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EnglishEspañolFrançaisItalianoDeutsch日本語中文한국어Portuguêsहिन्दीNorskSvenskaDanskSuomiРусскийBahasa IndonesiaTiếng ViệtTürkçePolskiالعربيةবাংলাاردوNederlandsУкраїнськаΕλληνικάעבריתČeštinaMagyarRomânăไทย

Question Formation

English · Sentence Structure

Introduction

Questions in English are formed by inverting the subject and auxiliary verb, or by using the auxiliary do/does/did for simple tenses. There are four main question types: yes/no questions, wh- questions, tag questions, and indirect questions.

TypeStructureExample
Yes/No questionAuxiliary + subject + main verbAre you coming?
Wh- questionWh-word + auxiliary + subject + verbWhere do you live?
Tag questionStatement + short question tagShe is nice, isn't she?
Indirect questionMain clause + question word + subject + verbI wonder where he lives.

Yes/No and Wh- Questions

For most questions, the subject and auxiliary are inverted. If there is no auxiliary in the statement, add do/does (present) or did (past). Be is different: when it is the main verb, it inverts by itself, with no do (They were late Were they late?).

StatementShe works here. Question: Does she work here?

StatementThey were late. Question: Were they late?

  • Have you finished?
  • Did she call?
  • What did you do?
  • Where is he going?
  • Where you are going?Where are you going?inversion needed
  • She did called?Did she call?use base form after did
Subject questions: when who or what is the subject of the verb, there is no inversion and no do. Who called you? (not Who did call you?) / What happened? (not What did happen?). Compare an object question: Who did you call?

Tag Questions

Tag questions are short questions at the end of a statement seeking confirmation. Positive statement gets a negative tag; negative statement gets a positive tag.

Positive statement+negative tag She is nice, isn't she?

Negative statement+positive tag He didn't come, did he?

  • It's cold today, isn't it?
  • You don't like fish, do you?
  • They've finished, haven't they?
  • She can't drive, can she?
The tag always uses the same auxiliary as in the main clause. If there is no auxiliary, use do/does/did: She works hard, doesn't she?
Common exceptions: I am takes aren't I (I'm right, aren't I? - not amn't I). Let's takes shall we (Let's go, shall we?). Imperatives often take will you (Close the door, will you?).

Indirect Questions

Indirect (embedded) questions use normal statement word order - no inversion, no auxiliary do. They follow phrases like: I wonder, Do you know, Could you tell me.

DirectWhere does she live? Indirect: I wonder where she lives.

  • Direct: What time is it? Indirect: Could you tell me what time it is?
  • Direct: Did he leave? Indirect: I don't know whether he left.
  • I wonder where does she live.I wonder where she lives.no inversion
  • Do you know what time is it?Do you know what time it is?

Practice

  1. Which sentence is correctly formed?

  2. It's cold today, ___?

  3. She works hard, ___?

  4. Direct: What time is it? Indirect: Could you tell me ___?

  5. ___ called you last night?

  6. Which is a wh- question?

  7. I'm right, ___?

  8. 'I wonder where he lives.' What type of question is this?

  9. Statement: They were late. Question: ___

  10. Where ___ they work?

  11. They've finished, ___?

  12. She can't drive, ___?

  13. 'I don't know whether he left.' What type of question is embedded here?

  14. Tag questions use the same auxiliary as the main clause. If there's no auxiliary, use ___.

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Words that follow this rule

whatwherewhenwhyhowwhowhomwhosewhich

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