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Claes 5
Claes 5
Grammar
O Making yes/no questions
To make questions which can be answered with yes or no:
we put the auxiliary verb before its subject:
You're going on holiday soon. -0 Are you going on holiday soon?
He's packed his case. -0 Has he packed his case?
in the present simple or past simple (> see Units 1 and 2), we use the auxiliary verb do/does or did to
make the question:
I like Italy. —. Do you like Italy?
She prefers Greece. Does she prefer Greece? (not Dees-she-prefers)
They went to Corsica. —. Did they go to Corsica?
with the verb to be, we put to be before the subject:
They're in Madrid today. —. Are they in Madrid today?
with modal verbs, we put the modal verb before the subject:
We can stay here. Can we stay here?
Negative questions often express surprise
Don't they like big cities? (= I thought they liked big cities. Am I wrong?)
Can't she stay here? (= I thought she could stay here. Is that impossible?)
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9 Questions
When we use otter question words (When, Why, How, etc.) we change the word order in the same way as in
yes/no questions:
They'll be in Madrid tomorrow. -4 When will they be in Madrid? (Answer Tomorrow.)
We can't stay here because its full. —0 Why can't we stay here?(Answer: Because it's full)
She prefers to travel by train. —0 How does she prefer to travel? (Answer By train)
A Remember the difference between these questions with like:
What does Molly like?( = what does she enjoy?) She likes playing.
What does Molly look like? (= tell me about her appearance) She's pretty.
What is Molly like? (= tell me about her character and/or appearance) She's intelligent and pretty
4 Question tags
We often make a statement into a question by adding a question tag at the end. The verb in the tag must
match the form of the auxiliary verb in the statement.
If the statement is positive, the tag is negative
They're going to Greece, aren't they? (the speaker expects the answer yes)
If the statement is negative, the tag is positive
You aren't going to Greece, are you?(the speaker expects the answer no)
We make question tags:
with do/does or did for all verbs in the present simple or past simple except to be:
You like the seaside, don't you? You don't like the seaside, do you?
Molly prefers Greece, doesn't she? Molly doesn't prefer Greece, does she?
Your friends are in Madrid, aren't they? Your friends aren't in Madrid now, are they?
with the same auxiliary or modal as in the statement for verbs in other tenses:
They haven't arrived yet, have they?
We can stay here, can't we?
The question tag for lam is aren't It
I'm doing the right exercise, aren't I?
The question tag for I'm not is am It
I'm not in the right place, am I?
The question tag for let's is shall wet
Let's go to France, shall we?
We use question tags:
to check that what we have just said is true - our voice does not rise at the end:
They're going to Greece, aren't they? (= I'm almost certain they're going there, but will you confirm this?)
to ask for information - our voice rises at the end:
They're going to Greece, aren't they? (-= I'm not sure if that's where they're going - will you tell me?)
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