Dave
25 giu 20213 min
Aggiornato il: 17 nov 2022
yes/no; short answers; question words; agreeing with statements
Della Dombey is an American singer. She’s at a radio station in Manchester in England to take part in a phone-in. Her fans are going to ask her some questions.
What questions would you like to ask your favourite singer?
Listen to the interview. Did any of Della’s fans ask one of your questions?
Listen again and complete the questions below. Stop the recording when you need to.
When we make questions which can be answered with Yes or No
we put an auxiliary or modal verb before its subject:
We’re (We are) going clubbing tonight.
You’ve (You have) been to that clubs.
We must go to London.
Are we going clubbing tonight?
Have you been to that club?
Must we go to London?
we use do(es) or did to make questions in the present simple or past simple.
You like Manchester.
Manchester has fantastic clubs.
They went clubbing.
Do you like Manchester?
Does Manchester have fantastic clubs? (not Does Manchester has fantastic clubs?)
Did they go clubbing?
we put the verb to be before its subject:
She’s (She is) in Manchester today.
Is she in Manchester today?
We answer a Yes/No question using the same auxiliary or modal verb as in the question. If the answer is Yes:
Are you going to London? •Yes, I am.
Do you like Manchester? •Yes, I do.
Has he been clubbing? •Yes, he has.
Could they ask questions? •Yes, they could.
If the answer is No:
Are you going to London? •No, I’m not.
Did you sing well? •No, I didn’t.
Change these sentences into Yes/No questions.
Which of these answers can you match with the questions you wrote?
A. Yes he did.
B. No, I wasn’t.
C. Yes, they are.
D. No, he doesn’t.
E. Yes, he had.
F. Yes I do.
G. Yes, I can.
H. No, he isn’t.
I. No, he hasn’t.
J. Yes, she has.
Wh... questions begin with one of these words
Who
What
Where
Why
How
Which
How often
How long
How far
How many (+ countable noun)
How much (+ uncountable noun)
What (+ noun)
Which (+ noun)
Whose (+ noun)
We make most Wh... questions in the same way as Yes/No questions.
Della might marry Dean.
Who might Della marry? •(Answer: Dean.)
I wrote a love song.
What did you write? •(Answer: A love song.)
She can’t sing because she’s tired.
Why can’t she sing? •(Answer: Because she’s tired.)
I’ve known Dean for three years.
How long have you known Dean? (Answer: (For) three years.)
I like this song.
Which song do you like? (Answer: This song or This one.)
I like Dean’s music best.
Whose music do you like best? (Answer: Dean’s.)
She earned a million pounds.
How much money did she earn? (Answer: A million pounds.)
What does Della like?
(= What does Della enjoy?) She likes dancing.
What does Della look like?
(= describe her) She’s very tall.
What’s (is) Della like?
(= tell me about her) She’s clever and very tall.
When we make a question about the subject of the verb we do not change the word order.
We don’t use do in the present simple or did in the past simple.
Compare these questions about the subject and object of a sentence:
Matt enjoyed the concert.
Who enjoyed the concert?
(Answer: Matt.) not Who did enjoy the concert?
What did Matt enjoy?
(Answer: The concert.) not What enjoyed Matt?
Which CDs cost £5?
(Answer: These CDs.) not Which CDs do cost £5?
In a subject question, who has a singular verb
Who is going to the concert?
(not Who are going? although we know there must be more than one!)
unless there are two or more people in the question:
Who are your favourite singers?
We use So to agree with positive statements and Neither or Nor to agree with negative statements.
We put the verb before the subject:
with the verb to be:
I’m looking forward to that concert. So am I
We’re going to Leeds. So am I.
with an auxiliary or modal verb:
She’s been to Manchester. So have I.
I don’t know this song. Neither do I.
He can’t dance. Nor can I.
with the present or past simple, using do or did:
They enjoyed the concert. So did we.
He likes this song. So do I.
We didn’t hear it. Neither did I.