Question Formation

Prepared by Mr. Meyphalla Oudom

Types of questions
There are 2 types

1. Yes/No 2. WH Question
Question
Yes/No Question
 Yes or no questions are questions whose expected answer
is either "yes" or "no".
How to form yes-no questions
 In English, a special word order (Verb + Subject +
Object?) is used to form yes-no questions.

Examples:

Affirmative Yes or No Question

They are American. Are they American?

She is nice. Is she nice?

The rules
1. If the main verb of the sentence is "to be", simply invert
the subject and the verb to be:
Examples:
 They are American. — Are they American?
 They are nice. — Are they nice?
 She is a student. — Is she a student?
 We are working hard? — Are we working hard?
The rules
2. If the sentence includes a main verb and another or other
helping (auxiliary) verb(s), invert the subject and the (first)
helping (auxiliary) verb.
 Examples:
 They are visiting Paris. — Are they visiting Paris?
 She has done the housework. — Has she done the
housework
 Nancy has been working all night long. — Has Nancy
been working all night long?
 He will be reading the book. — Will he be reading the
book?
The rules
3. If the sentence includes a verb which is not the verb "to be" and doesn't
include a helping (auxiliary) verb, the transformation is more complex.
 A. If the verb is in the present tense, add either do or does and put the
main verb in its base form:
 do if the subject is the first person singular, second person singular, first
person plural, second person plural and third person plural (I, you, we,
they)
Examples:
I like apples. — Do you like apples?
They go to a high school. — Do they go to a high school?
 does if the subject is the third person singular (he, she, it).
Examples:
Nancy reads a lot. — Does Nancy read a lot?
He hates basketball. — Does he hate basketball?
The rules
 B. If the verb is in the past tense, add did and put the main
verb in its base form:
 Examples:
 He discovered the truth. — Did he discover the truth?
 She wrote a nice essay. — Did she write a nice essay?
 They did the homework. — Did they do the homework?
WH Question
What is WH Questions?
Question words are also called wh questions because
they include the letters 'W' and 'H'. It also calls
Information Questions as well.
Ex: 1. Who's that? That's Nancy.
2. Where do you live? In Boston.
3. What time did you come home?
Question words
Question words Meaning Examples
who person Who's that? That's Nancy.
where place Where do you live? In Boston
why reason Why do you sleep early? Because I've got to get up early
when time When do you go to work? At 7:00
how manner How do you go? By car
what object, idea or action What do you do? I am an engineer
which choice Which one do you prefer? The red one.
whose possession Whose is this book? It's Alan's.
whom object of the verb Whom did you meet? I met the manager.
what kind description What kind of music do you like? I like quiet songs
what time time What time did you come home?
how many quantity (countable) How many students are there? There are twenty.
how much amount, price (uncountable) How much time have we got? Ten minutes
how long duration, length How long did you stay in that hotel? For two weeks.
how often frequency How often do you go to the gym? Twice a week.
how far distance How far is your school? It's one mile far.
how old age How old are you? I'm 16.
how come reason How come I didn't see you at the party?
Subject Questions
What is it?
A subject question asks about the subject of the sentence.
When the question word is the subject of the sentence we
don’t use do, does or did.

QUESTION
 Who shot Tim? Ken shot Tim.
 Who got married with Sok? Sary.
 Whose mother came from Battambang? My monther
comes from there.
Object Question
What is it?
 An object question asks about the object of the sentence.
You MUST use do, does or did.
Example:
 Who did Paula meet yesterday? She met Daniel.
 What did Frank see? Frank saw an accident.
 What do you want to drink? We want some fruit juice.
 Who does Karen like? Karen likes Fred.
 What does smoking cause? Smoking causes cancer.
Indirect Question
'Yes / no' questions for tenses with
inversion:
 To make an indirect 'yes / no' question, we use 'if' and the
word order of a normal positive sentence.
 This is the same as for reported 'yes / no' questions. On
the other hand, we don't usually need to 'backshift' (change
the tense of the verb) as we do with reported questions.
 Of course, most tenses make questions by using 'inversion'
(changing the word order). To change from a direct 'yes /
no' question with inversion to an indirect question, you add
'if' and change the word order back to a normal positive
sentence. You don't need to use inversion.
Examples
 Are there any good restaurants near the hotel?
 Could you tell me whether there are any good restaurants
near the hotel?

 Is there anywhere to shopping near here?

 Could you tell me if there is anywhere nearby to go
shopping? 

 Can you help me?

 I wonder if you could help me.
Phrases for Indirect Questions
 Could you tell me…
 Do you know…
 I was wondering…
 Do you have any idea…
 I’d like to know…
 Would it be possible…
 Is there any chance…
Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with Can you tell me if he is

Is he Spanish?
'be' Spanish?

Present continuous Is the restaurant closing now?

Past simple with 'be' Was he late for the meeting?

Past continuous Were you watching TV at 3pm?

Present perfect Has Lucy been to Mexico?

Present perfect
Has she been living here long?
continuous

Past perfect Had she found this job when she moved here?

Past perfect
Had she been living here long when she met you?
continuous

Future simple with

Will she start her new job next week?
'will'

Future simple with

Is it going to rain later?
'going to'

Future continuous Will Lisa be meeting the boss later?

Future perfect Will he have finished the report by tonight?

Future perfect Will he have been studying French for twenty

continuous years when he retires?

Modal verbs Should we start now?

Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple
Is he Spanish? Can you tell me if he is Spanish?
with 'be'

Present Can you tell me if the restaurant is closing

Is the restaurant closing now?
continuous now?

Past simple with Can you tell me if he was late for the
Was he late for the meeting?
'be' meeting?

Can you tell me if you were watching TV at

Past continuous Were you watching TV at 3pm?
3pm?

Present perfect Has Lucy been to Mexico? Can you tell me if Lucy has been to Mexico?

Present perfect Can you tell me if she has been living here
Has she been living here long?
continuous long?

Had she found this job when she Can you tell me if she had found this job
Past perfect
moved here? when she moved here?

Past perfect Had she been living here long when Can you tell me if she had been living here
continuous she met you? long when she met you?

Future simple Will she start her new job next Can you tell me if she will start her new job
with 'will' week? next week?

Future simple
Is it going to rain later? Can you tell me if it is going to rain later?
with 'going to'

Can you tell me if Lisa will be meeting the

Future continuous Will Lisa be meeting the boss later?
boss later?

Will he have finished the report by Can you tell me if he will have finished the
Future perfect
tonight? report by tonight?

Can you tell me if he will have been

Future perfect Will he have been studying French
studying French for twenty years when he
continuous for twenty years when he retires?
retires?

Modal verbs Should we start now? Can you tell me if we should start now?
'Yes / no' questions with tenses that use
'do / does / did':
 Sometimes you want to make an indirect question using
the present simple of any verb except 'be' or the past
simple of any verb except 'be'. These tense make direct
questions by using 'do / does / did'. When we want to
make indirect 'yes / no' questions using these tenses, we
need 'if' and we don't need 'do / does / did'.
Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with any verb Can you tell me if David lives in
Does David live in London?
except 'be' London?

Past simple with any verb Did Amanda call John Can you tell me if Amanda called John
except 'be' yesterday? yesterday?
'Wh' Questions
 In the same way as with reported 'wh' questions, we
use the question word and the word order of a normal
positive sentence to make indirect 'wh' questions. We
don't need to use inversion. Again, we also don't
usually need to 'backshift' (change the tense of the
verb) as we do with reported questions.
Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with 'be' Why is he unhappy?

Present continuous When is the restaurant closing?

Past simple with 'be' Why was he late for the meeting?

Past continuous What were you doing at 3pm?

Present perfect Where has Lucy been?

Present perfect
How long has she been living here?
continuous

Why had she quit her job before she

Past perfect
moved here?

How long had she been living here when

Past perfect continuous
she met you?

Future simple with 'will' When will she start her new job?

Future simple with 'going

When is it going to rain?
to'

Future continuous What time will Lisa be meeting the boss?

Future perfect When will he have finished the report?

How long will he have been studying

Future perfect continuous
French when he retires?

Modal verbs What should we do now?

Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with

Why is he unhappy? Can you tell me why he is unhappy?
'be'

Can you tell me when the restaurant is

Present continuous When is the restaurant closing?
closing?

Past simple with Can you tell me why he was late for the
Why was he late for the meeting?
'be' meeting?

Can you tell me what you were doing at

Past continuous What were you doing at 3pm?
3pm?

Present perfect Where has Lucy been? Can you tell me where Lucy has been?

Present perfect Can you tell me how long she has been
How long has she been living here?
continuous living here?

Why had she quit her job before Can you tell me why she had quit her job
Past perfect
she moved here? before she moved here?

Past perfect How long had she been living here Can you tell me how long she had been
continuous when she met you? living here when she met you?

Future simple with Can you tell me when she will start her new
When will she start her new job?
'will' job?

Future simple with

When is it going to rain? Can you tell me when it is going to rain?
'going to'

What time will Lisa be meeting the Can you tell me what time Lisa will be
Future continuous
boss? meeting the boss?

When will he have finished the Can you tell me when he will have finished
Future perfect
report? the report?

Future perfect How long will he have been Can you tell me how long he will have been
continuous studying French when he retires? studying French when he retires?

Modal verbs What should we do now? Can you tell me what we should do now?
'Wh' questions for tenses with 'do / does / did':

 Sometimes you want to make an indirect 'wh' question using

the present simple of any verb except 'be' or the past simple of
any verb except 'be'. Usually these tenses make questions by
using 'do / does / did'. However, when we want to make
indirect 'wh' questions using these tenses, we don't need 'do /
does / did'. Instead, we use a question word and then normal
positive sentence word order.
Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with any verb

Where does David live? Can you tell me where David lives?
except 'be'

Past simple with any verb Why did Amanda call John Can you tell me why Amanda called
except 'be' yesterday? John yesterday?
Common Problems 
 It can be difficult to remember to put the verb after the
subject, especially when the indirect question is in the
present simple tense of 'be'. For example, we need to say:

 Could you tell me where the station is?

 NOT:

 Could you tell me where is the station?

Thanks for
Paying
Attention