Course on Forming Questions - TOEIC® Preparation
In English, questions follow a precise structure. The order of the auxiliary and the subject differs from that of an affirmative sentence. There are several types of questions:
- Yes/No questions (closed questions)
- Wh- questions (open questions)
- Tag questions (question-tags)
- Indirect questions (indirect questions)
Before diving into the details, remember that it is important to distinguish between:
- questions expecting a "Yes" or "No" answer (Yes/No)
- questions expecting specific information (Wh-).
1. Generalities about questions
A. Auxiliaries
Most questions contain an auxiliary (do, does, did, have, will, etc.) which is placed either at the beginning of the sentence or just after the interrogative word.
- Auxiliary "do" (present) or "does" (present for the 3rd person singular)
- Do you like pizza?
- Does she work here?
- Auxiliary "did" (past)
- Did they watch the movie last night?
- Auxiliary "have/has" (in perfect tenses)
- Have you finished your homework?
- Has he ever been to London?
- Auxiliary "will" (future)
- Will you come to the party tomorrow?
B. Interrogative words
Interrogative words (Wh- words) are used to ask specific questions to obtain specific information about the place, time, reason, or manner.
Here are the main interrogative words:
| Wh- word | Example |
|---|---|
| What | What do you want for dinner? |
| What time | What time does the meeting start? |
| What… like | What is your new teacher like? |
| When | When does the train leave? |
| Where | Where can I find a good restaurant? |
| Why | Why are you late? |
| Who | Who is calling me? Who do you want to speak to? |
| Whom (less common) | To whom did you give the book? |
| Whose | Whose bag is this? |
| Which | Which color do you prefer? |
| How | How are you? How did you do that? |
| How much | How much water do we need? |
| How many | How many books do you have? |
| How long | How long does the journey take? How long is this rope? |
| How often | How often do you go to the gym? |
| How far | How far is the station? |
| How old | How old is your sister? |
| How about | How about going to the beach? |
| How come (informal) | How come you didn't call me? |
- Who is more common than whom, which is quite formal or literary.
- How combines with many words to specify the nature of the question (duration, distance, quantity, frequency, age, etc.).
2. Yes/No questions (closed questions)
Closed questions start with the auxiliary, followed by the subject and the main verb. The only exception is the verb "be" when used as the main verb:
- Are you busy right now? Yes, I am
- Do they play tennis on weekends? Yes, they do.
- Did she enjoy the concert? Yes, she did.
- Have you seen my keys? Yes, I have.
- Will we travel together next month? Yes, we will.
These questions are called "closed" because they allow only a limited number of possible answers: generally "yes" or "no". Unlike open questions, which offer a multitude of possible answers, closed questions restrict the possibilities of response.
Special case with the verb "be"
When "be" is the main verb of the sentence, we do not use the auxiliaries "do/does/did":
- Are they friends? (subject "they", verb "are")
- Was he at home yesterday? (subject "he", verb "was")
3. Wh- questions (open questions)
Open questions follow the same structure as Yes/No questions, but start with an interrogative word (Wh-).
- What did you eat for breakfast?
- When will you arrive?
- Where are they meeting us?
- Why did he leave so early?
Who, What, and Which as subject or object?
The interrogative words who, what, and which can play the role of subject or object in a question. The structure of the sentence varies according to their function.
When the interrogative word is the subject
In this case, the interrogative word replaces directly the person or thing performing the action. The sentence follows the structure of a classic affirmation, without auxiliary do/does/did.
- Who called you yesterday?
- What happened yesterday?
- Which car won the race?
In these sentences, there is no auxiliary "did", because the interrogative word directly represents the subject of the action.
To know if the interrogative word is the subject (and not the object), simply replace the interrogative word with he/she/it
- Who called you? → He called you. ✅ (who = subject)
- What made that noise? → It made that noise. ✅ (what = subject)
When the interrogative word is the object
In this case, the interrogative word designates the person or the thing undergoing the action. An auxiliary (do/does/did) must be added to maintain the order subject + verb + complement.
- Who do you love?
- What do you want?
- Which book did she choose?
4. Tag questions
Tag questions (or question-tags) are used to confirm information or to seek the interlocutor's agreement. These short questions are placed at the end of the sentence.
The goal is generally to obtain confirmation or agreement from the interlocutor (Yes, I am. / No, I'm not. etc.).
- He's coming tonight, isn't he?
- They didn't leave early, did they?
- She can drive, can't she?
- We have finished, haven't we?
To form a tag question, use the auxiliary or the verb "be" by inverting it with the subject. The tag question is negative if the main sentence is affirmative, and affirmative if the main sentence is negative.
- Affirmative sentence, negative tag question
- You are a student, aren't you?
- Negative sentence, affirmative tag question
- You aren't a student, are you?
5. Indirect questions
Indirect questions are widely used in conversations to soften a question or to phrase it in a polite manner. They often appear after expressions like Could you tell me…, Do you know…, I wonder…, I'd like to know…, etc.
Unlike direct questions, indirect questions do not involve inversion between the auxiliary and the subject. A question mark is also not used in the indirect clause. The interrogative word (Wh-) is retained, but the structure of the sentence follows that of an affirmative sentence.
- Direct question: Where is the bathroom?
Indirect question: Could you tell me where the bathroom is? - Direct question: When does the show start?
Indirect question: Do you know when the show starts? - Direct question: Why did they leave so early?
Indirect question: I wonder why they left so early.
In indirect questions, the verb follows the rules of the affirmative sentence. For example, in Could you tell me where the bathroom is?, you can see that "is" comes directly after "bathroom" (subject + verb).
Conclusion
This chapter is essential for the TOEIC® as it helps to understand and correctly answer Wh- questions in the Listening Part 2 and Reading Part 5 & 6 sections. Additionally, it aids in effectively analyzing sentence structures in Reading Part 7 to quickly identify relevant information.