ability to ask questions in a foreign language - is the most important communication skills, because dialogue is impossible without question.Therefore, English language learners need to learn how to properly set them.The main difference from the Russian language - is a specific order of the words in question and the presence of an auxiliary verb, while in the Russian language, in most cases enough to create a problem to use the proper intonation.
First of all, you should understand the existing types.Questions in English language can be divided into 4 groups: general, alternative, special and dividing.There is another, very unusual type - indirect question that the traditional classification is not included.
General questions in the English language - are the ones that require a short answer, yes or no.It is necessary to take into account the specificity of the answer to a common question - always with an auxiliary verb, the simple answer Yes or No ear of a native speaker sounds harsh, even rude.A common question is based on the following scheme:
auxiliary verb - subject - verb meaning
Did he leave the party early yesterday?
It is necessary to take into account what the auxiliary verb corresponding to your time.Having learned the word order peculiar to the general question, you will not have difficulty in formulating other questions in English.Alternative
questions resemble common.Questions of this type offer a choice, such as in the Russian "Do you prefer coffee or tea?".Strictly speaking the difference between the total and an alternative is to answer the question:
General Do you eat fish?
Possible answers Yes, I do / No, I do not.
Alternative Do you like fish or meat?
possible answer I like fish.
- Special questions in the English language - are questions aimed at getting information.In other humanities are called open, as opposed to closed, which involve only "Yes" or "No".Such questions in English let you know the following information:
- Someone Who
- Where Where
- When When
- What What
- People Who (m)
- Why Why
- Which Which
- How How
- How How much / many
Structurally specific issues like general, however, before the auxiliary verb must use the appropriate interrogative word.
Question word - the auxiliary verb - subject - verb meaning
How does he normally get to work?
We should also clarify how the questions are constructed in the English language, which ask for information about the subject-subject.For example, Jack broke the vase .If we want to know exactly who broke the vase Who broke the vase? - the auxiliary verb should be deleted.
Separation issues are two-part, in Russian this type would have sounded so "Have you seen this movie, is not it?" structure of this question in the English language is very simple: the first part - it is affirmative or negative sentence, while the "tail" depends on the time and mode of the first part: You do not know this topic, do you? - denial in the first part and the second positive. You have met him before, have not you? - approval in the first part and the second denial.It is important to note that the response should be to respond to the main part, that is the proposal They have missed the plane, have they ?, if you want to accept the correct answer will Yes, they have , in the case of denial - use No, they have not .
Indirect questions are also two-part, in Russian this question would have sounded like "You did not tell me how to get to the library?".One part of this question is the phrase of courtesy, the second part carries meaning.The specifics of it is that the second part does not require any changes to the order of words, that is, use the direct word order, as in the statement, and, therefore, no need for an auxiliary verb.This is due to the fact that the load question, as such, is contained in the first part.
And finally, in order to make it easier to deal with the form of questions, you can first submit a response, then it is clear what type of issue and to use the best, and most importantly, knowing the response form, it is easier to formulate the question itself.
