Questions with can

Use can every time regardless the subject.

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Short answer
Can	you	speak	English?	Yes,	I	can.
Can	you	climb	a tree?	No, No,	I I	can't. cannot.
Can	he	play	rugby?	Yes,	he	can.
Can	Mandy	read	poems?	Yes,	she	can.
Can	they	sing	nice songs?	No, No,	they they	can't. cannot.

In WH-questions (questions with question words) can goes after the question word.

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
What	can	they	ride?		They can ride skateboards.
Where	can	Frank	play	the trumpet?	Frank can play the trumpet in his room.
When	can	she	see	her friends?	She can see her friends after school.

Questions with have and have got

1. Yes/No Questions and short answers

1.1. have as a main verb

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Do	you	have	a cat?	Yes,	I	do.
Do	you	have	a new car?	No,	we	don't.
Does	your brother	have	a bike?	Yes,	he	does.

1.2. have as auxiliary (have got)

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Have	you	got	a cat?	Yes,	I	have.
Have	you	got	a new car?	No,	we	haven't.
Has	your brother	got	a bike?	Yes,	he	has.

2. Questions with question words (Wh-questions)

2.1. have as a main verb

Questions word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
Where	do	you	have	your ruler?	I have it in my pencil case.

2.2. have as auxiliary (have got)

Questions word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
Where	have	you	got	your ruler?	I've got it in my pencil case.

NOTE:

• In American English we only use have. In this case have is a main verb. So we need the auxiliary do for questions and short answers.
• In British English we usually use have got. In this case have is an auxiliary.

Questions with did

Questions in the Simple Past, Questions with did

1. Questions without question words in Simple Past

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Did	Max	play	football?	Yes, No,	he he	did. didn't.
Did	you	watch	the film yesterday?	Yes, No,	I I	did. didn't.

BUT:

to be	Subject	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Were	you	in Leipzig last week?	Yes, No,	I I	was. wasn't.

2. Questions with question words in Simple Past

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
What	did	you	play	yesterday evening?	I played computer games.
When	did	she	meet	her boyfriend?	She met him yesterday.
Where	did	they	go	after the match?	They went to a café.

BUT:

Question word	to be	Subject	Rest	Answer
Where	were	you	yesterday?	I was at the cinema.

Questions with do, does

Questions in the Simple Present, Questions with do, does

1. Questions without question words in Simple Present

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Do	you	read	books?	Yes, No,	I I	do. don't.
Does	Peter	play	football?	Yes, No,	he he	does. doesn't.

2. Questions with question words in Simple Present

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
What	do	you	play	on your computer?	I play games on my computer.
When	does	your mother	go	to work?	She goes to work at 6 o'clock.
Where	do	you	meet	your friends?	I meet them at the bus stop.

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Questions with who and what

Questions with who and what – Subject – Object

1. Subject questions

Question word	Verb	Rest	Subject	Verb	Rest
Who	runs	to the shop?	Peter	runs	to the shop.
What	happened	yesterday?	A tragedy	happened	yesterday.

2. Object questions

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
Who	do	you	like?		I like my mum.
Who	did	Mandy	phone	last Monday?	Mandy phoned her uncle.
What	does	he	read?		He reads detective stories.

Mind the difference in meaning in the following two questions:

Subject question	Object question
Who phoned John?	Who did John phone?

Question words

Question words in English

Question words with examples

Nearly all question words in English start with the same two letters – WH. That's why questions with question words are also called WH-questions.

Question word	Example
where	Where do you live?
who	Who are you?*
	Who did you phone?**
when	When do you get up?
what	What is this?*
	What are you doing?**
why	Why do you smoke?
whose	Whose book is this?
which	Which bus do you take to school?
how	How old are you?

* This is a subject question.

** This is an object question.

Short answers

Short answers in English

Why do use short answers?

We do not use only Yes or No to answer a question. This is not polite. We use short answers. Here are some examples:

Yes/No question				Short answer
Is	he		from London?	Yes, No,	he he	is. isn't. *
Are	the boys		at your school?	Yes, No,	they they	are. aren't. *
Can	you	play	ice-hockey?	Yes, No,	I I	can. can't. *
Have	we	got	ketchup?	Yes, No,	we we	have. haven't. *
Has	she	got	a cell phone?	Yes, No,	she she	has. hasn't. *
Do	they	live	in a flat?	Yes, No,	they they	do. don't. *
Does	he	work	in an office?	Yes, No,	he he	does. doesn't. *
Did	it	rain	yesterday?	Yes, No,	it it	did. didn't. *
Are	they	writing	a test now?	Yes, No,	they they	are. aren't. *
Have	you	been	to Scotland?	Yes, No,	I I	have. haven't. *
Has	she	been waiting	for long?	Yes, No,,	she she	has. hasn't. *
Is	he	going to see	his sister?	Yes, No,	he he	is. isn't. *
Will	we	arrive	on time?	Yes, No,	we we	will. won't. *

* Use long forms instead of contracted forms to emphasize your answer.

Do you like fish? – No, I do not.