Yes/No Questions for intermediate learners
'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.
What Are Yes/No Questions?
Yes/No questions are questions that we can answer using 'yes' or 'no'.
Structure
Yes/No questions are made of the following auxiliary verbs:
How to Make Yes/No Questions
To make a yes/no question, all you have to do is 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
To be verbs in the present form are 'am', 'is', and 'are'. If you see them as the verb of the sentence, you should use them at the beginning to make a yes/no question. Here are examples:
You are here. →
She is your mother. →
Do
The verb 'do' is used as an auxiliary verb when we have a main verb in the sentence. So, we use do or does based on the subject of the sentence. Here are examples:
Modal Verbs
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 make a yes/no question. Here are examples:
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:
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.
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
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