49. Questions 1
In these questions, who / what etc. is the subject:
- Who wants something to eat? (not Who does want)
- What happened to you last night? (not What did happen)
- How many people came to the meeting? (not did come)
- Which bus goes to the centre? (not does go)
No te the position of prepositions in questions beginning Who / What / Which / Where …?
- Who do you want to speak to?
- What was the weather like yesterday?
- Which job has Tina applied for?
- Where are you from?
You can use preposition + whom in formal style.
To whom do you wish to speak?
Isn’t it…? / Didn’t you… ? etc. (negative questions)
We use negative questions especially to show surprise.
Didn’t you hear the doorbell? I rang it three times.
or when we expect the listener to agree with us:
‘Haven’t we met before?’ ‘Yes, I think we have.’
Note the meaning of yes and no in answers to negative questions:
- Don’t you want to go?
- Yes. (= Yes, I want to go)
- No. (= No, I don’t want to go)
Noye the word order in negative questions beginning Why …?
- Why don’t we eat out tonight? (not Why we don’t eat)
- Why wasn’t Emma at work yesterday? (not Why Emma wasn’t)
50. Questions 2 (Do you know where…? / He asked me where…)
He asked me where… (reported questions)
The same changes in word order happen in reoirted questions. Compare:
direct | reported |
---|---|
The police officer said to us ‘Where are you going?’ | The police officer asked us there we were going |
Clare said ‘What time do the banks close?’ | Clare wanted to know what time the banks closed. |
In reported speech the verb usually changes to the past(were, closed etc.). See Unit 47.
51. Auxiliary verbs (have / do / can etc.) I think so / I hope so etc.
We can use have you? / isn’t she? / do they? etc. to show interest in what somebody has said, or to show surprise.
- ‘I’ve just seen Stephen’ ‘Oh, have you? How is he?’
- ‘Lisa isn’t very well today.’ ‘Oh, isn’t she? What’s wroing with her’
- ‘It rained every day during our holiday.’ ‘Did it? What a shame!’
- ‘James and Tanya are getting married.’ ‘Are they? Really?’
We use auxiliary verbs with so and neither:
- ‘I’m tired.’ ‘So am I.’ (= I’m tired too)
- ‘I never read newspapers.’ ‘Neither do I.’ (= I never read newspapers either)
- ‘Sarah hasn’t go a car and neither has Mark’
Note the word order after so and neither (verb before subject)
I passed the exam and so did Paul. (not so Paul did)
Instead of neither, you can use nor, You can also use not … either
‘I don’t know.’ ‘Neither do I.’ or ‘Nor do I.’ or ‘I dont either.’
I think so / I hope so etc.
After some verbs we use so when we don’t want to repeat something.
In the same way we say: I hope sao, I guess so and I’m afraid so
The usual negative forms are:
I think so / I expect so | I don’t think so / I don’t expect so |
I hope so / I’m afraid so / I guess so | I hope not / I’m afraid not / I guess not |
I suppose so | I don’t suppose so or I suppose not |
52. Question tags (do you? isn’t it? etc.)
The meaning of a question tag depends on how you say it. If your voice goes down, you are not really asking a question, you are only inviting the listener to agree with you:
It’s a nice day, isn’t it?
But if the voice goes up, it is a real question:
You haven’t seen Lisa today, have you?
You can use a negative sentence + postitive tag to ask for things ro information, or the ask someboody to do something. The voice goes up at the end of the tag in sentences like these.
‘You haven’t got a pen, have you?’ ‘Yes, here you are’
After Let’s…, the question tag is shall we:
Let’s go for a walk, shall we? (the voice goes up)
After Don’t…, the question tag is will you:
Don’t be late, will you? (the voice goes down)
After I’m…, the negative question tag is aren’t (= am I not):
‘I’m right, aren’t I?’ ‘Yes, you are’