Would you please explain it? You couldn’t help him in the garden, could you? Questions in the future will usually use inversion, where we place the first verb before the subject, for the ‘will’ and ‘going to’ forms. What are you going to drink? James is working on that, isn't he? They are put at the end of the sentence. In the second question, the question word is the subject. When the question word is the subject there is no auxiliary verb and the verb agrees with the subject. When using the present tense for future meaning questions can be formed like with the present tense. They follow a different form to regular questions, because the question word replaces the subject. (I hate spam and guarantee your privacy - and you can unsubscribe at any time.). -> Had it been sitting there for hours? Questions in English are usually formed by either inverting the verb and subject, or by adding an auxiliary verb before the subject (and putting the main verb in bare infinitive form). Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Hi! Their form is actually simpler than regular questions, as you just have to replace the subject with a question word and add a question mark. Is it necessary to use the question form in these kind of sentences in an informal conversation too? Hi Fateme, if you’ve heard the question phrased like that then it is colloquial, not sticking to proper grammar – it should have an auxiliary, “How do you love to hate me?” (More accurately would probably be ‘Why do…’, or if we’re asking for an amount/degree, ‘How much do…’; it might also be ‘How is it that you love…’) Your parents have retired, … However, question words can replace either an object or a subject in sentences – and when this happens, questions may be formed without … Click a cover to learn more! They were in Paris last week, weren’t they? If the sentence is negative, the question tag must be positive. Question tags without auxiliary verb In case, the main part of the sentence doesn’t contain an auxiliary verb, the question tag is constructed with the relevant form of ‘do’. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Advanced Writing Skills for Students of English, The English Tenses Practical Grammar Guide. What time does the train arrive? This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. This form is normally followed whether we use question words or not. Use the same auxiliary, modal verb or do, does or did to reply: Your holidays were really relaxing, weren’t they? I don't need to finish this today, do I? I am stuck on which one is correct and why. In spoken English, depending on regional and cultural variations, the auxiliaries are often dropped in this way, but we can trace back to what the sentence would look like with complete grammar. Hello! Question tags are used in spoken English, but not in written English. Subject questions are used to ask who or what was engaged in the main verb. When we are making question tags without the verb “to be”, we usually use the auxiliary verb “do” to ask for confirmation. If there isn’t an auxiliary or modal verb, use do, does or did. Sometimes question isn’t a subject question but still we don’t have auxiliary for example: PAGE GRAMMAR-GUIDE ( the verb to do as an auxiliary and a main verb, do as a phrasal verb with meanings and examples and collocations with do) Level: intermediate Age: 12-17 He completed his homework. Hi Fahad, “What country does he belong to?” is correct because we add “do/does” before a bare infinitive (belong) to form a present simple question. We don’t need to add an auxiliary as they already have auxiliaries (will / to be). This form is normally followed whether we use question words or not. Which country he belongs to? How you love to hate me? This is rather brief, but I hope it helps! Question Tags with the Auxiliary Verb “Do” – Affirmative. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. It had been sitting there for hours. Learn how your comment data is processed. She visited her aunt last week, didn’t she? If there is an auxiliary verb in the statement, we use it to form the question tag. Question tags are short questions at the end of statements. Question Tags in the present simple Exercise 1, Question Tags Exercise 2 - present simple, past simple, present perfect simple, Question Tags Exercise 3 - present simple, past simple, present perfect simple, Question Tags Exercise 4 - present simple, past simple, Question Tags Exercise 5 - present simple, past simple, simple future, Question Tags Exercise 6 - present simple, past simple, simple future, Question Tags - grammar test - present simple, CONTACT / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy / SITEMAP, © Copyright 2020 Herwig Rothländer - All Rights Reserved. If the sentence is negative, the question tag will be affirmative. I send out at least two emails a month sharing new articles and curating existing lessons, and if you sign up now you'll get a set of grammar worksheets, too. Generally if we do not know the subject, and we ask a question with who or what, then the verb should be conjugated in the third person form. Join our Patreon team to keep ELB producing new and better content, and you’ll receive exclusive benefits. When the question word is the subject there is no auxiliary verb … Can we use ‘Which country does he belong to?’, Hi Jaleel, yes, but it would be more natural to ask “Where is he from?” or “What nationality is he?”. The car is parked outside. -> Did he complete his homework? We really enjoyed them. She is swimming in the sea. What country he belongs to? To make a question tag, use the first auxiliary (forms of to be, have) or modal verb (must, can, will). Formation. When we are asking a yes/no question, or looking for information about an object (i.e. The first question is a normal question and uses the form which we almost always use for a question: question word + auxiliary + subject + verb. I am going to drink tea. If we are sure or almost sure that the listener will confirm that our statement is correct, we say the question tag with a falling intonation. I like your site but please,can you explain questions in the future?