CHAPTER 2

ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS

Elicitation.

Look at the illustration before studying the dialogues below and then try to guess what the
people are doing.

Well, in this chapter, you will study how to make yes/no and wh- questions. You will practice
asking and answering yes/no and wh – question in a dialogue.

General Instructional Objective

After completing this lesson, students should be able to ask and answer questions using yes -
no and wh – interrogative in a real situation fluently and accurately both in spoken and written
communication

Specific Instructional Objective:

• Ask questions by using yes-no and wh-interrogative

 • Answer the yes-no and wh- interrogative

Dialogue 1.
Made : Do you know the new student?

Widi : Yes, I do

Made : What is his name?

Widi : His name is Rudi Hartono.

Made : Is he from Bali?

Widi : No, he is not

Made : Where is he from?

Widi : he is from Bandung

Made : Where does he live?

Widi : He lives at Malboro Street No 12A.

Questions.

1. What is the new student’s name?

2. Where is from?
3. Where does he live?

Dialogue 2.

Suka : Have you ever been to Monas?

Wita : Yes, I have

Suka : Where is it?

Wita : It is in Jakarta.

Suka : What does Monas stand for?

Wita : It stands for Monumen Nasional

Suka : What is it?

Wita : It is a tall tower with a huge gold statue on top of it.

Suka : How tall is the tower?

Wita : It is about 132 meters

Suka : How big is the gold statue?

Wita : Its weight 35 kilo grams

Questions

1. Who has ever been to Monas?

2. What is Monas?
3. Where is it?

From dialogue 1 and 2, you can learn how to make yes-no and wh-interrogative. The yes-no
interrogative proposed by Made and Suka are: “Do you know the new student?”, “Is he from
Bali?” and “Have you ever been to Monas?” So, yes-no interrogatives proposed by made and
Suka are formed with “do” , “Is” and “have” at the beginning of yes-no interrogative meaning
“apakah…” in Bahasa Indonesia.

The wh-interrogatives proposed by Made and Suka are as follows:

1. What is his name?

2. Where is he from?
3. Where does he live?
4. Where is Monas?
5. What does Monas stand for?
6. How tall is the tower?
7. How big is the gold statue?

All these wh-interrogatives are formed with question words what (1) meaning “siapa”, where
(2,3,4) meaning “dimana”, What (5) meaning apa and how (6 and 7) meaning “berapa” at the
beginning. The other question words used to formed wh-interrogative are: when, why, and
who.
The detail information about yes-no and wh - interrogative can be learnt as follows:

1.What.

“What” is the most popular question word. It is generally used to ask a noun. It is rich of
meaning in Bahasa Indonesia such as apa, siapa, dimana and berapa.

For example:

• What meaning “apa” : What colour is your uniform?

• What meaning “siapa” : What is your name?
• What meaning “dimana” : What is your address?
• What meaning “berapa” : What is your phone number?

To answer the questions above, you can say:

• It is………………………………………………………………….
• My name is……………………………………………………..
• My address is ………………………………………………….
• My phone number is………………………………………

2.Where.

“Where” is a question word used to ask about a place. It is also rich of meaning in bahasa
Indonesia such as dimana, kemana, and dari mana.

For example:

• Where meaning “dimana”: Where do you live?

• Where meaning ”kemana”: Where are you going?
• Where meaning “dari mana”: Where are you from?

To answer those questions, you say:

• I live at ………………………………………………………….
• I am going to………………………………………………..
• I am from……………………………………………………..
3.When

“When” is a question word meaning “kapan”. It is used to ask about time of an event or activity

For example:

• When were you born?

• When did it happen?
• When did you do that?

To answer those questions, you can say:

• I was born …………………………………………….

• It happened…………………………………………
• I did it…………………………………………………..

4.Why

“Why” is a question word meaning “mengapa”. It is used to ask the reason of doing something.

For example:

• Why were you late?

• Why do you love him?

To answer those questions, you can say:

• Because I ……………………………………..
• Because he ………………………………….

5.Who

“Who” is a question word meaning “siapa”. It is used to ask about people.

For example:

• Who called you last night?

• Who is your girl friend?

To answer those questions, you can say:

 • Joni called me last night
• My girl friend is ………………………..

6.How

“how” is also a very popular question word. It used to ask quantity, condition and adverb of
manner. It has varieties of meaning such as berapa, bagaimana and bagaimana cara.

For example:

• How meaning “berapa”: How many brothers and sisters do you have?
• How meaning “bagaimana”: How are you?
• How meaing “ bagaimana cara”: How do you go to campus every morning?

To answer those questions, you can say:

• I have………………………………………………
• I am ………………………………………………..
• I go to campus by……………………………

Yes-no question is a question that only requires a yes or no answer.

For example:

• Are you Mr./mrs……………………………………?. Yes, I am/No, I am not

• Do you live at ………………………………………..? Yes, I do/ No, I don’t
• Was she in ……………………………………………..? Yes, she was/No, she was not
• Did you go to………………………………………….? Yes, I did/No, I did not
• Is it………………………………………………………….? Yes, it is/No, it is not
• Have you finished……………………………………? Yes, I have/ No, I have not
• Will you come to…………………………………….? Yes, I will/No, I will not

Practice 1.(individual)

Fill in the blanks with the right word below. You can use the word more than once.

What where when why who how

Does is do are was did

1. ……………………….do you like Bali? I like Bali very much

2. ……………………….is your height? I am 170 cm
3. ……………………….is his address? My address is jl. Gajah MAada No 2
4. ……………………….have you been? I have been to Kuta Beach
5. ………………………did you call just now? I called My sister.
6. ……………………….is your room number? It is number 125
7. ……………………….were you absent yesterday? I was sick
8. ……………………….did you last call me? I called you yesterday
9. ……………………….is the price of 1 kg of apple? 1 kg of apple is Rp 12000,-
10. ……………………….is the temperature here now? It is 18 degrees centigrade here now
11. ………................she work in a hotel? Yes, she does.
12. ……………………….you come from Bali? No, I don’t.
13. ………………………Your father an English Teacher? Yes, he is.
14. ………………………you ready to go now? Yes, I am
15. ………………………She so busy this month? Yes, she is

Practice 2. (individual work)

Make questions based on the answer given below.

1. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : My English Teacher is Mr. Friday
2. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : It is August, 17th.
3. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : It costs Rp 9000,-
4. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : He works in a hotel
5. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : He was busy yesterday.
 6. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : It 90 km from Denpasar
7. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : No, they weren’t
8. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : Yes, he is
9. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : It was Sunday yesterday.
10. X : ………………………………………………………..?
Y : He is a tall, young man with long hair

Practice 3. (Pair work)

Ask your partner what tourism object he/she has ever visited. Then ask him/her the location,
the distance, the transport, the time and the famous things there. Take your turn to answer
your partner’s questions about the tourism object you have ever visited.

For example:

You : Have you ever visited ………………………………?

Partner: No, I haven’t

You : What Tourism object have you ever visited?

Partner: I have ever visited ……………………………………

You : Where is …………………………………………………?

Partner: It is in …………………………………………………………

You : How far is…………………….. from……………………?

Partner: It is about ……………………………………………………

You : How do the people get ……………………………….?

Partner: They can go……………………..by………,……………..

You : How long does it take to go…………by ………….?

Partner: It takes about …………………………….by…………….

You : What is………….. famous for?

Partner: It is famous for…………………………………………….

Summary.

There are two types of question that you have to learn in this chapter; yes-no and wh -
questions.

Yes-no question is a question that only requires a yes or no answer.

For example:

• Are you ready to order now, sir? Yes, I am

• Do you speak English? Yes, I ddo
• Did he invite you on his birthday party last week? No, I did not
• Have you finished your breakfast? Yes, I have
• Will you come to his party? No, I will not

Wh-question is a question which requires a statement as the answer.

For example:

• What is your occupation? I am an English Teacher

• Where do you work? I work in in PNB
• When did you start working in PNB? I started working there in1990
• Why do you want to be a teacher? I like teaching
• Who is your director? My director is Mr. Mudina
• How long have you been teaching in PNB? I have been teaching there for 22 years

Formative Test

Complete the following dialogues by crossing the best option A, B, C, or D

1. X : ……………….your uncle live at Gn. Agung street?
Y : No, he doesn’t
A. is
B. does
C. has
D. do
2. X : ………………….. is his address?
Y : His address is Jln. Melati No 27 Denpasar
A. What
B. Where
C. When
D. Who
3. X : …………… Mr. and Mrs. Black work in a bank?
Y : Yes, They do
A. Are
B. Do
C. Is
D. Have
4. X : …………………is Mr. Black’s occupation?
Y : He is a Bank Director
A. What
B. Where
C. When
D. Who
5. X : ……………he a Bank Director?
Y : Yes, he is
A. What is
B. What
C. Is
 D. What does
6. X : ……………………he like orange juice?
Y : No, he does not
A. Is
B. Does
C. What is
D. What does
7. X : …………………….the students of Bali State Polytechnic go to campus by car?
Y : No, they don’t
A. Are
B. Does
C. Do
D. Is
8. X : …………………did he go to the Party last night?
Y : He went to the party on foot.
A. By what
B. With what
C. What
D. How
9. X : ……………………..are you interested in that flower?
Y : It is beautiful
A. What
B. Why
C. How
D. Who
10. X : ………………………….is that beautiful bag?
Y : That’s hers
A. Who
B. What
 C. Whose
D. where

Use the key to formative test 3 given at the end of this book to check your answer. Calculate
your correct answers and then use the formula below to see the degree of your comprehension
to the material of chapter 3.

The total of correct answers

The degree of comprehension = --------------------------------------- X 100 %
The total of items

Note: 90 – 100 % = very good

80 – 89 % = good

70 -79 % = Ok

< 70 % = bad

If your comprehension is ≥ 80 %, you can continue to chapter 4. It is good. However, if it is < 80

%, you have to read chapter 3 again especially the materials that you do not understand well
yet

Glossary.

what where

why who

when how

colour time

size date

kind job

food drink
dance address

height weight

favorite tourism object

price far

distance location

exactly much/many

tall old

because sick

busy go

had beautiful

km get

by car

walk plane

motorbike take