5 types of questions

 5 Types of Questions in English

 

 

1.     General or Yes/No Questions

Common questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” are logically called yes/no questions.  The question forms with the help of the auxiliary verb at the beginning.

 

If the question begins with a form of the verb “to be” – am, is, are – then answer “Yes, I am/he is/they are,” or “No, I am not/he isn’t/they aren’t.”

It is similar to auxiliary verbs (do/does, did, will, have/has):

 

   For example:

        Did she clean the room? – Yes, she did/No, she didn’t.

        Have you done your homework? – Yes, I have/ No, I haven’t.

        Will you buy that dress? – Yes, I will/ No, I won’t.

 

2.     Special or Wh-Questions

A special question, uses a question word at the beginning of the sentence to ask a specific question, then the auxiliary verb is used. The questions words:  what, where, when, why, how, how many, etc., are used to begin the question:

 

For example:

        Where is he from? –

        When did you come here? –

        How did you meet her? –

        How many eggs do we need for this cake? –

        Whose children are playing in the yard? –

 

3.     Question to the subject

Note that questions to a subject (who? What?) have their own special structure; they do not require an auxiliary verb, we replace the subject with the question word.

 

For example:

        We go to the cinema. – Who goes to the cinema?

        The glass is on the table. – What is on the table?

        Most girls here wear skirts. – Who wears skirts here?

You can see that after the question words who and what, the third-person singular form of the verb should be used.

 

 

4.     Choice Questions

Choice questions are questions that offer a choice of several options as an answer. They are made up of two parts, which are connected by the conjunction or.

Choice questions can be either general or more specific ones.

 

For example:

         Does she like ice cream or sweets? – She likes ice cream.

        Where would you go, to the cinema or the theatre? – I would go                to the cinema.

         Is he a teacher or a student? – He is a student.

 

 

5.     Disjunctive or Tag Questions

This type of question is also made up of two parts, where the first part is a positive statement, and the second part is negative, or vice-versa.

 

The first part of the sentence defines the expected answer. If the statement is positive, a positive answer is expected; if the statement is negative, a negative answer is expected.

 

For example:

       She sent him an invitation, didn’t she? – Yes, she did.

        You aren’t getting married, are you? – No, I am not.

        Jane isn’t in France, is she? – No, she isn’t.

        Our dad will come soon, won’t he? – Yes, he will.

 

There are also exceptions:

I am going with you, aren’t I? – Yes, you are.

You can’t say, “I am a great person, am I not?”

That would be incorrect. Just remember that when the pronoun “I” is used, the tag is are/aren’t.

 

Tag questions are only used in conversational speech to clarify information or to confirm or refute something if there are doubts.