Questioning Techniques -2
Question making is quite different from making statements. Statements that provoke response from the hearer are called a question. In formal English there are standard structures to frame questions, however in informal ways body language and expressions pay a vital role in creating a question mood. A simple statement can be converted into question by rising intonation ( e.g. Obama won second term?,/ France lost AAA rating?)
KNOWLEDGE OF SUBJECT, VERB, AUXILIARY VERB ETC. IS ESSENTIAL FOR FRAMING QUESTIONS. Click grammarmail to know Subject , verb etc.
WHAT IS A SUBJECT?
Subject often describes the doer of an action, subject shows what the sentence is about. All the nouns and pronouns can also be used as subjects. Subject usually comes at the beginning of a sentence.
Jane gave a book to Jim (Jane = Subject)- Noun used as a subject
She gave a book to Jim (She = pronoun) – Pronoun used as a subject
SUBJECT PRONOUN
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| First | I | We |
| Second | You | You |
| Third |
He
She
It
|
They
|
What is a VERB ?
Verb is a word that tells us
1. What a person or thing does.e.g The man runs on the wall.
2. What is done to the person or thing e.g She was awarded a Nobel Prize
3. What a person or thing is. e.g she is a teacher
A. A Verb or a main verb or an action verb
The action verbs like read,see, watch etc.are called an ordinary a verb or main verb.
They denote some action, they have present,past, past participle etc. forms (e.g go, went, gone etc.)
Auxiliary and modal auxiliary
A. Auxiliary verbs (helping verbs). These Verbs are used with the main verbs to form Tenses, passive forms,negatives and questions. The three forms of Auxiliaries are,
be forms am, is, are, was, were, shall/will. e.g I am a teacher
do forms do, does, did, . e.g. Do you Speak French.
have forms have, has, had. e.g. She has done the job.
B. Modal verbs or Modals or Modal auxiliary: These verbs are used before ordinary or main verbs to denote certainty,uncertainly,necessity, permission possibility etc. The verbs are can, could, shall, should,may,might,will,would,must and ought, have to, used to, need,dare,
e.g.
She can speak English. (can is an auxiliary verb Speak is a main verb)
He has gone to school. (has is an auxiliary verb, gone is a main verb.)
It will rain now. (will is an auxiliary verb, rain is a main verb.) - Rain is used as a verb here.
She is a doctor. (is is an auxiliary verb acting as a main verb, because there isn't any main verb here.)
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
The two important types of questions in English are ' wh' question and 'yes/no' question. In this session we shall see 'wh' type.
'Wh' question begins with 'wh' word like what, when,where etc. ''Wh' question requires a complete response. e.g. Where is John// How is Shane?
'Yes/No' type - The response to this type of question is either 'yes' or 'no' , a complete response is not required in this case. e.g. Are you tired? , Does she work in a bank?
Note: Subject -------> Auxiliary Verb (For Making negatives/questions.)
I/We/you/they Do --> Present , Did --> Past
He/she/it Does --> Present, Did -->Past
'wh' questions model
What’s the time now? - Question
Who is waiting for me? – Question
What soft of movies do you like?- Question
'Wh' Question depends on the target (The thing that the poser of a question would like to know.). Look at the following statement.
Jack bought an diamond ring for his wife this Christmas/ (or) Jack bought his wife a gift for christmas.- statement.
A. If the target is wife the question will be
For whom did Jack bought a diamond ring? – Formal question.
Who did Jack buy a diamond ring for?– casual/informal question.
B. If the target is diamond ring the question will be
What ring did Jack buy his wife for Christmas?
MAKING QUESTIONS WITH THE AUXILIARY VERBS (be forms) IN THE STATEMENT
The girl is slim. – statement
Target – slim - What is she like? (or) How is she?
Target – girl - Who is slim?
Clara is from New York - Statement
Where is she from? – Target = Clara
Who is from New York? Target = New York.
John is 21 years old - Statement
How old is John? – Target = 21 years.
Who is 21 years old Target = John.
Note: In the above examples we have used the auxiliary verb ‘is’ .
MAKING QUESTIONS WITH THE AUXILIARY VERBS ( do forms) IN HE STATEMENT
Jim went to England last year? - Statement
Where did Jim go last year? – Target = England (DId + go = went)
When did Jim go to England? Target = last year
Who went to English last year? Target = Jim. ( Auxiliary verb form not required here.)
NOTE: Did + go = went
He looked tall.- Statement
What did he look like?/ How did he look? Target = tall
Who looked tall? Target = he.
The Secretary of state rushed to Moscow by air this evening to meet the Russia President. - Statement
Who rushed to Moscow? Target = Secretary of state.
How did he/she go to Moscow? Target = air (airplane)
Where did secretary of state go this evening? Target = Moscow
When did secretary of state left for Moscow? Target = evening. (left is preferred to go.)
Why did the secretary of state go to Moscow? Target = the purpose - to meet the Russian President.
Who did the Secretary of state want to meet? Target = The President.
MORE QUESTONS
He takes medicine three times a day – Statement
How often does he take medicine?- question
She paid 200 Dollars - Statement
How much did she pay? - Question
The Everest peak is about 8000 meters high. - Statement
How high is the Everest peak? Question
Honesty is the best policy. –Statement
What policy is the best one? – Question
Multiple ‘wh’ word question.
When and where did she go?
Who did you approach for help and why?
Note:
Normally which is used in ‘wh’ question with choice .
Which book is your? This or that.
Which road to take? This or that.
Which university did you join - MIT, Oxford or Cambridge
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