The sentence
The sentence The sentence
Questions, answers, negatives A. Yes/No questions, negative statements, Yes/No answers Yes/No questions (expecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in the answer) 1. We make Yes/No questions from statements. In the case of be, have (auxiliary) and modal verbs like can and must we do this by inversion, that is by putting be, have or can, etc. in front of the subject: He is leaving. → Is he leaving? She can drive a bus. → Can she drive a bus? 2. With all other verbs, we form Yes/No questions with Do and Does in the simple present and Did in the simple past. The form of the verb is always the bare infinitive: We turn left here. → Do we turn left here? He works well. → Does he work well? They arrived late. → Did they arrive late? Yes/No short answers 1. When answering with Yes or No, we usually repeat the first word in the question: Was James late? – Yes, he was./ No, he wasn’t. Can he play chess? – Yes, he can./ No, he can’t. Note: Are you …? – Yes, I am./ No, I’m not. Were you …? – Yes, I was./ No, I wasn’t. Where we repeat the verb, but in a different form. 2. We do not usually answer a Yes/No question in full: Did James go out last night? – Yes, he did./ No, he didn’t. rather than ‘Yes, he went out last night.’ ‘No, he didn’t go out last night.’ We do not usually answer a Yes/ No question with just Yes or No: Do you like dancing? – Yes, I do./ No, I don’t. Not *Yes/No.* which can sound rude. 3. We can put a lot of expression into short answers and use them to give information, agree, disagree, confirm, etc. e.g. Did you look the back door? – Yes, I did./ No, I didn’t. It’s hot. – Yes, it is./ No, it isn’t. B. Alternative negative forms and negative questions Negative statements with ‘negative adverbs’: ‘never’, etc. 1. We can make negative or near-negative statements with adverbs like never, hardly, hardly ever, seldom and rarely. Never is more emphatic than not. Compare: I don’t drink coffee, (negative) with: I never drink coffee. (emphatic negative) 2. We can’t use a negative adverb with a negative verb to make a ‘double negative’: I can hardly recognize him. (Not *I can’t hardly recognize him*) Nobody phoned. (Not *Nobody didn’t phone.*) This is especially true for no, any and their compounds: I’ve got no time. → I haven’t got any time. 82
I’ve seen no one/nobody. → I haven’t seen anyone/anybody. I’ve bought none of them. → I haven’t bought any of them. I’ve done nothing today. → I haven’t done anything today. I’ve been nowhere today. → I haven’t been anywhere today. Cancelling what has just been said: ‘No, not Wednesday’ We can cancel what we have just said with not: See you Wednesday – no, not Wednesday, Thursday. (Not *No Wednesday*) Negative questions: ‘Can’t you …?’ 1. In negative questions, the word order of the full form is different from the short form: full form: Did he not explain the situation to you? short form: Didn’t he explain the situation to you? We normally use the short form in conversation and the full form only for emphasis. 2. Depending on the stress and intonation we use, we can: - express disbelief, surprise: Can’t you really ride a bicycle? - invite the answer ‘Yes’: Don’t you remember our holiday in Spain? - persuade: Won’t you please help me? - express annoyance: Can’t you ever shut the door behind you? - make exclamations: Isn’t it hot in here! C. Tag questions and echo tags Tag questions 1: ‘It is …, isn’t it?/ ‘It isn’t … is it?’ 1. A tag question is a short question (e.g. have you?/ haven’t you?) that follows a statement. We form tag questions with auxiliaries (be, have, can, may, etc.) and do, does, did. 2. They are affirmative – negative: John was annoyed, wasn’t he? You like fish, don’t you? or negative – affirmative: John wasn’t annoyed, was he? You don’t like fish, do you? 3. Many languages have a phrase which means ‘isn’t that so?’ In English, we use tags to say this, but we also use expressions like don’t you think?, right? etc. 4. If our voice goes up on the tag, we are asking a real question which needs an answer: You left the gas on, didn’t you? – Yes, I did./ No, I didn’t. You didn’t leave the gas on, did you? – Yes, I did./ No, I didn’t. 5. If our voice goes down on the tag, we want the listener to agree with us and we don’t usually expect an answer: You locked the door, didn’t you? (= I assume you did.) You didn’t lock the door, did you? (= I assume you didn’t.) 83
- Page 31 and 32: ‘Not …any’, ‘no’ and ‘n
- Page 33 and 34: ‘None of’ and ‘neither of’
- Page 35 and 36: Adjectives A. Formation of adjectiv
- Page 37 and 38: D. Adjectives after ‘be’, ‘se
- Page 39 and 40: Adverbs A. Adverbs of manner Adverb
- Page 41 and 42: ‘During’, in’ and ‘for’ 1
- Page 43 and 44: F. Intensifiers ‘Very’, ‘too
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- Page 47 and 48: B. Prepositions of movement and pos
- Page 49 and 50: D. Particular prepositions, particl
- Page 51 and 52: E. Particular prepositions, particl
- Page 53 and 54: d. Please put these dishes away. (a
- Page 55 and 56: 4. There are five groups of stative
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- Page 59 and 60: G. The simple future tense Some use
- Page 61 and 62: The future-in-the-past Sometimes we
- Page 63 and 64: Be, Have, Do A. ‘Be’ as a full
- Page 65 and 66: There are some children at the door
- Page 67 and 68: Compare: Have you/Do you have/Have
- Page 69 and 70: - present form: He must be right. H
- Page 71 and 72: 2. An ‘uncertain’ question may
- Page 73 and 74: 4. We may use the past perfect of b
- Page 75 and 76: 3. Had to shows that we couldn’t
- Page 77 and 78: The form of ‘dare’ as a modal a
- Page 79 and 80: The passive and the causative A. Ge
- Page 81: ‘Get’ in the causative: ‘get
- Page 85 and 86: Parallel responses: ‘John can …
- Page 87 and 88: G. Question-word questions (3): ‘
- Page 89 and 90: 2. We use ever after all question-w
- Page 91 and 92: B. Type 2 conditionals Type 2 condi
- Page 93 and 94: Direct and indirect speech A. Direc
- Page 95 and 96: Pronoun and adverb changes in indir
- Page 97 and 98: The infinitive and the ‘-ing’ f
- Page 99 and 100: ‘I know him to be an honest man
- Page 101 and 102: ‘I can’t imagine my mother (‘
Questions, answers, negatives<br />
A. Yes/No questions, negative statements, Yes/No answers<br />
Yes/No questions (expecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in the answer)<br />
1. We make Yes/No questions from statements. In the case of be, have (auxiliary) and modal<br />
verbs like can and must we do this by inversion, that is by putting be, have or can, etc.<br />
in front of the subject: He is leaving. → Is he leaving?<br />
She can drive a bus. → Can she drive a bus?<br />
2. With all other verbs, we form Yes/No questions with Do and Does in the simple present<br />
and Did in the simple past. <strong>The</strong> form of the verb is always the bare infinitive:<br />
We turn left here. → Do we turn left here?<br />
He works well. → Does he work well?<br />
<strong>The</strong>y arrived late. → Did they arrive late?<br />
Yes/No short answers<br />
1. When answering with Yes or No, we usually repeat the first word in the question:<br />
Was James late? – Yes, he was./ No, he wasn’t.<br />
Can he play chess? – Yes, he can./ No, he can’t.<br />
Note: Are you …? – Yes, I am./ No, I’m not. Were you …? – Yes, I was./ No, I wasn’t.<br />
Where we repeat the verb, but in a different form.<br />
2. We do not usually answer a Yes/No question in full:<br />
Did James go out last night? – Yes, he did./ No, he didn’t.<br />
rather than ‘Yes, he went out last night.’ ‘No, he didn’t go out last night.’<br />
We do not usually answer a Yes/ No question with just Yes or No:<br />
Do you like dancing? – Yes, I do./ No, I don’t. Not *Yes/No.* which can sound rude.<br />
3. We can put a lot of expression into short answers and use them to give information, agree,<br />
disagree, confirm, etc. e.g.<br />
Did you look the back door? – Yes, I did./ No, I didn’t. It’s hot. – Yes, it is./ No, it<br />
isn’t.<br />
B. Alternative negative forms and negative questions<br />
Negative statements with ‘negative adverbs’: ‘never’, etc.<br />
1. We can make negative or near-negative statements with adverbs like never, hardly, hardly<br />
ever, seldom and rarely. Never is more emphatic than not.<br />
Compare: I don’t drink coffee, (negative) with: I never drink coffee. (emphatic negative)<br />
2. We can’t use a negative adverb with a negative verb to make a ‘double negative’:<br />
I can hardly recognize him. (Not *I can’t hardly recognize him*)<br />
Nobody phoned. (Not *Nobody didn’t phone.*)<br />
This is especially true for no, any and their compounds:<br />
I’ve got no time. → I haven’t got any time.<br />
82
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