Questions making in English, revised (1) - 6

Sentences that contain questions  are called interrogatives sentences. Broadly speaking there are two main types of questions in English, namely ‘yes/no’ questions and ‘Wh’ questions. ‘Yes/no’ questions are also called Polar questions or Closed questions, because these questions have only two possible answers (‘yes’ or ‘no’). We are discussion ‘yes/no’ type questions  in this post.

e.g.

Are you an American?  Yes I am. (‘Yes/No’ question)

‘Wh’ questions contain ‘wh’ in their question words (What, When,  How etc.). They also called open questions, because they have many answer options.

e.g.

How old are you?  I am 26 years old. or I am 26. (‘Wh’ question)

‘Yes/no’ question making Pattern -  with the auxiliary verbs,  am, is, are

Person	Singular	Plural……..
First	am I	are we
Second	are you	are you
Third	Is he Is she Is it	are they are they are they

NOTE

He' includes all males names  e.g. Robert, Alex, Jim, and common nouns like President , Director, Chairman, Friend, Father, Uncle etc.

'She' includes all female names e.g. Elizabeth, Mary, and common nouns like President,  Director, Chairman, Friend, Mother, aunt etc.

'It' includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Singular form of things, animals etc.), & collective nouns (like team, army, group etc.

'They' includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Plural form of things, people, animals etc.)    

Model sentences

Are you OK now? Yes I am.

Am I late today ? No  you aren’t.

Is she at home? Yes she is.

Are you an Indian? Yes I am.

Is she a teacher? Yes she is.

Are Albert and Mary friends? Yes they are.

Is your uncle  a Police officer? No he isn’t, he is a Naval officer.

Note: The response can be either positive or negative.

‘Yes/no’ negative question

When a negative word is introduced in ‘yes/no’ question it changes into ‘ yes/no’ negative question.

e.g.

Aren’t  you coming with me? = Are you not coming with me.

‘Yes/no’ question making Pattern   ( with the auxiliary verbs,  am is are)

‘yes/no’ negative questions  are made  with  two different word orders namely uncontracted  and  contracted word order.

Question making pattern (Uncontracted word order)

Person	Singular	Plural……..
First	am I not	are we not
Second	are you not	are you not
Third	Is he not Is she not Is it not	are they not are they not are they not

NOTE

He' includes all males names  e.g. Robert, Alex, Jim, and common nouns like President , Director, Chairman, Friend, Father, Uncle etc.

'She' includes all female names e.g. Elizabeth, Mary, and common nouns like President,  Director, Chairman, Friend, Mother, aunt etc.

'It' includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Singular form of things, animals etc.), & collective nouns (like team, army, group etc.

'They' includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Plural form of things, people, animals etc.)    

Question making pattern (Contracted word order)

Person	Singular	Plural……..
First	aren’t  I	aren’t we
Second	aren’t  you	aren’t  you
Third	Isn’t  he Isn’t  she Isn’t  it	aren’t  they aren’t  they aren’t they

NOTE

He' includes all males names  e.g. Robert, Alex, Jim, and common nouns like President , Director, Chairman, Friend, Father, Uncle etc.

'She' includes all female names e.g. Elizabeth, Mary, and common nouns like President,  Director, Chairman, Friend, Mother, aunt etc.

'It' includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Singular form of things, animals etc.), & collective nouns (like team, army, group etc.

'They' includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Plural form of things, people, animals etc.)    

Model Sentences

Is she not a teacher at  Oxford School? = Isn’t she a teacher at Oxford school?

Are you not attending Mary’s Party tonight? = Aren’t you attending Mary’s party tonight?

Have they not finished the job? = Haven’t they finished the job?

Are you not  ready yet? = Aren’t  you ready yet?

Am I  not right? = Aren’t I right? (‘Amn’t  I’ is not acceptable, but certain people use it in their dialect.)

Are Jim and Clara not classmates? = Aren’t Jim and Clara classmates?

Is the boss not in his office? = Isn’t the boss in his office?

Different meanings/Contexts  of Negative questions

1. Why are  your  clothes wet?  Didn’t it rain a while ago?  (=  I believe, you know, that it rained  some time back.)

2. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a cup of coffee? = It would be nice to have a cup of coffee.

    (You believe that it’s good to have a cup of coffee.)

3. Hasn’t the milkman come yet? ( You are surprised that the milkman hasn’t come on time)

4.You look tired, Why don’t you have some fruit juice (Suggestion /request)

5. Can’t you keep quiet for some time,  I am watching news on TV? (Order)

    

 End of this Post

Greeting people -5

You Don't need to know any grammar rule to speak the following sentences, yet these are very important and friendly Expressions 

 

1.When someone does a favour to you, say

Thank you very much

Thanks

That’s very kind of you.

Thanks a lot.

 

Reply to the above statement

It’s O.K

That’s alright/it’s alright

You are welcome

Doesn’t matter

It’s my pleasure

 

2.When you require someone’s help, say politely

Could/would you please move a little bit

Could/would please turn off the music system in your room

Please help me lift/move this bag/box.

 

3.When you want to interrupt someone’s talk/ privacy say

Excuse me/Sorry for the Interruption/Excuse me, Just a minute.

 

4.When you didn’t hear something, say

Pardon me/sorry/excuse me/could you please repeat that.

 

5.When you cause harm to others unintentionally

Say, I am sorry, I am extremely sorry, sorry for……, Sorry I didn’t ……

 

More examples

Sorry I didn’t mean it.

Sorry I didn’t see you in the dim light.

I am extremely sorry for hurting you leg.

I am so sorry for making you to wait for such a long time.

Sorry I didn’t know that it’s your seat.

 

6. Appreciating someone

That’s it,  fantastic,  Marvelous, Well-done, Excellent etc.

 

7.When you are introduced to someone for the first time, say

Hello, glad/pleased/happy, to meet you. ‘I am’ may be added after ‘Hello’

 

8.When you are unaware of something, that someone has asked you, say

Sorry, Sorry I don’t know, Sorry I am not aware of this/that

 

9.Addressing people

a. Professionals - Doctor/ Professor as Doctor/professor + last name. e.g. Dr. Smith,  Professor  Brown

b. Friend as Hi + last name.

e.g. Hi Davis, Hi Murphy

 

Address a women as madam, Married woman as Mrs. + her husband’s last name, 

e.g.  Mrs. James, Mrs. Baker

 

c. Married/single woman as Ms. + last name (used in business environment)

e.g. Ms. Davis, Ms. Bell

 

d. Single or Unmarried woman as Miss + last name (Not common these days).

 

e. Males married/single say Mr.  + last name

e.g. Mr. Brown,  Mr. Lee , Mr. Khan,  Mr. Patel

 

NOTE: When the people are well known to you.  You may use first name

 

10.Wishing/Greeting people                                                      

   12.01 a.m. Up to 11.59.a.m. Good morning

   Exactly at 12.00 noon -  Good noon

   12.00 noon to 4.00 p.m. Good afternoon

   4.00 till 12.00 midnight – good evening

   After 12.00,midnight - good morning

   

 

11.Parting with someone.

   Day time – say good day, see you/see you soon , bye etc.

   Evening – say goodnight/ bye/see you (up to 11.59 p.m.)

   NOTE: Good day/night is same as saying bye

 

12.Congratulating people on

   Birth day – Happy birth/grand + day, congratulation

   New year  - Wish you a very happy/prosperous+ new year

   Married   - Wish you a very happy married life or just say congratulation

   Achievement – Well done/excellent/marvelous/congratulation/Remarkable

Shortened forms or Contractions -4

Some frequently used words in English are written in Short forms. Below is the list of  important short forms of the words frequently used in English writing. 

Contractions	Meaning
I’m	I am
I’ve	I have
I’d	I  would/had
I’ll	I will
You’re	You are
You’ll	You will
You’ve	You have
You’d	You would/had
he’s	He is/had
he’d	He would/had
he’ll	He will
She’s	She is/has
She’d	She would/had
She’ll	She will
We’re	We are
We’ll	We will
We’ve	We have
We’d	We had/would
they’re	they are
they’ll	they will
they’ve	they have
they’d	they had/would
there’s	there is/has
there’ll	there will
there’d	there would/had
It’s	it is/has

Contractions – Negatives

Contraction	Meaning
aren’t	are not
can’t	cannot
couldn’t	could not
daren’t	dare not
don’t	do not
doesn’t	does not
didn’t	did not
haven’t	have not
hasn’t	has not
hadn’t	had not
isn’t	is not
mustn’t	must not
mightn’t	might not
needn’t	need not
oughtn’t	ought not
shouldn’t	should not
shan’t	shall not
usedn’t	used not
wasn’t	was not
weren’t	were not
wouldn’t	would not
won’t	will not