Short Answers in Talks-1
Short responses are used in formal and informal conversation to make it precise and effective. Let’s have a look at the short answers for the questions beginning with an auxiliary verb.
Prior Information
Subject
The person or thing that we speak about in a sentence is called subject. A subject can be a noun pronoun, common noun, collective noun adjectives etc. In the structures below we have used pronouns as subjects. Subject normally comes at the beginning of a sentence. It is more convenient to make sentences if the subject is in the form of a pronoun. Whey you make a sentence always convert subject to it’s pronoun form mentally ( If the subject is not in the pronoun form). They are only nine pronouns (Personal) of all the subjects in the world, namely I, we, you, he, she, it, they
What are auxiliary verbs?
Can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must and ought are called auxiliary verbs. They are used with other verbs to add certain meaning. e.g. She can drive a car
Two types of questions
Broadly speaking there are two types of question people use in conversation, namely, ‘wh’ question and ‘yes/no’ question.
a. ‘wh’ question (Beginning with the letters ‘wh’ e.g. what, when, where etc. this type of questions require detail response.) –e.g. Where is Jane?, I don’t know.
b. ‘yes/no’ question (These type of questions begin with auxiliaries, and they requires short responses like yes or no (Some people nod their head or move their eye brows to respond.) – Is Shane in the office? No she isn’t .
How to frame ‘yes/no’ question.
Jim is a student. à Is Jim a student?
She is my niece à Is she your niece? (Someone is questioning you.)
Is she my niece? (You are questioning yourself- doubt, or asking some one for clarification)
Is she my niece? (You are questioning yourself- doubt, or asking some one for clarification)
To change a sentence to ‘yes/no’ question, place the auxiliary verb in the place of the subject and the subject in the place of the auxiliary verb.
In this session we will discuss short responses to ‘yes/no’ question
Are you busy now? Yes I am. ( Just saying ‘yes’ is considered a casual response.)
Is she in Beijing ? Yes she is.
Are these your books? Yes, they are.
Is Sydney in Australia? Yes, it is.
Aren’t you brother of John? Yes, I am.
Short responses for question in passive voice.
Are you married? No, I am single/Yes I am
Are they tired? No, they aren’t, but they are hungry.
Is it (room) cleaned? Not it isn’t/Yes it is.
Short responses for question starting with can.
Can you swim across this river? Yes I can/No I can’t.
Can you meet me on Sunday? No I can’t/ Yes I can
Can she wait for some more time? No, She Can’t
NOTE: Alternate response – could
Could you please help me? Or course
Could you please help me lift this luggage? Why not?
Have/has
Has he arrived? Yes, he has/No He hasn’t
Hasn’t he arrived yet? No, he hasn’t (This Sentence has negative connotation)
Have they submitted the document? Yes, they have/No they haven’t
Going to
Are you going to leave for USA tonight? Yes, I am/No, I am not.
Is she going to buy a car? No, she isn’t/ Yes, She is.
Are they going to attend the meeting? No they aren’t/ Yes, they are
Present participle verb/ing verb ( Talking, writing etc.)
Are you watching Television? No, I am not/Yes I am.
Are they playing….. Yes, they are/ No they aren’t.
Is she talking over phone? Yes, she it/No, she isn’t.
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