Rules Regarding Questions


There are two kinds of questions:

yes/no questions
and
information questions

Examples of Yes/No questions and answers

YES/NO QUESTION SHORT ANSWER
(AND LONG ANSWER)
Can you drive? Yes, I can.
(Yes, I can drive.)

No, I can't.
(No, I can't drive.)
Do you know Tom? Yes, I do.
(Yes, I know Tom.)


No, I don't.
(No, I don't know Tom.)
Will Lois be here soon? Yes, she will.
(Yes, she will be here soon.)


No, she won't.
(No, she won't be here soon.)
Did it snow yesterday? Yes, it did.
(Yes, it snowed yesterday.)


No, it didn't.
(No, it didn't snow yesterday.)
Was Peter at work? Yes, he was.
(Yes, he was at work.)

No, he wasn't.
(No, he wasn't at work.)
Are you studying English? Yes, I am.
(Yes, I'm studying English.)

No, I'm not.
(No, I'm not studying English.)

 

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The same subject-verb word order is used in both Yes/No questions
and information questions:

Helping verb + Subject + Main verb

See some of the important exceptions below.


Examples of Information Questions

Question word Helping verb Subject Main verb (Rest of sentence) Comment


Where
Does

does
Lewis

Lewis
live

live?
in Chicago?  
Where Is

is
Claire

Claire
working

working?
at home?  
When Will

will
you

you
graduate

graduate?
next year?  
Who(m) Did

did
they

they
see

see?
Jill?  
Where Is


is
Sharon


Sharon?
  at home? Note that "IS" comes before the subject.
    Who

What
came

happened
to dinner?

yesterday?
Note that when using a question word as a subject, the usual word order is not used. No form of "DO" occurs.


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