3. Alternative questions

They begin with an auxiliary verb and have or + an alternative

E.g.: Do you like classical or pop music?

Have you bought five or six cakes?

Did they stay in London or in Brighton?

4. Tag-questions

They are formed with the auxiliary verb used to form general questions in each grammar tense. If the sentence is positive, the tag question is negative and if it is negative, the tag-question is positive.

E.g.: He likes cats, doesn’t he?

They are not our students, are they?

She has been working here for five years, hasn’t she?

There are no armchairs here, are there?

But! I am right, aren’t I?

We put the tag-question “will you” at the end of a request to make it more polite.

E.g.: Close the door, will you?

We put the tag-question “shall we” at the end of a question if it is a suggestion to do something together.

E.g.: Let’s go to the garden to have tea, shall we?

Questions to the subject of the sentence or its attribute

Questions to the subject of the sentence or its attribute begin with “who”, “what”, “which” “whose”. They don’t change the structure and word order of the sentence.

E.g. She was there with us.

Who was there with us? – She was.

E.g. Who has done this exercise? – We have.

E.g. Two of them liked our proposal.

Which of them liked our proposal? – Two of them did.

Remember: “Who” is always singular.

Questions to the subject and the object of the sentence

If the subject and the object of the sentence are personal nouns the question starts with “who”, but the word order is different.

Compare:

E.g. Mary saw Claire at the station.

Who saw Claire at the station? – Mary did.

Who did Mary see at the station? – Mary saw Claire.

Grammar Exercises

Question Phrases:

1. What time is your friend arriving?	- Half past eight.
2. What kind of/what sort of club is it?	- A nightclub.
3. How often do you go out?	- About once a week.
4. How long will the meeting last?	- An hour or so, I expect.
5. How much money did you spend? - About a hundred pounds.	- About a hundred pounds.
6. What colour is your toothbrush?	- Yellow.
7. How old is your sister?	-She’s twenty.
8. How far is the beach?	- Only five minutes’ walk.
9. How many televisions have you got?	- Three.

Exercise 1. Complete with the correct question word

1. _______ much are the potatoes?	- One dollar.
2. _______ can I do for you?	- I want two white T-shirts.
3. _______ can I get a newspaper?	-In Park Street.
4. _______ is your best friend?	- It’s Paul.
5. _______ does Lisa live?	-In Boston.
6. _______ colour is your new car?	-It’s white.
7. _______ do you collect?	-Stickers.
8. _______ can help me?	I can.
9. _______ about some grapes?	No, thanks.
10. _______ was your first word as a baby?	Mama.
11. _______ were you born?	On March 9th.
12. _______ were you born?	In St. Maarten.
13. _______ were you last Sunday?	I was working.
14. _______ can we have a picnic?	I know a nice place near a pond.
15. _______ are you going to take with you?	Some sandwiches and a coke.