Neil Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Neil.
Sophie And me, Sophie. Hello.
Neil Today’s programme is all about questions.
Sophie Yes: we’ll take a look at different types of yes-no questions…
Neil We’ll hear lots of w-h questions…
Sophie And we’ll be using the questions to get to know each other a little bit better.
Neil So if you want a reminder of English question forms…
Sophie Or if you’re if you’re studying them for the first time…
Neil Keep listening, and join in with the task we’ll be giving you later on.
Sophie So let’s get started. In English, there are two basic question types: yes/no questions and w-h questions.
Neil And here’s Finn with our first yes/no question:
Finn Can you speak English? Can you speak English?
Neil Yes I can, thanks Finn. That’s a useful first question.
Sophie Yes, and it’s made with the auxiliary verb can, plus the subject you and a verb: speak. Can you speak? Can you speak English Neil?
Neil Yes, I can.Another question please Finn?
Finn Do you work every day? Do you work every day?
Sophie Auxiliary do, subject you, verb work. Do you work every day, Neil?
Neil I don't, no. I don't work at weekends. Finn?
Finn Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Sophie Auxiliary do, subject you, verb: have. Neil, do you have any brothers or sisters?
Neil Yes I do: I've got one sister. Now another way to make yes-no questions is with the verb to be plus a subject. Let’s demonstrate. Sophie: Are you married?
Sophie No, Neil, I’m not. Is your boss married?
Neil My boss? No, he isn't. Were you in the office yesterday?
Sophie Yes, sadly I was in the office yesterday.
IDENT You’re listening to BBC Learning English.
Neil And we're talking about question forms.
Sophie Now, the second main type of question in English starts with either what, where, when, which, why, who, or the odd one out:
Neil … how.
Sophie So let’s try making a question with where. We add an auxiliary…
Neil … such as do
Sophie … then we can add a subject plus a verb. For example: Neil, Where do you live? Where do you live?
Neil I live in south London. Where do you live, Sophie?
Sophie I live in north London. Now let’s change the question word and the verb. Which languages do you speak?
Neil And here we add a noun to which: Which languages do you speak?
Sophie Just English. And with a different auxiliary: Which languages can you speak?
Neil We can add nouns to some of the other question words: What time do you start work?
Sophie About 9 o'clock in the morning. And if we ask 'What time is it?' we’re making a w-h question with the verb to be. I can ask: Where were you born?
Neil I was born in England. When is your birthday?
Sophie In September. What is your work address?
Neil It's W1A. Lots of useful questions with to be there. Now for a very personal question with to be: Sophie, How old are you?
Sophie You should never ask a woman her age! And for questions with how, we usually add an extra word. To ask about age it’s:
Finn How old…
Sophie For price it’s:
Finn How much…
Neil For size we ask:
Finn How big…
Sophie And for height it’s
Finn How tall.
Sophie How tall are you, Neil?
Neil About 180cm. And of course, you can’t answer a w-h question with yes or no. How tall are you, Sophie?
Sophie I think we're actually the same height.
Neil Let me see, back to back… No, I'm taller! Is it time for a practice task Sophie?
Sophie Yes, it is. Join in at home if you like. I’m going to give you a topic to ask me about, and you have to make one yes/no question and one w-h question. And Neil will give some possible answers. Here’s the first topic: Ask me about my age.
Neil Ok, so you could ask: How old are you? When were you born?
Sophie Now ask me about my home.
Neil Do you live with your family? What is your address?
Sophie Now ask me about my work.
Neil Do you work near here? How much do you earn?
Sophie Thanks Neil. And well done to you at home if you joined in with the task.
Neil So that’s a look at some basic question types we can use when we’re getting to know people. We had yes/no questions,
Sophie And we looked at questions starting with w-h words.
Neil And we found out some interesting information about each other. I didn’t know how tall you were, Sophie!
Sophie I know, it's quite incredible really. And there’s lots more about questions forms on our website at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar.