The document discusses how to form yes/no and wh- questions in English. It explains that yes/no questions are formed by moving the first verb in the verb phrase to the front of the subject. For single verb phrases, an auxiliary "do" verb is added. Wh- questions are formed by first making the sentence into a yes/no question and then replacing the questioned part with a wh- word like who, what, when, where etc. Examples are provided to demonstrate question formation with various sentence structures like coordination and subordination. The key steps of identifying the verb phrase, moving/adding verbs, and replacing parts with wh- words are outlined.

1. Forming Questions
E. Siler

2. 2 Types of Questions
• Yes/No
• Wh (Information)

3. Points to Understand
• Questions are formed from clauses.
• In most cases, English questions require a verb
phrase that has at least two verbs in it.
• English yes/no questions form the foundation
of many WH-questions.
• Thus it is important to start by learning to
make yes/no questions.

4. Yes/No Questions
• The basic rule is very simple:
A. Evaluate the main verb phrase of the clause
you are going to turn into a question.
B. Determine how many verbs are in the verb
phrase.
C. Move the first verb to the left of the subject.

5. Simple Practice
• That newscaster is explaining the news. A lot
of interesting things have been happening
lately! There have been a lot of unusual
weather events.

6. Find the Verb Phrases
• That newscaster is explaining the news. A lot
of interesting things have been happening
lately! There have been a lot of unusual
weather events.

7. Count the Verbs
• That newscaster is explaining (2) the news. A
lot of interesting things have been happening
(3) lately! There have been(2) a lot of
unusual weather events.

8. Move the Verbs
• That newscaster is explaining the news. A lot
of interesting things have been happening
lately! There have been a lot of unusual
weather events.
• Is that newscaster explaining the news?
• Have a lot of interesting things been
happening lately?
• Have there been a lot of unusual weather
events?

9. Harder Yes/No Questions
• Not all verb phrases have two or more verbs
in them.
• Some have only one verb in the verb phrase:
those that form the simple present or the
simple past tense.
• In that case, you have to CREATE a second
verb using the auxiliary form of the verb “do.”

10. Creating a Second Verb
•
Start with a clause with a single-verb verb phrase.
•
•
Determine the tense and the number of the verb (if it is in
the present tense).
•
•
That dog does likes bones.
Turn the main verb (the one on the right) into the simple
form.
•
•
That dog likes (1) bones. (present/3rd person singular).
Add a form of “do” that is the same tense and number in
front of the verb.
•
•
That dog likes (1) bones.
That dog does like bones.
Move the first verb in front of the subject.
•
Does that dog like bones?

11. More Practice
Remember to consider tense!
The dog chewed the bone (1 verb, past tense).
The dog did chew the bone.
Did the dog chew the bone?

12. Exception to this Rule
• Sometimes the verb phrase is a single verb
that is a form of “be.”
• That is a Golden Retriever.
• In this case, you don’t have to make a second
verb.
• Just put the verb in front of the subject.
• Is that a Golden Retriever?

13. Yes/No Questions and
Subordination
• One problem students have is with the
sentences that have multiple clauses.
• He knew that his dog was having puppies.
• When we make yes/no questions, we use the
verb phrase of the main clause in the
sentence (the biggest clause).
• The others do not change.
• Did he know that his dog was having puppies?

14. More on Subordination
Sometimes an adverbial clause comes before
the subject. You may have to move it to
make a good yes/no question.
Whenever he slept, he snored.
Did he snore whenever he slept?

15. Yes/No Questions and
Coordination
Yes/No Questions can be hard to form when a
sentence is coordinated.
• The dog drank the water and chewed the
bone.
• The dog drank the water and the cat chewed
the bone.
• The dog drank the water and was making
weird noises.

16. Case #1
The dog drank the water and chewed the bone.
•When the subject of the coordinated verbs
(drank/chewed) is the same (the dog), make one
question but turn both verbs into simple form.
•Did the dog drink the water and chew the
bone?

17. Case #2
The dog drank the water and the cat chewed
the bone.
•When the coordinated clauses involve different
subjects, make two different questions.
•Did the dog drink the water? Did the cat chew
the bone?

18. Case #3
The dog drank the water and was making
weird noises.
• In this case the coordinated verb phrases are
different. One has one verb; the other has
two. Make two different questions.
• Did the dog drink the water? Was the dog
making weird noises?

19. Making WH Questions
• Find the part of the original sentence that you
want to question.
• If the part you want to question is the subject
of the verb phrase in the original sentence, do
NOT make a yes-no question.
• Remove the subject. It will become the
answer to your question.

20. Example
• The flashmobcaused a huge traffic jam. >
• What caused a huge traffic jam? The
flashmob.
• The rock star came onto the stage. >
• Who came onto the stage? The rock star.
• Pullman Washington is her hometown. >
• Where is her hometown? Pullman, WA.

21. The Two Step WH-Question
• However, if you want to question some other
part of the original clause, you must first make
the proper yes-no question (slides 1-18) and
THEN select the proper WH-Word. Remove
the part you are questioning from the
sentence!

22. Examples
• The flashmob caused a huge traffic jam. >
• Did the flashmob cause a huge traffic jam? >
• What did the flashmob cause? A huge traffic
jam.
• He went to the gym.>
• Did he go to the gym? >
• Where did he go? To the gym.