Hello, I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!
Asking questions and giving answers are the basics of great conversation,
in English and in any language!
But, are you doing it correctly in English?
Many of my students can get by, they can get their message across
even without the correct structure word order or intonation
But, it makes for a very bumpy awkward conversation!
In this lesson, I want to help you improve the structure of your questions,
so that they flow smoothly, clearly, and automatically!
And finally you can start enjoying English conversation!
It's important to spend some time improving your Q&A skills!
Have you heard that before? Q&A
It stands for question and answers.
You might have heard it somewhere before, Q&A.
First up, let's review question structure in English.
Now, the good news is that English questions are fairly consistent
and easy to follow because they have a clear structure.
There are four main parts that you need to keep in mind.
The first part: question words.
Then number two is your auxiliary verb
or your helping verb: be, do or have.
It can also be a modal auxiliary verb like can or will or should.
Thirdly, you need your subject.
These are the four things that you need
and you need them in that order, every time!
Okay let's try with some examples, ready?
How long have you been living there?
Okay, so what about this type of question?
In this question we don't have a
question word but we do have all of the other parts of the English question structure.
We don't have the question word but we do have the auxiliary verb (do),
the subject (you) and the main verb (live).
It's as simple as that, every time!
This type of question is perfectly acceptable too.
You don't need to have a question word.
There are two types of questions in English,
closed questions, the questions which start with an auxiliary verb
questions which start with a question word or a question phrase.
Keep that in mind for a few minutes.
Questions that start with an auxiliary verb or a helping verb
are closed questions because they require just a simple answer,
The detail is not really important.
Another good tip here is the connection between the question and the answer.
See how the answer directly responds to the information in the question.
There are lots of patterns in English questions,
so if you start paying attention to the detail, you'll really be able to improve your grammar.
Questions that start with a question word are open questions and they're
questions that require more information in the answer.
Not just 'Have you been to Italy?'
I went to study and learn Italian!
A good rule of thumb is that closed questions are great for confirming information about people.
Once you confirm the answer then
you can use open questions to learn more about them,
their experiences, their opinions,
How long does it take to drive there?
What's the best restaurant to try?
What's the weather like at this time of year?
What's the best thing about living there?
Again, let me show you that the question
structure always stays the same,
So, the most obvious difference between
open and closed questions is the question word.
But there is another noticeable difference and that's intonation.
Intonation is the way that your voice rises
The intonation of your question depends on the type of question that it is.
For closed questions, so questions with auxiliary verbs,
your intonation goes up at the end.
Open questions that require more information in the answers
usually go down in intonation.
An important thing to think about all the time,
but especially when you're trying to use questions correctly,
is making sure that your subject
and your auxiliary verb match.
When you're using an auxiliary verb in English questions,
your main verb stays in the infinitive form
and your auxiliary verb needs to change,
depending on the subject and also the tense.
The auxiliary verb matches the subject.
If our subject changes to 'he'
then we need to change our auxiliary verb to match it.
Where were they living before?
So, the relationship between the auxiliary verb and the subject
is one that you need to pay close attention to
in real conversation things get loose,
fast, and sometimes grammatically incorrect.
Most native English speakers can be a bit cheeky
and a bit lazy at times, especially when they're speaking!
So, you need to listen for key pieces of information
plus intonation and try to just go with the flow.
One very common example of this is with closed questions,
ones that start with an auxiliary verb,
So, the question 'Do you want to get something to eat?'
can become 'Want to get something to eat?
The intonation is important here so that you know that it's a question.
The intonation goes up because it's a closed question.
Okay, well be sure to download my cheat sheet and audio guide to help
you practice using questions correctly.
So, there was a lot to take in that lesson
and I'll definitely link to some other video lessons that I've made
that will help you practice auxiliary verbs,
subject verb agreement and question intonation.
Right here, here and maybe I'll put one here too!
Be sure to subscribe to my channel by clicking the red button,
And I release new lessons and worksheets every week.