Questions in English are an essential part of his grammar. The ability to ask general and special questions is necessary for everyone who wants to master the English language. What are the differences between general interrogative sentences and special ones? What are the features of the construction of each of them? What can you ask a person using different types of questions? We will solve these and some other problems in this article.
To begin, consider the main characteristics of each type of question.
General issues
This type of question is asked to the whole proposal as a whole. That is, unlike special questions, general ones do not have a specific answer. Most often, the answer to general questions is the words "yes" and "no." In addition to simple general questions, there are also alternative questions, the answer to which is one of the options voiced in the question. For example, a person likes coffee or tea; Prefers to watch interesting films at home or in the cinema and so on.
General questions are asked using the auxiliary verbs of the English language: in the present tense it is do or does (depending on the person and the number of subject); in the past tense - did; in the future, as a rule - will; for a long time - is / are or was / were; in “perfect” time - have, has or had; and in the subjunctive mood - would. Consider examples of sentences, general questions at different times and moods.
Common questions examples
Present time:
- Do you like reading books? (You like to read books?).
- Does she tell us about the nature of our planet? (She talks about the nature of our planet?).
- Do you prefer traveling by plane or by car? (Do you prefer traveling by plane or car?).
Past time:
- Did you like the guide's story about this wonderful monument? (Did you like the guide's story about this beautiful monument?).
- Did you enjoy painting when you were a child? (Did you like to draw when you were a kid?).
- Was it difficult to pass your exam in mathematics? (Was it difficult to pass the math exam?).
Future:
- Will you go for a walk with me? (Will you take a walk with me?).
- Will you choose hamburger or pizza? - No, thank you. I'd like to have some soup. (Will you choose a hamburger or pizza? - No, I'd better take the soup).
- Will you come to my sister's birthday party tomorrow? She's very sorry for this unexpected invitation, but you know, she always does everything at last moment. (Will you come to my sister's party tomorrow? She apologizes for such an unexpected invitation, but you know her, she always does everything at the last moment).
Continuous (present and past tense):
- Are you enjoying the performance? (Do you like the show?).
- Are your brothers watching cartoons or doing their homework? I need to know that! (Do your brothers watch cartoons or do their homework? I need to know that!).
- Were you doing the washing up, when Melissa came home? (Did you wash the dishes when Melissa returned home?).
- Were you doing gymnastics during your childhood? (Did you do gymnastics in your childhood?).
Present perfect and Past perfect:
- Have you chosen the trombone as your musical instrument in the orchestra? I can't understand this. (Did you choose a trombone for playing in the orchestra? I do not understand this.).
- Have you ever been in Jamaica? (Have you ever been to Jamaica?).
- Has Clara's boyfriend seen her new haircut? I'm sure, he won't like it. (Clara's guy already saw her new hairstyle? I'm sure he won't be thrilled).
- Had you visited this wonderful place before? (Have you been to this place already?).
- Had he been so gallant before he met her? I think, no. He was awfully ill-mannered. (Was he so amiable until he met her? I think not. He was terribly ill-bred).
Subjunctive (I would like ..., would prefer ..., would do, etc.):
- Would you like to have some espresso? (Would you like some espresso?).
- Would your son like to visit this kid's center? (Would your son like to visit this children's center?).
Thus, common questions in English are simple interrogative sentences that pose a question to previously known or unknown statements. More meaningful and complex are special questions in the English language.
Special Issues
This type of question is asked to a specific member of the proposal in the approval. So, there are special questions to the subject (who ?, what?), To the supplement (what ?, what ?, for whom?, What ?, to whom? Etc.), to the definition (which ?, which ?, whose?) or circumstance (why ?, why ?, how much ?, where?, where? and others). Special issues are more complicated than general ones, but they are based on a similar construction.
Question words
In the general form of questions in the English language there are always auxiliary verbs, which were mentioned above. However, in a special type of interrogative sentences, an auxiliary verb must necessarily have a certain interrogative word that reflects the meaning of the given question. The following are the main question words used to compose special questions in English:
- Who? - Who?
- Whom? - Whom? To whom? For whom?
- Whose? - Whose?
- Why? - Why?
- When? - When?
- Where? - Where? Where to? Where from?
- Which? - Which one? Which the?
- What? - Who? Which one?
- How? - How?
- How much / how many - How much? How many?
- How long / how often - How long? How often?
It is worth noting that quite often interrogative words in the English language turn into relative pronouns in complex sentences. Therefore, the interrogative word is used in the affirmative sentence, and no special question is asked. This happens in the Russian language. For example, compare:
- When do I need to come to class? - the interrogative word "when";
- I hastened to find out when I needed to come to the next lesson - the relative pronoun "when."
Design
So, how to make a special question? The scheme is as follows:
- First we use the interrogative word that we need. For example, “when” if you need to find out the time of an incident, or “how long” if you need to specify the duration of an action or process.
- The following is an auxiliary verb, one of those discussed above. The only exception to special issues is the word “who”. When the question is addressed to the subject in the design of the affirmative sentence, practically no changes occur: only the subject is replaced by the question word “who”. It should be remembered that this word refers to the third person singular, therefore, the verbs in the present tense remain the ending -s.
- After the auxiliary verb, the construction of the general question, which was discussed earlier, is repeated.
Question examples
Now consider examples of special issues.
Questions to the subject:
- Who has eaten all the pie? I've cooked it for our family reunion! (Who ate the cake? I prepared it for our family meeting!).
- What is that? Oh no! It's a huge spider! (What is this? Yes, it's a huge spider!).
- What happened to us? Who is this person, Jack? I don't know him! (What happened to us? Who is this man, Jack? I don't know him!)
Questions to supplement:
- What are you doing here? Nobody had invited you! (What are you doing here? You were not invited here!).
- Whom should I pay for this? (Who should I pay?).
- For whom have you arranged this party? (For whom did you have this party?).
- What do you usually prefer reading? (What do you usually read?).
Questions to determine:
- Whose fishing rod did you use when we went to the lake. I remember, you said that you haven't got any rods at home. (Whose fishing rod did you use when we went to the lake? I remember you said that you never kept fishing rods).
- What kind of music do you prefer listening: rock or some classical music? (Which genre of music do you like to listen to: rock or classical?).
- Which of these pieces of cake do you like the most? (Which of these pieces do you like the most?).
Questions to the circumstance:
- Why are you usually so late for the first lesson? It becomes insufferably! (Why are you constantly late for the first lesson? It becomes unbearable!).
- Where have you found it ?! Oh God! I've been searching for this for years! (Where did you find this ?! My goodness, I've been looking for this for years!).
- How much does it cost? I'm afraid, I don't have enough money. Excuse me, I'll come later. (How much does it cost? I'm afraid I don’t have enough money. I’m sorry, I will come back later).
- When did you start painting? It looks like the masterpiece of art! I think, you were born with a tassel in your arm! (How long have you started drawing? Your work is a real work of art! I think you were born with a brush in your hand!).
- How often do you visit our swimming pool? As for me, I actually hate this because the water is dirty and nasty! (How often do you go to our pool? I just hate it because the water in it is terribly dirty and nasty!).
Conclusion
So, in this article we got acquainted with the construction and significance of issues - both general and special. Now, if someone says “ask a special question,” you can easily complete this task. Having mastered this topic, you can accurately ask the necessary questions verbally and in writing, write grammatically correct letters. Knowing what the difference between this or that type of questions is fundamental in the study of both English and other foreign languages. Be patient, and then everything will work out!