Matières
Niveaux
Questions
Fiche | Anglais
Secondaire
1-5
Table des matières
Question Uses
Question: Uses
Questions are interrogative sentences. They are used to ask for information.
Most common question types:
Yes/no questions
-
answered by yes or no
-
begin with an auxiliary verb or the verb to be
Information questions
-
cannot be answered by yes or no
-
ask for a more complete answer
-
begin with question words
Question Forms: Yes/No Questions
The 4 elements of a yes/no question:
-
The auxiliary verb indicates the verb tense.
-
The subject is the person, people or thing(s) doing the action.
-
The verb is the action.
-
The object is additional information, added when necessary.
Yes/No Questions
| Auxiliary verb |
Subject | Verb | Object |
| Are | you | working | on the computer code? |
| Will | you | finish | it today? |
| Do | you | need | any help? |
Question Forms: Information Questions
Information questions use almost the same structure as yes/no questions, but they start with:
- A question word indicating what the question is about.
Next, use the same yes/no questions form for the rest:
-
The auxiliary verb indicates the verb tense.
-
The subject is the person, people or thing(s) doing the action.
-
The verb is the action.
-
The object is additional information, added when necessary.
Information Questions
| Question word |
Auxiliary verb |
Subject | Verb | Object |
| What | are* | you | working | on? |
| When | will | you | finish | it? |
| Why | does | it | take | so long? |
*In this example, to be is an auxiliary verb, not the main verb. The verb in the example is to work, conjugated in the present continuous.
Questions With No Object
| Question word |
Auxiliary verb |
Subject | Verb | Object |
| What | are | you | doing? | No object necessary |
| Can | I | help? | ||
| What | do | you | mean? |
Making Questions Exercise
Question Forms: With the Verb to Be
Questions with the verb to be do not use auxiliary verbs when they are in the simple present or simple past verb tenses.
Yes/No Question Form with to Be
The 3 elements of a yes/no question with to be are the following:
-
The verb to be is conjugated according to the subject and verb tense.
-
The subject is the person, people or thing(s) doing the action.
-
The object is additional information, added when necessary.
Information Question Form with to Be
Start with:
-
A question word indicating what the question is about.
Next, use the same yes/no questions form for the rest:
-
The verb to be, conjugated according to the subject and verb tense.
-
The subject is the person, people or thing(s) doing the action.
-
The object is additional information, added when necessary.
Yes/No Questions with to Be
| To be | Subject | Object |
| Are | you | busy? |
| Is | this | the new project? |
| Is | that | a good sign? |
Information Questions with to Be
| Question word |
To be | Subject | Object |
| How | are | you | Annie? |
| What | is | this? | * |
| Why | is | it | red? |
*object not necessary
Question Words
Question words, also known as Wh- words, are used to ask information questions. They indicate what the question is about.
The most commonly used ones are:
| Question word | Asking information about |
| What | things & actions |
| Who | people |
| Where | places |
| When | time |
| Why | reasons & explanations |
| Which | choice |
| Whose | possession |
| How | in what way |
| How many | countable quantity |
| How much | uncountable quantity |
It is 4:00, time for Annie’s coffee break.
| What | things & actions | |
| What is Annie looking at? | She is looking at the clock. | |
| Who | people | |
| Who is looking at the clock? | Annie is looking at the clock. | |
| When | time | |
| When is the coffee break? | It is at 4 o’clock. | |
| Where | places | |
| Where is Annie’s coffee mug? | It is on her desk. | |
She walks to the coffee machine; Terry is already there.
| Why | reasons | |
| Why is Annie smiling? | Because she’s going to get the delicious coffee she loves so much! | |
| Which | choice | |
| Which one of you was there first? | Terry was there first. | |
| Whose | possession | |
| Whose mug is Annie holding? | It’s her own coffee mug (it’s Annie’s mug). | |
Annie is upset because Terry spilled all the coffee on his shirt, again.
| How | in what way | |
| How is Annie feeling at the moment? | She is upset. | |
| How many | countable quantity | |
| How many people are standing by the coffee machine? | There are two people. | |
| How much | uncountable quantity | |
| How much coffee is Annie going to drink? | None at all, because Terry spilled all of it. | |
Adding to Question Words
Words can be added to question words for more precision.
Nouns can be added to what, which and whose.
| What |
+ |
noun |
| Which | ||
| Whose |
Adjectives or adverbs can be added to how.
| How |
+ |
adjective |
| adverb |
Adding a noun
| What | colour | is this? |
| What | difference | does it make? |
| Which | one | did you watch first? |
| Which | problem | are we fixing? |
| Whose | mug | did you break? |
| Whose | car | are you driving? |
Adding an adjective
| How | big | is the rocket’s fuel tank? |
| How | different | is the new computer system? |
| How | crazy | are you really? |
Adding an adverb
| How | often | do you spill coffee on yourself? |
| How | quickly | can you fix the problem? |
| How | soon | is the rocket launch? |