QUESTIONS: Word Order (Sentence Structure)

Today we continue our chapter, "Questions".  This lesson is primarily for beginners and lower-intermediate learners of English.  In today's lesson, we first discuss the sentence structure (word order) of direct questions and then quoted questions.

Before you begin the activities BELOW, you may want to study the podcast and initial grammar lesson, He's Always Talking about Grammar , also in our Library.

 Direct Questions

How to Punctuate a Question in Quoted Speech

The structure (syntax) and punctuation of a direct question depend on whether the question is an information question or a yes/no question. 

What Is an Information Question?

An information question yields particular information.

  • What is the secret to staying young?

What Is a yes/no Question?

A yes/no question solicits an answer that is either "yes" or "no".

  • Do you know of any job openings?

yes/no Questions

Sentence Structure of Information Questions

A yes/no question is a word that can minimally be answered with the word "yes" or the word "no".

  • Do you know of any job openings?
    - Yes, I do.
    - No, I don't.

The words follow a specific order.  In order to formulate a yes/no question, we must first review auxiliaries (helping verbs).

Auxiliaries (Helping Verbs)

Auxiliaries (Helping Verbs)

Each verb tense has an associated auxiliary.

Verb Tense Auxiliary
Simple Present do, does
Simple Past did
Present Progressive am, are, is
Past Progressive was, were
Present Perfect have, has
Past Perfect had
Modals Use the modal in the auxiliary position

Let's Plug in What We've Learned

How to Use Auxiliaries (Helping Verbs) in Direct Questions

Fill in the chart.  For those sentences that we did not provide you with, create your own!

Verb Tense Auxiliary Main Subject Rest of the Verb Rest of the Sentence
 
Simple Present Do you know of any job openings?
Simple Past        
Present Progressive Are you listening to me?
Past Progressive        
Present Perfect Have I (ever) been in love?
Past Perfect        
Modals        
  Will Adam enlist?  
  Will it (always) be this cold?
  Can you lend me your pen?
  Would you like to go out with me?
  Should      

Next...

Click here to learn more about yes/no questions.  Click here to discuss the sentence structure of an information question.

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