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Do you know how to form questions? Enhance your knowledge with the lesson given below and the grammar explanation to guide you better.
Check out these examples to see how questions are formed:
Is she an artist?
Does he play football?
What time did you arrive?
How much is a cup of coffee?
To form questions, we often place the verb before the subject. This is known as inversion.
Affirmative | Question |
---|---|
I am ready. | Am I ready? |
I will go. | Will I go? |
She is working. | Is she working? |
They have arrived. | Have they arrived? |
If there is a question word (why, what, where, how, etc.), it goes before the verb.
Question | Question with question word |
---|---|
Are you ready? | Why are you ready? |
Was he there? | When was he there? |
Will she stay? | How long will she stay? |
Have they arrived? | Where have they arrived? |
This applies to sentences with be, sentences that use auxiliary verbs (e.g., They are waiting. She has finished.), and sentences with modal verbs (can, will, should, might, etc.).
For other verbs in the present simple, we use the auxiliary verb do/does in the question.
Affirmative | Question |
---|---|
You study English. | Do you study English? |
It starts at 6. | Does it start at 6? |
We use the auxiliary verb did in the past simple.
Affirmative | Question |
---|---|
She left early. | Did she leave early? |
They saw the movie. | Did they see the movie? |
In some questions, who or what is the subject of the verb. There is no inversion of subject and verb in these questions.
Who called you yesterday?
What happened at the party?