Forming Questions | English for EmSAT Achieve PDF Download

Questions Beginning with the Verbs to be / to have

To form a question, invert the subject and the auxiliary verb:

Example Sentences:

• Statement: Everyone is playing.
  Question: Is everyone playing?

• Statement: She had finished all her work by noon.
  Question: Had she finished all her work by noon?

• Statement: He has started studying.
  Question: Has he started studying?

• Statement: They had been painting the wall.
  Question: Had they been painting the wall?

• Statement: He has been walking.
  Question: Has he been walking?

• Statement: Arabic is spoken all over the Arab world.
  Question: Is Arabic spoken all over the Arab world?

• Statement: The doors have been closed.
  Question: Have the doors been closed?

Note: The main verb doesn’t change its form.

Questions Beginning with Modals

To form a question, invert the subject and the modal:
Example Sentences:

• Statement: They will visit us.
  Question: Will they visit us?

• Statement: He might fail the exam.
  Question: Might he fail the exam?

Yes/No Questions and Questions without Question Words

To form these questions, use auxiliaries like have, has, do, or did.

Examples Using have/has and got:

• Statement: I have got a car.
  Question: Have you got a car?

• Statement: My brother has got a cell phone.
  Question: Has your brother got a cell phone?

Examples Using do/does for the Simple Present:

• Statement: They eat vegetables.
  Question: Do they eat vegetables?

• Statement: My sister has a laptop.
  Question: Does my sister have a laptop?

Examples Using did for the Simple Past:

• Statement: Lina sang a beautiful song.
  Question: Did Lina sing a beautiful song?

Note: The verb after do/does/did is always in its base form.

Questions with Question Words

Question Words and Their Uses:

• Who: Refers to a person.
• Where: Refers to a place.
• Why: Refers to a reason.
• When: Refers to time.
• How: Refers to manner.
• What: Refers to an object, idea, or action.
• Which: Refers to a choice.
• How old: Refers to age.
• How come: Refers to a reason.
• Whose: Refers to possession.
• Who/Whom: Refers to the subject or object of the verb.
• What kind: Refers to a description.
• What time: Refers to time.
• How many: Refers to a countable quantity.
• How much: Refers to an uncountable amount.
• How long: Refers to duration or length.
• How often: Refers to frequency or the number of times something is repeated.
• How far: Refers to distance.

Example Questions and Answers:

When did you lose your book?

• Answer: I lost it two days ago.

Where do you exercise every day?

• Answer: I exercise in the gym.

Subject and Object Questions

Subject Questions

• To form a subject question, replace the subject with the question word who.

Example:

• Affirmative: Sophia plays the piano.
• Question: Who plays the piano?

Object Questions

• To form an object question, use the question word whom and invert the auxiliary verb and subject.

Example:

• Affirmative: Maria taught my son.
• Question: Whom did Maria teach?

Additional Examples:

• Subject Question: Who called Ahmad?
• Object Question: Whom did Ahmad call?

Questions with Question Words: Who, Whom, Whose

Subject Questions

• Who is used to ask about the subject (the doer or what the sentence is about).

Form:

• Who + verb (third person)

Examples:

• Who loves fruit?
• Who goes to the gym?
• Who enjoys classical music?

Object Questions

• Whom is used to ask about the object (the receiver of an action).

Form:

• Whom + auxiliary verb

Examples:

• Whom are you going to invite?
• Whom did Tom blame for the trouble?
• Whom did the singer wave to?

Possessive Questions

• Whose is used to ask about ownership (who owns something).

Form:

• Whose + a noun + verb to be/auxiliary verb

Examples:

• Whose ticket is this?
• Whose apartment do you hate?
• Whose ID did the police officer ask for?