English Composition/Interrogative Sentence

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Revision as of 06:23, 22 March 2019

English CompositionInterrogative Sentence

Contents

Interrogative Sentence

In this section, we focus on the Indirect questions and Tag questions.

Indirect Questions

When an indirect question is inserted in a plain text

When an indirect question is inserted in a plain text, the word order is different from that of a normal question, as follows.

Subject + Verb(Phrase) + Question word  +  Subject +  Verb

It does not expect (answer) questions from the other party, so the end of the sentence is a period, not a question mark.

e.g :

Is she in the office ? → I(S) don't know(V) where(QW) she(S) is(V) .
When will they leave for London ?  → I(S) 'm not(V) sure when(QW) they(S) will leave(V) for London.
How much is this camera ? → I(S) don't know(V) how much(QW) this camera(S) is(V) .

When an indirect question constitutes part of a question

When an indirect question forms part of a question, the main clause follows the word order of ordinary questions, and the subordinate clause follows the word order of indirect questions.

Auxiliary(auxiliary verb)+  Subject  +  Verb  +  Question word  +  Subject  +  Verb

This is what you are asking the other person and put a question mark at the end of the sentence.

e.g :

How tall is he ? → Do(Aux) you(S) know(V) how tall(QW) he(S) is(V) ?
Where is the bus station ? → Can(Aux) you(S) tell(V) me where(QW) the bus station(S) is(V) ?
Why were they late ? → Do(Aux) you(S) know(V) why(QW) they(S) were late(V) ?

In indirect questions, there is no Auxiliary verb between QW (question) and S (subject). When the auxiliary verb is omitted, the main verb indicates the subject's tense.

e.g :

Who painted the wall ? → We don't know who painted the wall.
Which color suits you best ? →  I'm not sure which color suits me best.

In the case of questions that answer yes/no, such as Is ...? / Do ...? / Can ...?, you can use if or when (meaning "-").

e.g :

Is James at home ? →  Do you know if / whether James is at home ?
Have they gone away ? →  I don't know if / whether they've gone away.

Tag Questions

It is an expression to push the other person's mind and confirm it, and it becomes the following sequence.

Normal affirmative sentence / negative sentence +, (comma) + Tag question (additional question sentence)

The meaning is, "Is it ...?" "It is not ...?"

When the base sentence is a positive sentence, the comma is followed by a negative form (~), and when the base is a negative sentence, the comma is followed by a normal question form (not ~?).

e.g :

Mary won the prize, didn't she ?
Gloria speaks English very well, doesn't she ?
The door is open, isn't it ?
There will be his presentation at the next meeting, won't there ?
We are not going out this evening, are we ?
You won't work late, will you ?
Tom and Matt didn't go to school yesterday, did they ?

If "have" is used as the main verb, use "do, does, did" as an adjunct verb for the question that follows.

e.g :

We have enough food for a week, don't we ?
Mr, Millar has three children, doesn't he ?
Your mother had a terrible back pain last week, didn't she ?

If "have" is used as an auxiliary verb, it will be used as it is in the question after it.

e.g :

The Morgans have visited your house before, haven't they ?
Anna has already seen that movie, hasn't she ?

Exercise

Exercise1 (Indirect Questions)

Complete the following sentences, using the indirect question forms.

  1. Whose books are these ?
    → Example:Do you know [whose books these are] ?
  2. What time is it ?
    → Tell me [___________________] .
  3. Where does Sarah come from ?
    → Let's ask Sarah [___________________________________] .
  4. How far is it from his house to the station ?
    → Do you know [_________________] ?
  5. How long does it take to the station from here ?
    → How long do you think [______________________] ?
  6. Who wrote this essay ?
    → I wonder [_______________] .
  7. Why did you miss English class yesterday ?
    → Please explain [______________________________] .
  8. Did anybody see him ?
    → We don't know [_____________] .

Exercise1 Answer

Exercise2 (Tag Questions)

Finish the following sentences by using the correct tag question.

  1. Example:You can play the piano very well, [can't you] ?
  2. Sue will be home tomorrow, [_____________________] ?
  3. It snows a lot in the North, [_________________________] ?
  4. You haven't met my sister, [_____________________] ?
  5. You don't know the Asian food market, [___________________] ?
  6. We shouldn't be here, [____________________________] ?
  7. Kei is going to Hong Kong next week, [____________________] ?
  8. There were many collage students in the antiwar demonstration, [___________________________] ?

Exercise2 Answer


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