,
never
- Positive statement + positive tag
 Expressing interest and inviting someone to give more info and
continue the conversation, You go there every year, do you?
 When someone knows something but wants more info, Oh, she's
moved, has she?
- Echo questions
 When we don't understand what someone says, or we find it hard to
believe, I often eat bits of wood – You eat what?
 Repeating the important information
  Voice rises on the question word
- Echo tags
 We form them like a question tags
 If the tag expresses interest the voice rises
 They can express surprise or disbelief and agreeing