Grammar class one Questions tags and echoes Grammar

Grammar class one Questions, tags and echoes Grammar class one : Key aspects of questions There are three short grammar classes in the section “Questions, tags and echoes”. This is the first one, which covers key aspects of questions.

How to use this class: • a) Read it carefully • b) Read it again carefully a few hours later or the next day • c) Do the exercises. • There are some links to other websites which contain exercises which will be useful to you. You may have to copy the adress and paste it into your browser.

1) Questions and intonation • It is very important to understand that French and English do not work in the same way. In French you have three ways of making a simple YES/NO question. You might write “Estce qu’ils vont venir? ” or “Vont-ils venir” more formally. But when speaking informally, it is quite usual to say « Ils vont venir ? » In this way the question is made just by the intonation.

English is different If, in English, you make the question only with the intonation “They are coming? ” It has a very specific meaning, it is NOT a normal question. This Question-by- intonation can mean 1) I am very surprised. (“C’est pas vrai, ils vont venir après tout ? » ) OR 2) I’m just checking ( « Vous avez bien dit qu’ils venaient ? » ) You must not use the Question-by-intonation like you do in French, you will sound permanently surprised or annoyed.

2) The two types of question in English • Questions in English are defined in general from a structural point of view, by the auxiliary going before verb. • • Can you help me? How old are you? Shouldn’t you have paid him? Might it rain?

a) The « Yes-No » question • For the “Yes-No question”, the structure is AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + VERB • • • Can your brother swim? Didn’t they say they would be late? Did he smoke? Could you help me? Shall I open the door? Does she want a pizza? Must we leave right now? Mightn’t it be too late? Had you finished already ? Daren’t you ask him? Isn’t Margaret starting work soon? Doesn’t music help you feel better ?

Except the Yes-No question with the verb « be » . • With the verb « to be » it works rather differently : Are you Italian. ? Is there any beer left ? Were they angry? Isn’t she a bit dangerous?

A formal variant • In the negative, you can also see a formal version : “Is she not rather dangerous? ” instead of the everyday form “Isn’t she a bit dangerous? ” The formal form you may use in writing – business letters for example. Are we not intending to dispatch the order at the earliest date possible? Do we not think this unacceptable? Might there not be further problems at a later date ? Could you not see your way to advancing delivery dates ?

b) The information question With an information question, you don’t want to know “Yes or No”; you want information. The structure is QUESTION GROUP + AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + VERB Where is Mike going on Friday ? Why did you fall over? Who did you talk to in the end? How can I help you? Why might that be difficult? Where were they going? How long have they been married?

And the version with the verb « to be » Again, it works a little differently with the verb “to be”. How dangerous is skiing? Who is this guy ? Where is Birmingham? How many are there of them?

Try an exercise Here is an exercise for you to try, quite an easy one. Copy the address and paste it into your browser, http: //perso. wanadoo. fr/michel. barbot/hotpot/ interrog/questions/Quest 11. htm

3) A few specially interesting cases a) If the Question word (Who/What/Which) is the SUBJECT of the sentence, the above structures are impossible. In this case we use a “normal” sentence structure. Question word + verb Or Question word + Auxiliary + verb Who said we had to leave soon? Who can speak Catalan? Which car is likely to win? Which song won the competition? Who has to leave first? What works best in this kind of situation? How many managed it ?

Notice the difference Who did you talk to ? A qui vous avez parlé ? Who talked to you ? Qui vous a parlé ? What did you do next? Qu’avez-vous fait par la suite ? What works best ? Qu’est-ce qui marche le mieux?

Do another exercise Do the exercise ( or at least the first six questions) at http: //esl. about. com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_ques tionforms_subob. htm Copy the address and paste it into your browser

b) Questions with « how » and an adjective or adverb b) We like to form questions in English with “How” followed by an adjective or an adverb. These questions ask about DEGREE. Very often these questions are formed in a completely different way in French. Here are some examples. To help you understand, the answer is given in French. Note that it is a dialogue between two people, A and B A : How often do you read a newspaper? B: Deux fois par mois à peu près. A : How often do you go to the cinema ? B: Tous les weekends. A: How dangerous is skiing ? B: Pas tant que ça si on fait attention.

More questions with « how » A : How nice are they ? B: Vraiment adorables, je te le jure. A : How old are you ? B: Ce n’est pas vos oignons. A : How long will it take ? B: Deux ou trois heures. A : How fast can you type ? B: Cent mots par minute, s’il ne s’agit pas de textes techniques.

The last exercise for today Here is a useful exercise someone else wrote. http: //www. anglaisfacile. com/exercices/exercic e-anglais-1/exercice-anglais-841. php Copy the address and paste it into your browser,

More tomorrow That’s all for today. There are two more classes to come in the module Questions tags and echoes. The second one, which is shorter, will be on line in a couple of days.