Yes/No Questions for intermediate learners

auxiliary verbs be do have interrogatives modals negation

'Do you like English?' 'Are you making progress?' 'Have these lessons been helping you?' If you want to learn about how to make yes/no questions, read this.

intermediate advanced

"Yes/No Questions" in the English Grammar

What Are Yes/No Questions?

Yes/No questions are questions that can be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no'. They are used to seek confirmation or denial of a situation, fact, or opinion.

Yes/No Questions: Structure

Yes/No questions are formed using the following auxiliary verbs:

Yes/No Questions: Formation

To form a yes/no question, you need to use an auxiliary verb at the beginning of the sentence. In this lesson, we will learn them in the present simple form:

To Be

The present forms of to be verb are 'am', 'is', and 'are'. If they are used as the verb of the sentence, they should be used at the beginning of the sentence to form a yes/no question. Here are some examples:

You are here. → Are you here?

She is your mother. → Is she your mother?

Do

The verb 'do' is used as an auxiliary verb when we have a main verb in the sentence. Depending on the subject of the sentence, we use do or does to form the question. Here are some examples:

Do you like to order a pizza?

Does he know you?

Modal verbs are followed by the main verb which is the base form of the verb. Major modal verbs in English are:

If the verb of the sentence is a modal, then you should use it at the beginning of the sentence to form a yes/no question. Take a look at the examples:

Will you marry me?

Can I go out?

Answering a Yes/No Question

The answer to yes/no questions can be:

Short answer
Long answer

Short Answer

The short answer to yes/no questions can be negative or positive. Here are the structures:

Yes, + subject + auxiliary verb
No, +subject + auxiliary verb + not

Here are a few examples:

A : Are you There?

B : Yes, I am.

B : No. I am not.

A : Can she speak English?

B : Yes, she can.

B : No, she cannot.

Long Answer

The long answer to a yes/no question can be a negative answer or a positive answer. Here is the structure:

Positive: subject + verb (auxiliary or main verb) + etc.
Negative: subject + auxiliary + not + etc.

A : Are you going out tonight?

B : Yes, I am going to the movies with my friends.

Review

Yes/No questions are used to ask questions that their answers are 'yes' or 'no'. They are made of the following auxiliary verbs:

To be
Do/Does
Modal Verbs