General Question - A general question in English. General questions (sample sentences)

Before looking at the examples, let's first recall the definition of common questions.

General questions are asked to the interlocutor in order to obtain confirmation or denial of the entire thought expressed in the question and, thus, require a yes or no answer. They start with an auxiliary or modal verb.

1. Examples of general questions with the verb to be.

• Am I right? - I'm right?
• Is he in London? - He is in London?
• Is it your bag? - Is this your bag?
• Are you at the hotel? – Are you at the hotel?
• Are grapes grown in California? Do they grow grapes in California?
• Was Mary there? Was Mary there?
• Was the story interesting? Was the story interesting?
• Were they tired? Were they tired?
• Were the walls painted? – Were the walls painted?

2. Examples of general questions, sorted by time.

• Present Continuous
  Is your husband sleeping? Is your husband sleeping?
  Are you talking to him now? Are you talking to him now?
• Past continuous
  Were you sleeping at 10 o'clock yesterday evening? Did you sleep yesterday at 10 pm?
  Was it raining at noon? - Was it raining at noon?
• Future Continuous
  Will you be working at 5 o'clock? Will you work at 5 o'clock?
  Will he be sitting in the first row? Will he sit in the front row?
• present simple
  Do you love her? - Do you love her?
  Does your father live in New York? Does your dad live in New York?
• past simple
  Did John and Mary recognize him? Did John and Maria recognize him?
  Did you prepare the presentation? - Have you prepared a presentation?
• Future Simple
  Will they call us tomorrow? Will they call us tomorrow?
  Will Ann look after him? Will Anna look after him?
• Present Perfect
  Have you seen the manager today? Have you seen the manager today?
  Has your daughter ever been to London? Has your daughter ever been to London?
• past perfect
  Had the train arrived by that time? Has the train arrived by then?
  Had Molly already called him when you came? Did Molly call him when you arrived?
• Present Perfect Continuous
  Has the dog been barking for more than an hour? Has the dog been barking for more than an hour?
  Have you been setting the table since 2 o "clock? - Have you been setting the table since two o'clock?

3. Examples of general questions with modal verbs.

• Modal verb Can/could
  Can you stay here? - Can you stay here?
  Could you lend me a dictionary please? – Can you borrow a dictionary, please?
• Modal May verb
  May I come in? - Can I come in?
  May I use the car tonight? – Can I take the car tonight?
• Modal verb Must
  Must I go there? – Should I go there?
  Must I help in the garden? – Should I help in the garden?
• Modal verb Need
  Need he come here? Does he need to come here?
  Need I go there at once? Should I go there now?

General question in English, this is a question that is asked to the entire sentence, and not to a specific part of it, as is the case in special questions. In English, this has a speaking name - yes-no questions (rarely - general questions), literally "yes-no questions". This means that the general question can only be answered with “yes” or “no”. For instance:

Do you like vanilla ice cream?– Do you like ice cream?
Have you ever seen a ghost? Have you ever seen a ghost?

General Question Education

A general question is formed in two ways: with or without an auxiliary verb.

With auxiliary verb

With an auxiliary (or modal) verb yes-no question is formed like this: auxiliary (be, do, have) or modal verb + subject + main verb.

Please note that if you ask a general question in which there is more than one auxiliary verb or there is a modal verb + auxiliary, only the first of them is placed at the beginning of the sentence:

Is this phone call being recorded? Is this phone call being recorded?
Has the garden been looked after while you were away?“Did you look after the garden while you were away?”
Should we have been writing this down? Were we supposed to write it all down?

No auxiliary verb

If the verb to be performs the function of the main verb, the general question is formed as follows: be + subject:

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Are you the one who casts a horoscope? Are you the one who makes the horoscope?
Was she angry when you told her about the accident? Was she hungry when you told her what happened?

If in a general question the verb have performs the function of the main verb, both variants of formation are acceptable. However, in the absence of an auxiliary verb, the tone of the question becomes more formal. With an auxiliary verb, it sounds neutral. In informal style, the have got construction is used.

Have you an identity card?- Do you have an ID? (formally)
Do you have an identity card?- Do you have an ID? (neutral)
Have you got an identity card?- Do you have an ID? (informally)

Note that in cases where the verb have is used in the past tense in a general question to show possession of something, the variant did have is more often used than had got:

Did you have your glasses with you when you left the car? Did you have your glasses with you when you got out of the car? (common variant)
Had you got your glasses with you when you left the car? Did you have your glasses with you when you got out of the car? (uncommon variant)

Answer to a general question

In addition to the standard yes or no answer options, there are several more ways. For example, colloquial synonyms are common: for yes - yeah, yep, mm, okay, for no - nah, nope.

A: Would you like to bear me company?“Do you want to keep me company?”
B: OK- Good.

A: Have you seen Greg? Have you seen Greg?
B:Nope- Nope.

It is not necessary to answer in monosyllables, you can give more detailed information:

A: Can I grow potatoes in a pot? Can you grow potatoes in a pot?
B: Yeah. They grow really well in pots- Yes. It grows very well in pots.

A: Will you be going to Ryans party? Are you going to the Ryan party?
B: no. I'm actually going to be away on Friday night- Not. In fact, I won't be there Friday night.

Sometimes there are no yes or no words in the answer to a general question, but the answer still implies one of these options:

A: Do you know Tina Gomez? Do you know Tina Gomez?
B: We've known each other for years. We went to the same school- We have known each other for many years. We went to school together.

A: Do you have the Beatles latest album? Do you have the latest Beatles album?
B: I'm afraid we've just sold the last one“I'm afraid we've just sold the last one.

Sometimes in response to a general question, yes or no is used together with an auxiliary verb that was used in the question itself:

A: Hey Tim, did you go fishing today? Hey Tim, did you go fishing today?
B: I did. I went with the boys- Went. Fishing with the boys.

A: Has Jason had breakfast? Did Jason have breakfast?
B: He hasnt. He's still in bed- Didn't have breakfast. He is still sleeping.

Examples

Now let's see how a general question looks like in the most common tenses:

present simple

Do you speak English?- Do you speak English?
Does she like oranges? Does she like oranges?

Present continuous

Are you coming with us?- Are you coming with us?
Is it raining?- It's raining?

Present Perfect

Have you received the letter?– Did you receive a letter?
Has he returned from Mumbai? Has he returned from Mumbai?

past simple

Did you know the answer?- Did you know the answer?
Did you want to ask him a question? Did you want to ask him a question?

Past continuous

Were you sleeping then?- Were you sleeping then?
Was he reading his lessons? Did he take lessons?

Future Simple

Will you come with me?- Will you go with me?
Will you help me?– Will you help me?

Video about common questions in English:

Hello dear readers. Today I have prepared for you an introductory lesson on the topic - types of questions in English. After studying the material, you will get acquainted with the 5 types of questions that are distinguished in English grammar. We will go into more detail on each of them in the following lessons. And now our goal is to introduce you in general terms to each of the 5 types of questions, explain their meaning, features and design. Types of questions in English The construction of interrogative sentences is a very important topic for learning any language. After all, our speech mainly consists of questions and answers. I want to say right away that the construction of interrogative sentences in English is much more complicated than in Russian. In Russian, to pose a question, it is enough to simply change the intonation. In English, to ask a question, you need to change not only intonation, but also the order of words in a sentence, and very often there is a need to use auxiliary words.

In order to clearly explain the features of each of the types, I will first give examples, and then explain their essence. I advise you to learn the construction of 5 types of questions by heart.

5 types of questions in English

So, in English there are 5 main types of questions: a general question, a special question, a question to the subject and its definition, an alternative question, a disjunctive question. We will start the lesson with a general question, as it is fundamental. Having learned the construction of a general question, it will be easy for you to deal with other types.

1. General question

Question	Answer
Do you have a dog? Does he read that book? Did you visit your grandmother? Is she a student? Was he in Moscow? Can I help you? Must children do the homework?	Yes, I do/ No, I don't Yes, he does/ No, he doesn't Yes, I did/ No, I didn't Yes, she is/ No, she isn't Yes, he was/ No, he wasn't Yes, you can/ No, you can't Yes, they must/ No, they must not

As you can see, a general question is asked to the whole sentence, and it can be answered with just one word - yes or no. That is why it is called general.

For the correct formulation of a general question, it is necessary to use an auxiliary verb:

• do→ for I, you, we, they
• does→ for he, she, it
• did→ for past tense.

So, in the first place we put the auxiliary verb, and then the declarative sentence remains unchanged. Example:

• Narrative suggestion: You speak English. → add an auxiliary verb in the first place, and we get →
• General question: Do do you speak English?

If the verb is the predicate in the sentence to be (am, is, are, was, were - its forms), or modal verbs can (could), may (might), must, shall (should), will (would), then they are taken to the first place as auxiliary ones. Example:

• Narrative suggestion: I can help you. → endure modal verb to the first place, and we get →
• General question: Can I help you?

Summarize! The general question scheme looks like this:
Auxiliary verb (Auxiliary Verb) → subject (Subject) → predicate (Predicate) → other members of the sentence.

Video on the topic: General and alternative questions in English

2. Alternative question

Question	Answer
Is this a pen or a pencil? Does Ann work as a teacher or a doctor? Is that pencil red or green? Was Peter in Moscow or in Minsk? Does Jim like playing chess or watching TV?	It's a pencil. She works as a doctor. It's green. He was in Minsk. He likes playing chess.

As you may have noticed, an alternative question is a question that asks the respondent to choose between two homogeneous members of the sentence (a pen - a pencil, teacher - doctor, red - green, Moskow - Minsk, playing chess - watching TV). These homogeneous members of the sentence can be expressed by additions, circumstances, definitions, the nominal part of the compound predicate, etc.

An alternative question is very easy to recognize by the union or which offers an alternative. An alternative question is usually given a full answer.

Please note that the alternative question is practically the same as the general question, except for the obligatory presence of the union or.

3. Special question

Question	Answer
Where do you have vacation every summer? When can I see her? What is your favorite colour? How does he get to work? Why are you eating at my desk?	I have a vacation in London. You can see her today. My favorite color is blue. He gets to work by bus. Because I am hungry.

Special questions in English are asked to obtain additional information. In the first place there is always a special question word:

• what?- what? which?
• why?- why?
• where?- where? where?
• how?- how?
• how long?- how long?
• which?- which the?
• who?- who?
• when?- when?

Special questions in English The word order after the interrogative word is the same as in the general question.

• General question: Does he see her every day? → add an interrogative pronoun to the first place, and we get →
• Special question: Where does he see her every day?

So the diagram will look like this:
Interrogative pronoun (interrogative pronoun) → auxiliary verb (Auxiliary Verb) → subject (Subject) → predicate (Predicate) → other members of the sentence.

Note that in English it is common to see phrasal verbs, i.e. any prepositions are closely connected with these verbs. When special questions are asked in English, these prepositions are placed at the very end of the sentence. For instance:

• What are you busy with? - What are you doing?
• What are you asking for? - What are you asking for?
• Who were they waiting for? Who were they waiting for?

Answers to special questions, as a rule, are given in detail.

Video on the topic: Special question in English

4. Question to the subject and its definition

Question	Answer
What is going on there? Who is listening to the tape? Which of the children is going to the Zoo on Sunday? Whose children are having dinner now?	A fight is. Peter is. John is. Peter's children are.

Questions to the subject or to its definition always begin with interrogative pronouns:

• Who- who
• What- what
• Which- which the
• Whose- whose

In questions to the subject, the word order of the declarative sentence is preserved.

For instance:

• Narrative Suggestion: They must do it every day. → instead of the subject They put Who, the rest of the sentence is left unchanged, and we get →
• Question to the subject: Who must do it every day?

Note that if the sentence refers to the present tense, then the interrogative words who, what, which usually agree with the predicate in the form of the 3rd person singular. Because we do not know what answer will follow, it is customary to use the 3rd person.

For instance:

• Narrative Suggestion: They study at school. → instead of the subject They put Who, and add to the verb 3rd person ending, and we get →
• Question to the subject: Who stud ies at school?

You also need to remember that the question word " which- which" involves the choice of a certain number of objects or persons. Therefore, it is often used in conjunction with a noun or pronoun, which is preceded by a preposition of. For instance:

• Which of the children ... - Which of the children ...
• Which of you… - which of you…

Questions to the subject or to its definition are given short answers, which consist of the subject, expressed by a noun or pronoun, and the corresponding auxiliary verb.

5. Dividing question

Question	Answer
He is a student, isn't he? My friends don't play football, do they? She can play piano, can't she? It isn't warm today, is it? Alex speaks English, doesn't he?	Yes, he is. No, they don't. Yes, she can. No, it isn't. Yes, he does.

Disjunctive questions in English are asked to test an assumption or express doubt. The peculiarity of the dividing question is that it consists of two parts and is separated by a comma. That's why it's called separating. The first part consists of a declarative sentence in direct word order. The second part is a short question that consists of an auxiliary or modal verb and a pronoun that replaces the subject. A comma is placed between them. In the second part, as you already understood, it is used reverse order words, and it is translated into Russian: isn't it?, isn't it?, isn't it?

Remember that if the first part of the question is affirmative, then the verb in the second part must be in the negative form. If the first part of the question is negative, then in the second part the verb must be in the affirmative form.

Let's look at a couple of examples:

• Narrative suggestion affirmative: She can cook that dish. → can, add a piece " not» and the pronoun itself she. We get →
• Separated question: She can cook that dish can't she?

• Narrative suggestion negative: She can't cook that dish. → We rewrite the sentence, put a comma, put the indicator of the question, i.e. in this case, the modal verb can, you don’t need to add the “not” particle, because it is in the first part of the sentence, and finally the pronoun itself she. We get →

If you, while studying the grammar of the English language, finally got to the rather extensive topic “Types of questions”, then first of all you have to master the “general question”. The general question, or General Question is fundamental to all other types. Let me remind you that in total in English grammar it is customary to distinguish 5 types of questions, and to find general information you can read about them in the article: Types of questions in English. And now, we will take a closer look at the General Question. What are general questions for?

What's happened General issues and what are they for?

General Questions are questions that require the interlocutor to confirm or deny the words expressed in the question. General questions are asked to the entire sentence as a whole, and therefore require an affirmative or negative answer ("yes" or "no"). Because of this feature, they were given a second name - yes / no questions.

As a rule, general questions do not contain question words. Intonation in such questions rises towards the end of the sentence. General questions are characterized by the presence of partial inversion, i.e., a change in the order of words in a sentence, when the subject is followed by the predicate (part of the predicate, namely the auxiliary or modal verbs, are moved ahead of the subject).

Rules of Education General Questions

1. If in the sentence the verb to be (am, is, are, was, were) or to have (have, has, had) in the form of Present Simple or Past Simple acts as a predicate, then this verb is placed in the first place before the subject and acts as a support. Examples:

• He is a barmen. Is he a barmen? (He is a bartender. Is he a bartender?)
• I have much time. — Have I much time? (I have a lot of time. - Do I have a lot of time?)

2. If the predicate in the sentence is expressed using the turnover there is (was), then the verb to be is placed before the word there, and after it, the subject. For instance:

• There was a big fight the night before. Was there a big fight the night before? (There was a big fight last night. Was there a big fight last night?)

3. If the predicate includes an auxiliary (shall, will, should, would, etc.) or modal (can, must, may, ought, should) verb, then it comes first and acts as an auxiliary. Examples:

• I can give you something to read. Can I give you anything to read? (I can give you something to read. - Can I give you something to read?)
• We will go there. Will we go there? (We will go there. - Will we go there?)

4. If the predicate includes two or more auxiliary verbs, then the first auxiliary verb is taken forward of the subject. For instance:

• We have been living here for 6 years. Have we been living here for 6 years? (We have been living here for 6 years. - We have been living here for 6 years?)

5. If there are no auxiliary or modal verbs in the predicate, i.e. the predicate is expressed by a verb in Present Simple or Past Simple (with the exception of to be, to have), then the auxiliary verb do (does) is used to raise a question - for Present Simple and did are for Past Simple. The semantic verb in this case will be in the infinitive form after the subject (without to).

We emphasize that the verb do in this case does not carry any semantic load and is not translated into Russian in any way. But at the same time, the entire grammatical load (number, person, time) is transferred to it: in Present Simple, the ending -s, -es of the semantic verb in the 3rd person singular. the auxiliary verb do takes over the numbers, turning into does, in the Past Simple the -ed ending also takes over the verb do, turning into did. Examples:

• He goes to school. — Does he go to school? (He goes to school. Does he go to school?)
• They live in London. — Do they live in London? (They live in London. - Do they live in London?)
• She bought a new dress. Did she buy a new dress? (She bought a new dress. Did she buy a new dress?)

6. If in a sentence the verb to have is part of a phrasal predicate (to have a rest, to have breakfast, etc.) or is used in a modal sense (have to), then the auxiliary verb to do will be used to form a general question in the required form. Examples:

• We have a walk together. — Do we have a walk together? (We are walking together. Are we walking together?)
• We have to be there. — Do we have to be there? (We should be there. - Should we be there?)

Sample sentences with modal verb have to

Note that in American English, general questions with the verb to have are always formed with the auxiliary verb to do. Compare:

• Am. E.: Do you have any workbooks?
• Br. E.: Do you have any workbooks?

Summing up, it can be noted that the scheme of the general question is as follows:

Auxiliary verb → Subject → Predicate → Secondary elements of a sentence?

Sometimes in colloquial speech(in familiar address) general questions can be used without inversion. That is, the word order in them remains the same as in declarative sentences, and they differ only in intonation. Examples:

• Do you really want it? − Yes, I do. (Do you really want this? - Yes.)
• Do you like this work? - Very much. (Do you like this job? - Very much.)

Answers to common questions

Answers to general questions should confirm or deny what was asked in the question. They can be brief or extended, they can express shades of doubt or certainty, they can also contain additional words.

1. The answer may consist of a sentence-word or a sentence-phrase. Examples:

• Did he ring you up yesterday? -Yes. (Did he call you yesterday? - Yes.)
• Are you reading? − No. (Do you read? - No.)
• Will you help me? − Why, surely! (Will you help me? - Of course!)
• Do you remember that day? − Yes, of course. (Do you remember that day? - Yes, of course.)
• Have you any observations to his behavior? -Oh, no! (Do you have any comments on his behavior? - Oh, no!)

2. The answer may consist of a word-or phrase-affirmation or -negation and (after the comma) a short sentence consisting of a personal pronoun in Im. case and the auxiliary or modal verb used in the question. In a negative answer, the negative particle not is added to the verb. Examples:

• Will you attend our dance classes? − Of course, I will. (Are you going to attend our dance classes? - Of course I will.)
• Did you phone Jim yesterday? − Yes, I did. (Did you call Jim yesterday? - Yes.)
• Does your sister know Spanish? - No, she doesn't. (Does your sister know Spanish? - No.)
• Did you enjoy the presentation? - No, I didn't. (Did you like the presentation? - No.)
• Is he free now? − No, he isn't. (Is he free now? - No.)
• Can you play tennis? - Yes, I can. (Can you play tennis? - Yes.)

Answers can be without words-confirmation or -negation.

• Did you read the letter I gave you? − I didn't. (Did you read the letter I gave you? - No.)
• Was she at the party on Monday? − She was. (Was she at the party on Monday? - Yes.)

Please note that in Russian, short answers may repeat the predicate that was in the general question. For instance:

• Did you write her a letter? Yes, I wrote.
• Do you buy these earrings? Yes, I'm buying.

In English, in a short answer, the semantic verb is never repeated. For instance:

• Have you bought this book? − No, I haven't. (Did you buy this book? - No.)
• Did you feed your dog? − Yes, I did. (Did you feed your dog? - Yes.)

3. The answer to a general question may consist of affirmation or denial with a hint of regret or uncertainty. In this case, the answers consist of a subject and verbs: believe - to believe, think - to think, suppose - to assume, hope - to hope, to be afraid - to be afraid, with the adverb so or with the negation of not (in a negative form). For instance:

• I think so
• I don't think so
• I hope so - I hope
• I hope not - I hope not
• We'll have to wait here long? − I hope not. (Are we going to have to wait a long time here? - I hope not.)
• Is it time to leave? − Yes, I think so. (Is it time to leave? - I think so.)
• Is it a good idea to go there on Friday? − I don't think so. (Is it a good idea to go there on Friday? - I don't think so.)
• Short affirmative or negative phrases are sometimes used instead of so and not. For instance:
• Do you remember where Nick lives? − I'm afraid I don't. (Do you remember where Nick lives? - I'm afraid not.)

Negative form of general questions

The negative form of general questions in English expresses surprise. In Russian, it corresponds to questions that begin with the words “is it”, “really”.

To form a negative form, the negation of not is used, which is placed before the semantic verb. But long form not is very rare, usually it merges with an auxiliary or modal verb into one whole (n "t). Examples:

• Does she not speak Spanish? = Doesn't she speak Spanish? (Doesn't she speak Spanish?)
• Must I not go there? = Mustn't I go there? (Shouldn't I go there?)

When answering a similar question in Russian, we can use two options, containing either negation or confirmation. For example: “yes, I should”, “no, I should”. In English, everything is much stricter: in the affirmative answer is always Yes, in the negative - always No.

The word order in general questions is as follows (with examples):

I have seen the new film by E. Ryazanov.
I saw a new film by E. Ryazanov.

have you seen the new film by E. Ryazanov?
Have you seen the new film by E. Ryazanov?

You will go to the theater with me.
You will go to the theater with me.

Will you go to the theater with me?
Will you go to the theater with me?

5. If the predicate contains two or three auxiliary verbs (I have been working, a letter will be written, the article would have been translated), then the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.

Has not been working here since 1985.
He has been working here since 1985.

Has he been working here since 1985?
Has he been working here since 1985?

6. A general question in a negative form is formed using the auxiliary verb to do in the appropriate form (do, does, did, etc.) and the particle not. In Russian, the corresponding sentences begin with the words really? is it? and express surprise, etc.

If negation is used in short form: don't, doesn't, didn't, then it is placed before the subject.

Don't you want to go to the flower-show?
(Don't) you want to go to the flower show?

If the negation is not used in a short form, but in full - separately, then the following word order is used: in the first place - the auxiliary verb, in the second place - the subject, then the negation not, then the main verb, etc.