English Grammar: Questions

Summary: A comprehensive guide to forming questions in English, covering word order, auxiliary verbs, passive voice, and question tags.

1. Basic Question Formation (Word Order)

In English, questions often involve a change in word order (inversion) or the use of auxiliary verbs.

Questions with the Verb ‘be’

Subject and verb change positions.

Sentence Type	Structure	Example
Statement	Subject + be + …	You are from Germany.
Question	Be + Subject + …?	Are you from Germany?

Wh-Questions with ‘be’

| Question Word | Verb | Subject | Complement | Answer | |—|—|—|—|—| | Where | are | you | from? | I am from Stuttgart. | | What | is | your name | | My name is Peter. | | How | are | Pat and Sue | | They are fine. |

2. Questions with ‘have’ and ‘have got’

have as a Main Verb (American English)

Requires the auxiliary do/does.

Do you have a cat? $\rightarrow$ Yes, I do.
Does your brother have a bike? $\rightarrow$ Yes, he does.

have as an Auxiliary (British English: ‘have got’)

Have you got a cat? $\rightarrow$ Yes, I have.
Has your brother got a bike? $\rightarrow$ Yes, he has.

3. Simple Present and Simple Past Questions

Simple Present (do/does)

| Question Word | Auxiliary | Subject | Verb | Complement | |—|—|—|—|—| | | Do | you | read | books? | | What | do | you | play | on your computer? | | When | does | your mother | go | to work? |

Simple Past (did)

| Question Word | Auxiliary | Subject | Verb | Complement | |—|—|—|—|—| | | Did | Max | play | football? | | What | did | you | play | yesterday evening? |

Note: For the verb be in the past, use was/were without did.

Were you in Leipzig last week? (NOT: Did you were…)

4. Subject vs. Object Questions

Type	Focus	Structure	Example
Subject Question	The person/thing doing the action	Question Word + Verb + …	Who runs the shop? (Peter runs it.)
Object Question	The person/thing receiving the action	Q-Word + Auxiliary + Subject + Verb	Who did Mandy phone? (She phoned her uncle.)

5. Questions in the Passive Voice

Passive questions are formed with be + past participle.

Simple Present Passive

Is the test written in room 311?
Are grapes grown in California?

Simple Past Passive

Was the book taken to the classroom?
Why were the students taught at home?

Other Tenses (Passive)

Can remains the same regardless of the subject.

Can you speak English? $\rightarrow$ Yes, I can.
What can they ride? $\rightarrow$ They can ride skateboards.

7. Short Answers

In English, it is more polite to use short answers rather than a simple “Yes” or “No”.

Question	Short Answer
Is he from London?	Yes, he is. / No, he isn’t.
Do they live in a flat?	Yes, they do. / No, they don’t.
Have you been to Scotland?	Yes, I have. / No, I haven’t.
Will we arrive on time?	Yes, we will. / No, we won’t.

8. Special Question Types

Which vs. What

Which: Used when there is a limited choice (e.g., “Which lemonade do you like – green or pink?”).
What: Used when there is an unlimited choice (e.g., “What lemonade do you like?”).

Question Tags

Used in spoken English to ask for agreement or confirmation.

Positive statement $\rightarrow$ Negative tag: You are Tom, aren’t you?
Negative statement $\rightarrow$ Positive tag: He isn’t Joe, is he?
Let’s: Let’s take the bus, shall we?
Imperatives: Open the window, will you? / won’t you?

Key Concepts

[[topics/english-tenses English Tenses Reference]]
[[topics/learn-english Learn English Pathway]]