Types of questions in english language

In English, there are five types of questions. Let's take a closer look at each of them together. Each of the five types of interrogative sentences has its own word order, which must be remembered in order to learn how to ask questions correctly.

1. Question to the subject

In a sentence of this type, we maintain a direct word order, leaving all members of the sentence in their places. It is only necessary to find the subject in the sentence and replace it with a suitable question word, i.e. the question to which the subject answers: either Who? - who ?, or what? -what? The subject question does not require the use of an auxiliary verb in the present and past tense. You only need to remember that the verb-predicate in the present tense takes the form of a third person singular.

What forced you to do this? “What made you do this?”

What made you worry? “What made you worry?”

Who works in this office? - Who works in this office?

Who traveled to the south? - Who traveled south?

Who likes swimming? - who likes to swim?

2. General question

In this case, the question is asked to the whole sentence, there is no question word in this case, and the answer is always unequivocal: either “yes” or “no”. Questions of this type are also known in English as yes / no question. To translate such a sentence from Russian into English, you need to remember the following word order: Auxiliary verb (depending on the number of subject and on which grammatical sentence the sentence belongs) - subject - predicate - secondary members.

Do you often go shopping? - Yes, I do - Do you often go shopping? - Yes

Does she like studying? - No, she doesn’t - Does she like studying? - not

Is this film interesting? - yes, it is - is this movie interesting? - Yes

Are you hungry? - no, I am not - are you hungry? - not

Pay attention to how easy it is to pose a general question to English narrative sentences. You just need to find the subject, select the appropriate auxiliary verb for it and put it at the beginning of the sentence.

We live in a comfortable flat - Do we live in a comfortable flat?

He studies at a college - Does he study at a college?

They usually come here - Do they usually come here?

This student is very prospective - is this student very prospective?

My favorite colors are red and white - are my favorite colors red and white?

3. Alternative question

This question can be asked for each member of the proposal and you need to follow the same word order as when posing a general question, but with one peculiarity - the proposal implies a choice between two persons, objects, actions or qualities and requires the use of the union “or”. Let's put an alternative question to the following sentence: We finished cooking dinner at 2 o’clock - we finished cooking dinner at 2 o’clock.

Did we finish cooking dinner at 2 or 3 o’clock? - we finished cooking dinner at 2 or 3 o’clock?

Did we finish cooking or eating dinner 2 o’clock? - have we finished cooking or have lunch at 2 o’clock?

4. Special issue

A special question is asked of any member of the English sentence and requires the use of a question word, and the word order is also the opposite: in the first place the question word (When? What? Where? Etc.) is an auxiliary verb (depending on the number of the subject and on of which grammatical tense the sentence refers) - subject - predicate - minor members.

When does your lesson begin? - When does your lesson begin?

What are you doing here? - What are you doing here?

When did you buy this vase? - When did you buy this vase?

5. Separation issue

The presence of such a question in the English language allows you to gently ask about things of interest, and in addition to express either doubt, surprise, or confirm what was said. A similar phrase is translated into Russian “is not it? , is not it?". A similar question is divided into two parts: the first part is the sentence itself without changing the order of words, the second part is the question, consisting only of an auxiliary verb, related to the grammatical time of the sentence, and the subject. If the proposal is affirmative, then the second part - the question will be negative, but if the proposal is negative, then on the contrary, the question will not contain negation.

Your sister is a student, isn’t she? - your sister is a student, right?

You are not busy, are you? “You're not busy, are you?”

He goes to bed very late, does not he? - He goes to bed very late, right?

She doesn’t eat meat, does she? “She doesn't eat meat, does she?”

Knowing the rules, you can easily correctly compose any interrogative sentence.

   The most common types of questions in English are general and special questions.

General Questions

  General questions are called questions, the purpose of which is to obtain from the interlocutor a confirmation or denial of the thoughts expressed in the question. These questions require an affirmative or negative answer (for example, yes or no).
  General questions, as a rule, do not contain a question word. They are pronounced with increasing intonation towards the end of the sentence:

Are you a nurse? - Yes, I am.
Have you seen the film? - No, I-haven "t.

Separation Questions ("Tail" Questions)

  A special kind of general questions are "Tail" Questions, which are divided into two parts. The first is a narrative sentence in the affirmative or negative form, the second is a short general question, consisting of a subject-pronoun and an auxiliary, or modal verb, or verbs to be, to have, depending on the predicate of the first part. If the first part is affirmative (when the answer is yes), then the second is negative; if the first part is negative (when no is expected), then the second does not contain negation.
  The first part of the dividing question is pronounced with decreasing intonation, the second part with increasing. Similar questions correspond in Russian to questions with introductory words: “Isn't that right?”, “Isn't that right?”, “Is it true?”. Separation questions are very common in colloquial speech:

She is here, isn "t she? She is here, right?
She isn "t here, is she? She is not here, right?
You will come, won "t you? You will come, right?
Jim doesn "t play tennis, does he?
  You don "t have to go there now, do you?
  Bob spoke English very well, didn "t he?
  Your brother can repair radio sets, can "t he?
  You have such a book, haven "t you?

Responsive questions are usually answered with brief affirmative or negative phrases:

Today is Monday, isn "t it? - Yes, it is.
  You don "t like coffee, do you? - No, I don" t.

Special Questions

  Special questions are those questions whose purpose is not to simply confirm or deny the thought expressed in the question, but to obtain any additional information:

What "s your name? - My name is Pete.
  Where are you going? - To the park.

A special question is posed to any one member of a sentence. It necessarily begins with a question word that indicates which particular sentence a member refers to. A special question is pronounced with decreasing intonation. We recommend to remember question wordsthat are used in special matters:

who who?
whom whom? to whom?
whose whose?
what what? which one?
which which?
when when?
where where? Where?
why why?
how how
how many ["hau" meni] how many?
how much ["hau" m٨t∫] how much?

Alternative Questions

  Alternative (selective) questions consist of two parts connected by the union or. These questions in form coincide with the general ones, but provide a choice between two possibilities and require the same answers as special questions.
  The first part of such questions is pronounced with increasing intonation, the second - with decreasing:

Is this Ann or Kate? - Kate.
  Do you like tea or coffee? - Tea.
  Is this your book or mine? - It’s yours.
  Will you go to the theater or to the cinema? - To the theater.