Special questions in English

Many people who study foreign languages face such difficulties as asking questions. English, although considered one of the easiest, however, offers of this type often present some difficulties. In order to understand what are the categories of interrogative sentences and how to compose them, let's look at the rules, because the sentences may vary depending on the time, but the type of question remains the same.

So, most often proposals of this type are divided into four groups: general, alternative, separative and special questions. Each of these types of questions requires a certain setting of the order of words, in each case it is necessary to use special words. Note that the English question words are rather poor in their variety, most often the native speakers play intonation and arrangement of the necessary structural elements to give this or that temporary coloring to such simple words.

The general group is characterized by the fact that the proposal requires an unambiguous answer - yes or no. They can be set with different times and modal verbs. So, for example, most often a verb such as do is used. According to the rules, it is placed before the subject. For example, Did she go to the library? "Did she go to the library?" This question requires an unambiguous answer - yes or no. About additional data is not asked, but only a fact is established.

The alternative group offers the respondent the right to choose in the answer. Usually the alternative is displayed in the question itself, it is attached by the word "or". The first part is given as the general part. For example, Are you from the Poland or Germany? - Are you from Poland or Germany? Here the respondent is asked to choose the answer option. Asking such types of offers is not at all difficult.

Much more will have to work on the separation type - the next group of questions. These English questions have a so-called "tail", which joins it at the very end. In sense this adjoining part is opposite to that which is asked. For example, This is her dress, is not it? "This is her dress, is not it?"

But most often in English there are special questions. They are aimed at establishing some peculiarities of what is happening. For example, when did you go to school? Where were you yesterday? Why did not you come to the party? In all these proposals it is impossible to give a one-syllable answer - yes or no. They demand that the respondent expand his story, specify some circumstances. These questions are asked with the words What, Who, Where, When, Why, How many (how many, for countable items), How much (as much, for uncountable Subjects). In order to properly ask special questions, you must follow the established procedure. The first place is always the interrogative word, then comes the auxiliary verb (or word), then the subject and the predicate. This rule is valid if we want to find out the circumstances of what is happening. For example, What did you do in England? "What did you do in England?" (It is necessary to tell in detail what the respondent was doing during his stay in England). However, special questions can be posed to the subject, then the order of words will be the same as Past Simple or Present, and do, does, did not be used. For example, What team won the last game? - Which team won the last game? Here attention is directed to the word "team" - the team, that is, it is necessary to say the name of the team. In this case, the questions are much easier to ask.

Special questions in English play an important role, because they are most often asked. When answering these questions, it is easy enough to give information. If the respondent answers briefly, then the answer is substituted for the question word. For example, What team won the last game? - Manchester United won the last game. As we see, the word order has not changed. In order to give more extensive information, you can lead the story in a narrative style, using different times.