1 The interrogative: inversion questions, question word questions and subject
questions
G p. 31 How to ask for information – asking questions
G p. 11. Question words: Interrogative pronouns and adverbs
To form a question, we generally use an auxiliary (hulpwerkwoord) + a main verb (hoofdwerkwoord).
If there is no auxiliary in the affirmative (positive) sentence (e.g. with simple tenses), we use the
auxiliary verb ‘to do’. Exception: The verb ‘to be’ never takes ‘to do’ as an auxiliary, nor do modal
auxiliaries (can, must, etc.), nor do subject questions. As in continuous tenses ‘to be’ is the auxiliary,
the interrogative therefore never takes ‘to do’ as an auxiliary.
1. Inversion questions (= Yes/No questions)
These questions invert (change the order of) the subject (S) and the (auxiliary, A) verb to form a
yes/no question. Note: The acronym ‘ASM’ (aux – subject – main verb) can help you memorise this
order.
e.g.
present simple: Do / you / eat / in the morning? (Short answer: Yes, I do. / No, I don't.)
DO / DOES + SUBJECT + INFINITIVE OF MAIN VERB + rest of the sentence ?
= A S M
past simple: Did / you / have / breakfast ? (Answer: Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.)
DID + SUBJECT + INFINITIVE OF MAIN VERB + rest of the sentence ?
=A S M
present continuous: Are / they / watching / television? (Short answer: Yes, they are. / No, they aren't.)
AM / ARE / IS + SUBJECT + ING-FORM OF THE MAIN VERB + rest of the sentence ?
= A S M
past continuous: Were / they / watching / television? (Answer: Yes, they were. / No, they weren't.)
WAS / WERE + SUBJECT + ING-FORM OF THE MAIN VERB + rest of the sentence ?
= A S M
Exceptions:
− to be Are you a doctor?
− modal auxiliaries Must you really do that?
− *subject questions (see below) Who stole the Van Gogh painting?
1
2 The interrogative: inversion questions, question word questions and subject
questions
2. Question word questions
These questions start with a question word (also referred to as WH-words: who, what, when, where,
why, etc., see G p. 11) and often use inversion of the subject and the auxiliary verb. Note: The
acronym ‘QUASM’ (question word - aux – subject – main verb) can help you memorise this order.
e.g.
present simple: Where / do / you / work? (Answer: I work at the airport.)
QUESTION WORD + DO / DOES + SUBJECT + INFINITIVE OF MAIN V + rest of the sentence ?
= QU A S M
past simple: Where / did / you / have / breakfast ? (Answer: At Jane’s. I had pancakes.)
QUESTION WORD + DID + SUBJECT + INFINITIVE OF MAIN VERB + rest of the sentence ?
= QU A S M
present continuous: What / is / she / doing? (Answer: She is cooking dinner.)
QUESTION WORD + AM /ARE / IS + SUBJECT + ING-FORM OF THE MAIN VERB + rest ?
= QU A S M
past continuous: What / were / they / watching / when you came in ?
(Answer: They were watching Squid Game.)
QUESTION WORD + WAS / WERE + SUBJECT + ING-FORM OF THE MAIN VERB + rest ?
= QU A S M
Note!
A special type of question word questions are SUBJECT QUESTIONS. These questions ask for
the subject of the sentence. The question word is the subject or is part of the subject of the
sentence. These questions do not use inversion; the word order remains the same as in the
affirmative (positive) sentence. These questions also never take ‘to do’ as an auxiliary!
e.g.
present simple: Who / calls / you / every day?(Answer: My mother calls me every day.)
(Short answer: My mother does.
= the aux you would use in the negative)
QUESTION WORD + present simple of MAIN VERB + rest of the sentence ?
past simple: Who / stole / the Van Gogh painting? (Answer: Nils M. did.)
QUESTION WORD + past simple of MAIN VERB + rest of the sentence ?
present / past continuous: Who / is/was / making / that noise?
(Answer: The children are / were making that noise.)
(Short answer: The children are / were.)
QUESTION WORD + AM / ARE / IS or WAS / WERE + SUBJECT + ING-FORM OF THE MAIN
VERB + rest of the sentence ?
Note: To memorise the order of a subject question in (present) continuous tenses, you can again
use the memory aid ‘QUASM’ (question word - aux – subject – main verb).
