Level: 01

Lesson: 03

Prepared by: Mr. ALLAL Abdelghani alghani986@gmail.com

Source:
Oxford Practice Grammar by John Eastwood.

Yes/no questions with verb be

A) Use

A yes/no question is one that we can answer with yes or no.

Are you ready? ~ Yes, nearly/ No, not quite. Has anyone seen my bag? ~ Yes, it's on the chair/ No, I don't think so.
These questions are asking for information. For example, Daniel wants to know if Vicky is ready or not. Sometimes yes/no questions have other uses, especially questions with modal verbs. For example, when Matthew says

Shall we go then? he is making a suggestion, not asking for information. Here are some examples of the different uses.
Requesting: Making a suggestion: Shall we eat out tonight? Can/Could you write the address down for me, please? Can I carry something for you? ~ No, it's OK, thanks. Would you like to come to a party?Yes, I'd love to. May I use your phone? ~ Yes, of COURSE

Offering: Inviting:

Asking permission

B) Form
A yes/no question begins with an auxiliary verb. An auxiliary verb is a form of be or have or a modal verb e.g. can. The auxiliary verb comes before the subject.
AUXILIARY SUBJECT

Is Has Can

it David Emma

raining? got a car? drive?

STATEMENT: It is raining. QUESTION: IS it raining?

The main verb be also comes before the subject in a question.

Is it cold out there?

Are you ready?

Was it easy?

If there is more than one auxiliary verb, only the first one comes before the subject.

Have you been working?

Could we have done better?

In the present simple and past simple we use a form of do.

AUXILIARY SUBJECT

Do Does Did

the buses Mark you

run every day? play golf? like the concert?

STATEMENT: They (do) run every day. QUESTION : Do they run every day?

A question cannot begin with an ordinary verb such as run, play or like.
NOT Plays-Mark-golf?

And

NOT Liked your the-concert?

The verb after the subject does not end in s or ed.

NOT

Does-Mark plays-golf? and NOT Did you-liked-the-concert?

Exercises
Write down the use of each question. Choose from these uses:
asking for information (x3), asking permission, inviting, making a suggestion, offering, requesting (x2)

example: *Could you post this letter for me? requesting * Can we get a number 35 bus from this stop? asking for information

1) Can I help you with those bags? 2) Shall we stop for a rest? 3) Is it Tuesday today?

4) 5) 6) 7)

Could you wait a moment, please? Would you like to have tea with us? Will your friend be here next weekend? May I sit down?

2) Claude Jennings, the World Quiz Champion, is going to be on Guy's chat show. Guy is wondering what to ask Claude. Read what Guy is thinking and write down his questions.
* (I expect Claude has won lots of prizes.) Have you won lots of prizes ? 1- (1 wonder if he's a rich man.) .............................................................................................................. 2- (Perhaps quizzes are his only hobby.) .............................. 3- (I expect he worked hard at school.) ............. 4- (I wonder if he's got any other interests.) ............... 5- (1 wonder if it's an interesting life.) ....................................................................... 6- (Perhaps his wife asks him quiz questions.) ........................................................... 7- (And maybe he answers questions in his dreams.)......

3) What would you say in these situations?

* You want to know if Mark has been to Los Angeles. Ask Sarah. * Has Mark been to Los Angeles ? 1) You aren't sure if Rachel and Vicky are going to America. Ask them. 2) You want to know if Laura plays tennis. Ask Trevor. 3) You are wondering if Claire enjoyed her holiday. Ask her. 4) You want to suggest to Rachel that you both go for a walk. 5) You need to know if David will be at the club tonight. Ask him. 6) You want to know if the train is on time. Ask Mark. 7) You are wondering if Mike and Harriet go camping. Ask David.

8) You want to ask Matthew if you can borrow his squash racket. 9) You want to know if Nick has got a motor bike. Ask him.

Short answers Yes, it is

A) Answering yes or no
Look at the answers to these questions.

Is it raining? ~ Yes. Did you say something? ~ No.

Are we going to be late? ~ Yes, we are. Did you finish the crossword? ~ No, I didn't.

We can sometimes answer a question with a simple yes or no, but we often use a short answer like No, I didn't. We usually put a comma after yes or no. We do not normally use a full sentence, but we can do if we want to add emphasis to the answer.

Did you open my letter? ~ No, I didn't open your letter.

Sometimes, to be polite, we may need to add information.

Did you get the tickets? ~ No, I didn't. There wasn't time, I'm afraid. Sorry.

B) Form
A positive short answer is yes + a pronoun + an auxiliary.
QUESTION SHORT ANSWER

Auxiliary

Pronoun
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes,

Auxiliary

Are you working tomorrow? ~ Has Emma got a computer? ~

Will I need my passport? ~ Did they repair your phone? ~

I she you they

am. has. will. did.

We can also use the main verb be in a short answer.

it time to go? ~ Yes, it is. It's ten past eleven.

Note that in the present simple and past simple we use a form of do.
Do you like classical music? ~ Yes, I do. NOT YES I LIKE.

A negative short answer is no + a pronoun + an auxiliary + n't.

QUESTION

SHORT ANSWER

Auxiliary

Pronoun

Auxiliary

Is the photocopier working now? ~ No, it Have the children gone to sleep? ~ No, they Will there be food at the party? ~ No, there Does this train stop at Derby? ~ No, it
But note No, I'm not.

isn't. haven't. won't. doesn't

Are you working tomorrow? ~ No, I'm not. NOT No-,-I-amn't.

Exercises
1) Put in the short answers.
It's eleven o'clock, and everyone has arrived at a party. * Have you got a drink? ~ Yes, I have, thank you. I've just put it down somewhere.

1 Can you speak Arabic? ~ ......................................... , but not very well. 2 Is it raining outside? ~................................................. It's just started. 3 Has David come with you? ~ .................... . He's in hospital, actually. 4 Did you come by car, Tom? ~ .................................................It took ages because of all the traffic. 5 Are those people over there your friends? ~....... .1 don't know them at all. 6 Do you like England? ~................................................. -I'm enjoying my stay here. 7 Is your brother here? ~ .................................................He's away on business at the moment. 8 Have you seen Nick recently? ~.................................................I think he's moved away.

2) Put in the short answers.

It's one o'clock in the morning, and the party is in full swing. People are still talking. * Are you French? ~ No, I'm not. I'm Italian. I'm from Milan. 1) Will you and Laura be here in August? ~........................................... We're going to France. 2) Did you remember to bring the photos? ~ ................................................ I'll give them to you in a minute. 3) Has Rita broken up with her boyfriend? ~................................................. It's all over, she told me. 4) Did you see that documentary about the ozone layer on television last night?

......................................... I was working late, unfortunately.

5) Does Laura like these old songs? ~ ............................................. She loves Elvis Presley. 6) Are you and Mike staying the night here? ~ ................................................ We have to get home tonight. 7) Can we afford a taxi? ~ .................................................It's quite a long way. 8) Are you OK, Vicky? ~................................................. I feel really awful.

Cardinal numbers

1 . one 2 ..two 3.. three 4.. four 5 ..five 6.. six 7... seven 8 eight 9 nine 10... ten

11.. eleven 12.. twelve 13 thirteen 14.. fourteen 15.. fifteen 16 sixteen 17 .seventeen 18 ..eighteen 19.. nineteen 20 twenty

21.. twenty-one 22.. twenty-two 30.. thirty

100... a/one hundred 102 ..a/one hundred and two 164 ..a/one hundred and sixty-four

40 ..forty 596 five hundred and ninety-six 50.. fifty 7,830 .seven thousand eight hundred and thirty 60. sixty 70 seventy 80 eighty 90 ninety 1,000,000 a/one million 1,000,000,000.. a/one billion

NOTES
Be careful with these spellings: fifteen, eighteen, forty, fifty, eighty. We can use a or one before hundred, thousand, million etc. There's a hundred/one hundred metres to go! I've told you a thousand times not to do that. Unemployment stands at one million four hundred thousand. A is informal. One is usual in longer numbers. We cannot leave out a or one. NOT I've told you thousand times. Hundred, thousand, million etc are singular except in the of-pattern. We use and between hundred and the rest of the number (but not usually in the USA) We put a hyphen (-) in twenty-one, sixty-five etc, but not before hundred, thousand or million. We can write a thousand as 1,000 or 1 000 or 1000 but not 1.000. For the numbers 1100, 1200 etc up to 1900, we sometimes say eleven hundred, twelve hundred etc. We sometimes use alone dozen for 12. half a dozen eggs (= 6 eggs) And in informal English we can use a couple for two. We'll have to wait a couple of minutes. Sometimes numbers are written in words, especially small numbers. one of four super prizes two bedrooms

To express a large but indefinite number we can use dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of and millions of. There were hundreds of people in the square, NOT eight hundreds of...

A drop of water consists of millions of atoms.

Wh-questions with verb be

Form
Most wh-questions begin with a question word + an auxiliary verb + the subject. An auxiliary verb is a form of be.
QUESTION WORD AUXILIARY SUBJECT

What

is

Kitty

doing

The main verb be also comes before the subject in questions.

Where is Kitty? How are you? What was that noise?

If there is more than one auxiliary verb, only the first one comes before the subject.
The guerrillas have been hiding. Where have the guerrillas been hiding? I should have said something. What should I have said?

Exercise
Put in these words and phrases: Quiz champion Claude Jennings is answering questions.
how far, how long, how often, how many, what, what colour, what kind, when, where, who

Quiz-master: Claude: * What colour is the Greek flag? Blue and white. 1. .................................. is Melbourne? It's in Australia. 2. .centimetres are there in a kilometre? A hundred thousand. 3. . did the Second World War end? In 1945. 4 ................. did Romeo love? Juliet.

5 .........is Sirius? It's a star. 6 ..is it from Los Angeles to San Francisco? About 400 miles. 7 ......... are the Olympic Games held? Every four years. 8 of food is Cheddar? It's cheese. 9 .. ........... is a game of rugby? Eighty minutes.