Question forms

 

Question forms

Meaning and Use

In English, there are two basic types of question.

1. Yes/no questions often begin with the verb to be, but can also begin with other auxiliary verbs, such as do. We ask these when we want a yes or no answer.

Dave: Are you hungry?
Mike: Yes, I’m starving. 

Sarah: Did you get here on time?
Emily: No, I missed the bus!

2. Wh-questions start with a question word, such as who, what, where, when, why or how. We ask this type of question when we want different kinds of information. These questions cannot be answered with a yes or no.

Dave: Why are you so hungry?
Mike: I didn’t eat breakfast.

Sarah: When did you get here?
Emily: About half an hour ago.

Form

Yes/no questions that begin with the verb to be are made with to be + subject.

Are you playing football tomorrow?

Was the weather nice yesterday?

If we start with an auxiliary verb, the order is auxiliary + subject + main verb.

Can Jenny speak Chinese?
Did you go to the cinema on Saturday?

Wh-questions can be used to ask about the subject or object of the verb. Compare these questions:

Who loves Lucy?
Who does Lucy love?

For subject questions, the order is question word + verb + object.

Who wants ice cream for dessert?
Who broke the mirror in the dining room?
Who answered the phone?

The object question form is question word + auxiliary + subject + verb.

What did you do at the weekend?
Where does your brother work?
Who will you ask for help?

Take Note

Asking questions with ‘how’

The question word how is usually combined with other words when asking for information, such as size, someone’s age, or the price of something.

How big is your apartment?
How old are your children now?
How much is the black dress in the window?

Spoken English

In formal situations, it is common to respond to a yes/no question by repeating the auxiliary in a complete sentence.

Max: Can you use a computer?
Jill: Yes, I can.

In casual spoken English, we do not need to repeat the auxiliary. Answers do not always contain 'yes' or 'no'.

Peter: Do you know the way to the train station?
William: Not really.

Lucy: Shall we order sushi?
Sally: Absolutely!

Practice

rearrange the words to make 'yes/no' and wh-questions.

1. anywhere did you weekend interesting last go?

2. grow up did you where?

3. did for your car new much how pay you?

4. into your when you did move new house?

5. listening to what you are?

6. the game basketball who won?

7. I borrow can your phone?

8. you do watch want movie a tonight to?

Answers

1. Did you go anywhere interesting last weekend? 

[The order of yes/no questions is: auxiliary + subject + main verb.]

2. Where did you grow up? 

[The order of object Wh-questions is: question word + auxiliary + subject + verb.]

3. How much did you pay for your new car? 

[The order of object Wh-questions: question word + auxiliary + subject + verb.] 

4. When did you move into your new house? 

[The order of object Wh-questions is: question word + auxiliary + subject + verb.]

5. What are you listening to?  

[The order of object Wh-questions is: question word + auxiliary + subject + verb.]

6. Who won the basketball game?  

[The order of subject Wh-questions is: question word + verb + object.]

7. Can I borrow your phone?  

[The order of yes/no questions is: auxiliary + subject + main verb.]

8. Do you want to watch a movie tonight?  

[The order of yes/no questions is: auxiliary + subject + main verb.]

Joe Goes Fishing

Joe Goes Fishing

 Joe sat on his bed and looked at his birthday presents. They were great! Smart new trainers from his mum. A fishing rod from his dad. And best of all, his grandpa had given him a watch. A proper, grown-up watch with a black leather strap and a silver face.

‘You’re a young man now,’ his grandpa said, as Joe opened the box. ‘Twelve years old. Happy birthday!’

Joe said nothing. He just gazed at the watch. It was so beautiful. Lying there, in its dark blue velvet box, it looked like a moon.

‘Look after it, Joe,’ said his mother. ‘It was expensive.’

Joe nodded. ‘I will, Mum. I promise. Thank you, Grandpa.’

That was last night - Saturday. Now it was Sunday, and Joe was going fishing.

‘Are you wearing them to go fishing?’
Joe’s mum pointed at his new trainers. ‘It’s been raining all night, Joe. The river bank will be muddy. Wear your old boots.’

‘No, it’s my birthday weekend,’ said Joe. ‘I want to wear my new things. It will be okay. The rain has stopped now.’

He quickly pulled on his jacket and left the house. ‘Bye!’

Joe was going on his own. His family lived in a quiet village. The river was just two minutes away from the house. He would be quite safe.

Joe went down the lane and through a gate. He walked along a thin path to the riverbank. He knew a perfect place to fish. It was flat, like a little beach. He could stand really close to the water.

Soon he was there.

The beach was empty. The only thing there was a huge white swan. It was out of the water.

‘HSSS!’

The swan hissed at Joe. Its long neck came towards him like an angry snake. ‘HSSSSS!’

‘Shush!’ said Joe. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to fish.’

The swan stamped its feet angrily, and then walked into the water and sailed away.

Joe was glad to see it go. Swans could be dangerous. They were very strong and their beaks were sharp. He didn’t want to share the beach with one.

Joe began to fish. He hooked a worm onto the end of his fishing line and cast it out. It landed in the water, in exactly the right place. Joe grinned. What a wonderful fishing rod!

An hour went by. Joe ate his sandwiches. He whistled. He fished. He was happy. But the sky was getting dark. The clouds were thick and grey. Rain! It began to fall. It was hard and heavy.

‘Go away!’ said Joe. ‘It’s my birthday weekend. I want to fish!’

The rain didn’t go away. It rained even harder.

Another hour went by. The rain didn’t stop. Joe was wet through, but he wouldn’t go home. It was his special day, and he was going to stay.

He put a fresh worm on his fishing line and cast it out. But his hands were wet and the fishing rod was slippy. The rod flew out of his hands and landed with a splash in the river.

‘NO! My new rod!’

He had to get it. It wasn’t far away. He could easily reach it if he went to the water’s edge.

Joe ran forward. But the beach had turned muddy. Very muddy! His smart new trainers were ruined in an instant. Then one of them came off completely. It was stuck in the mud behind him.

No! Joe tried to turn around to pick it up but he lost his balance.

‘Whoa!’ He fell slap on his back in the mud - and his smart new watch flew off his wrist and landed in the river.

‘NO!’ Joe scrambled to his feet. ‘My watch! MY WATCH!’

He stared down into the water but he couldn’t see it. And then he saw his fishing rod had gone! The river had carried it away.

Joe couldn’t believe his bad luck. His watch was gone. His fishing rod was gone. His trainers were brown with mud.

‘This could not be any worse!’ he wailed.

Then he saw the swan.

It was coming back, still angry. Joe moved to safety, still holding his trainer in his hand.

The swan began to feed. It dipped its head under the water and pulled at the weed. Its head came out again.

Then it saw something in the water. Something shiny. Something silver. A fish?

The swan dipped its head under the water, grabbed the silver thing in its beak and brought it out of the water.

Huh? It wasn’t a fish! The swan threw it away angrily.

And Joe saw his beautiful watch land safely on the riverbank. He ran to it and picked it up. It was still working. YES! Joe did a happy dance, right there on the beach.

‘Hey buddy! Have you lost this?

On the river, there was a man in a canoe - and he was holding Joe’s fishing rod!

‘I found it five minutes ago,’ said the man. ‘I’m guessing it’s yours?’ He pulled in to the riverbank and handed it to Joe. ‘It’s a beautiful rod.’

‘It’s new,’ said Joe. ‘Thank you so much. I thought it was gone for good.’

The man smiled and paddled away.

‘Time to go home,’ said Joe. ‘I am worn out. What a birthday this has been!’

The book I like the most

 

මම බොහෝ කැමති පොත

මම පොත් ගණනාවක් කියවා තිබුන ද එම පොත් අතරින් මම බොහෝ කැමති පොත වන්නේ මඩෝල් දූව ය. එය ලියා ඇත්තේ ප්‍රසිද්ධ නවකතා කරුවෙක් වන මාටින් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතායි. මෙම කතාව ළමා නවකතාවකි. එහි ප්‍රධාන චරිත වන්නේ උපාලි සහ ජින්නා ය. ඔවුන් තම කොළු නඩය සමඟ බොහෝ තක්කඩි වැඩ සිදු කළ කොල්ලන් දෙදෙනෙකි. පසුව ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා මඩොල් දූව නම් දූපතක ගොවියන් ලෙස යහපත් ජීවිත ගත කරයි.

 

The book I like the most

Although I have read many books, the one I like the most is Madol Doova. It was written by the famous novelist Martin Wickremasinghe. This story is a children's novel. Its main characters are Upali and Jinna. They are two boys who have done a lot of rogue work with their gang. Later, they live a good life as farmers on an island called Madol Doova.

The place where I live

 

මම ජීවත්වන ස්ථානය

මම ජීවත්වන්නේ රත්මල්යාය නම් වූ සුන්දර ගමකය. එය පිහිටා ඇත්තේ කුරුණෑගල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ය. වැව, කුඹුරු යාය, පන්සල, ගම මැදින් ගලා බසින දිය පාර, පොල් වතු මගේ ගමේ ඇති සුන්දර ස්ථානයි. ගම් වැසියන් බොහොමයක් ගොවිතැන ජීවනෝපාය කරගෙන සිටී. මගේ ගම දෙව්ලොවක් වැනිය. 

 

The place where I live

I live in a beautiful village called Ratmalayaya. It is located in the Kurunegala District. The lake, the paddy field, the temple, the stream that flows through the village, the coconut groves are all beautiful places in my village. Most of the villagers make a living from farming. My village is like heaven.

How I spend my free time

 

මම විවේක කාලය ගත කරන ආකාරය

පුද්ගලයෙක්ට තමන්ගේ විවේක කාලය ගත කිරීමට බොහෝ ආකාර තිබේ. මම මගේ විවේක කාලයේ දී පොත් කියවමි. එයට මම ළමා වියේ සිටම කැමැත්තක් දක්වමි. මම මගේ විවේක කාලය අතර තුර කතන්දර පොත්, නවකතා, කෙටි කතා සහ කවි කියවමි. ඒ තුළින් මට සතුටක් මෙන්ම බොහෝ දැනුම ලැබේ. පොතක් යනු මට අළුත්ම අත්දැකීමකි.

 

How I spend my free time

There are many ways for a person to spend their leisure time. I read books in my spare time. I have loved it since childhood. I read story books, novels, short stories and poems during my free time. It gives me pleasure as well as a lot of knowledge. A book is a new experience for me.

An unforgettable day in my life

 

මගේ ජීවිතයේ අමතක නොවන දිනයක්

මා බොහෝ දින ගතකර ඇතත් ඒ අතරින් අමතක නොවන දින ඇත්තේ අතලොස්සකි. එලෙස මගේ ජීවිතයේ එක් අමතක නොවන දිනයක් වන්නේ මගේ පසුගිය උපන්දිනය යි. නමුත් එය මගේ මතකයේ තිබුනේ නැත. මගේ මව සහ පියා මගේ ඇඳ ළගට පැමිණ, මා හට සුබ පතා තෑගි දෙන විට මට එදින මගේ උපන්දිනය බව මතක් විය. එය මට අමතක නොවන දිනයක් වූයේ මගේ මව සහ පියා යන දෙදෙනා ම මගේ උපන් දිනයක දී නිවසේ රැඳී සිටි එකම දිනය එදින වූ බැවිනි.

 

An unforgettable day in my life

I have spent many days but there are only a handful of days that I will never forget. So, one of the most memorable days of my life was my last birthday. But it was not in my memory. I was reminded that it was my birthday that day when my mom and dad came to my bed and gave me congratulatory gifts. It was an unforgettable day for me as it was the only day my mom and dad stayed home on my birthday.

A beautiful place I visited

 

මා නරඹා ඇති සුන්දර ස්ථානයක්

මා බොහෝ සුන්දර ස්ථාන නරඹා තිබේ. එම ස්ථාන අතරින් සීගිරිය ඉතාමත් සුන්දර ස්ථානයකි. එය පර්වත බලකොටුවකි. එය ඉදිකරන ලද්දේ කාශ්‍යප රජු විසිනි. සිංහ ද්වාරය, කැටපත් පවුර, ලෝක ප්‍රසිද්ධ සීගිරි බිතු සිතුවම්, ජල උද්‍යානය යනාදිය එහි ඇති සිත් ඇද ගන්නා ස්ථානයි. බොහෝ දේශීය හා විදේශීය සංචාරයින් මෙය ඔවුන්ගේ සංචාරක ගමනාන්තයන්ගෙන් එකක් කරගෙන තිබේ.

A beautiful place I visited

I have visited many beautiful places. Sigiriya is one of the most beautiful places. It is a rock fortress. It was built by King Kasyapa. The Lion Gate, the Mirror Wall, the world famous Sigiri frescoes and the Water Garden are some of the attractions of the place. Many local and foreign tourists have made this one of their tourist destinations.

A helpful person in my life

 

මගේ ජීවිතයේ උපකාර සහිත පුද්ගලයෙක්

මගේ ජීවිතයේ උපකාර සහිත පුදගලයින් රැසක් සිටී. ඔවුන් අතරින්  මගේ මව කැපී පෙනේ. අප මෙලොවට බිහිවූ දින සිටම මව බොහෝ කැප කිරීම් සිදු කර ඇත. ඇය මට අවවාද දීම පමණක් නොව මට නිවැරදි මාර්ගය ද පෙන්වා තිබේ. මගේ ජීවිතයේ මා පිටුපසින්ම සිටින්නේ මගේ මවයි. මගේ මව මේ ලෝකයේ සිටින හොඳම මව බව මට ආඩම්බරයෙන් කිව හැකිය.

 

A helpful person in my life

I have a lot of helpful people in my life. My mother stands out among them. Mother has made many sacrifices since the day we were born. She not only advised me but also showed me the right way. My mother is behind me in my life. I can proudly say that my mother is the best mother in this world.

Learning English Grammar

 

 

The Importance of English Grammar:

Imagine trying to build a house with wood but no nails, screws or glue.

How would the structure hold together?

It wouldn’t. It would fall to pieces.

That’s what it’s like to speak in English without proper grammar.

Each sentence is just a jumbled pile of words!

English grammar is one of the most important elements of your language study. Unfortunately, it can also be one of the most complex and difficult.

Download a grammar book that help you to learn. Click here to download

 

The importance of reading

 

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

The above is a famous quote by Dr Suess. And it’s 100% accurate.

The word “read” means:  understand the meaning of written or printed words or symbols (Oxford South African Dictionary).

I often find when meeting with parents, especially of children aged 9/10, and express my concern about their child’s reading ability and comprehension, I am greeted with “but they’re so young, give them a chance.”  When a teacher shows concern in this area, it is with due cause, as Reading is fundamental in helping us find and convey information and a necessary skill that is developed at a very young age.

In which areas of our lives is reading important?

• It helps you to discover new things by enabling you to educate yourself in any area of life you are interested in and to do your own research and thinking.
• It helps develop the mind and imagination and the creative side of a person.
• It helps to improve (vocabulary and spelling) communication both written and spoken.
• It plays an important part in building a good self-image.
• It is a function that is necessary in today’s society.

In order to accomplish success one needs to have good reading and comprehension skills. Without these skills children will struggle to grow academically as reading is the foundation to all academic subjects such as History, Mathematics and Science and also influences the child’s ability to write.

Problems with reading are often identified or become a real issue in Grade 4. Why? It is at this stage of their academic lives that children become responsible for the material they read. They are required to find information through reading more independently.  An example would be reading a source document with comprehension in History. The CAPS syllabus requires the child to read a source document and then answer related questions using knowledge gained from studying. They are sometimes required to write a comparison between two sources. This starts at Grade 4 level.  If the child is unable to read effectively this is often the time they struggle and reading becomes a problem. This needs to be addressed immediately – refer to my article “Does your child hate school? It could be a learning disability.” Dated: April 15, 2015 to determine why your child is struggling to read and what plan of action needs to be taken.

So, what is the difference between a “passive” unskilled reader and an “active” skilled reader? A skilled reader interacts with the text.  How?

Some ideas, as set out by the Miami University, of how skilled readers read:

• Predict what will happen next in a story using clues presented in text.
• Create questions about the main idea, message, or plot of the text.Monitor understanding of the sequence, context, or characters.
• Clarify parts of the text which have confused them.
• Connect the events in the text to prior knowledge or experience.

Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension is the ability to understand a written passage of text. Basically:  “Did you understand what you have read?” It is the bridge between the passive reader and active reader. It is the crucial link to effective reading which is essential for a rich academic, professional and personal life.

Reading fluency is a very important part of reading comprehension as readers who spend their time decoding words tend to lose the understanding of what is being read. If your child is still decoding at Grade 3 level it is vital to return to the basic mental tools that create a solid cognitive foundation in order to establish successful reading comprehension. These cognitive skills include attention, auditory analysis, sound blending, memory, processing speed and visual perception.

A lack of strong reading comprehension skills definitely affects a child’s success at school as academic progress depends on understanding, analysing and applying information gathered through reading.

Strategies to Aid Reading Comprehension Skills

• Reading with a purpose
• Learning vocabulary
• Retelling what has been read
• Asking and answering questions
• Summarising the important facts

Reading is important because words are the building blocks of life. Reading is a non-negotiable in life.

What strategies do you use to get your child to read? Post your comments, suggestions and questions below.