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Essential
ENGLISH
GRAMMAR Word order in questions in English |
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How to build correctly ordered questions in EnglishWORD ORDER in QUESTIONS
1. Word order in English questions:This really is so simple.... Almost all questions use the same structure.All you need to do is to remember this simple and common English phrase:
How
do you do?
The structure of almost
every simple question in English is based on
this same model: (Question word if there is one) - Auxiliary or modal - subject - main verb - (plus the rest of the sentence): Important:
take care !
In the interrogative, as in the negative, English verbs are ALWAYS made up of at least two elements, an auxiliary and the root verb. In the interrogative there is only one exception to this rule, and that is certain tenses of the verb to be. For all other verbs - including to have - tenses that are formed with a single verb in an affirmative statement (i.e. the present simple and the simple past) are formed in the interrogative by the addition of the auxiliary do. Examples Where did Jane Austen live? Did Arnold Schwarzenegger learn English quickly? How quickly did Arnold Schwarzenegger learn English ? Has the bank sent us an invoice yet? How many books have you read this year ? Is the new secretary being given her own laptop ? Can the new secretary be given her own laptop ? How quickly can the new secretary be given her own laptop ? Is the new secretary nice ? Comparison between statements and questions with single-word tenses : He had a good time. > Did he have a good time? NOT Had he a good time? He lives in new York. > Does he live in new York? NOT Lives he in New York? Exceptions: Certain adverbs, notably short adverbs of frequency or time, can and indeed sometimes must be placed between the auxiliary and the root verb, as in statements. In questions, these adverbs are placed between the subject and the root verb. Has that French company yet sent us their order ? Can the new secretary soon be given a bigger desk ? What sort of hats do the ladies usually wear? ► Return to Word order in English statements: Going further: other issues of
word order.
Specific word order issues are also considered on other pages:
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Cette page en
français: ►
L'ordre des mots dans les questions en anglais  |
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