Questions and Negatives

are questions which we answer with Yes or No. Look at these statements:

They are working hard.
They will be working hard.
They had worked hard.
They have been working hard.
They might have been working hard.

We make Yes/No questions by putting
the first part of the verb in front of the subject:

Are they working hard?
Will they be working hard?
Had they worked hard?
Have they been working hard?
Might they have been working hard?

We make negatives by putting not after the first part of the verb:

They are not working hard.
They will not be working hard.
They had not worked hard.
They have not been working hard.
They might not have been working hard.

In spoken English, we often reduce not to n’t:

They aren't working hard.
They won't be working hard.
They hadn't been working hard.
They haven't been working hard.
They mightn't have been working hard.

For all verbs except be and have, we use do • does or did to make Yes/No questions in the present simple and past simple:

They work hard.
Do they work hard?

He works hard.
Does he work hard?

They worked hard.
Did they work hard?

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For all verbs except be and have, we use do • does + not or did + not to make negatives in the present simple and past simple:

They work hard.
They do not work hard.

He works hard.
He does not work hard.

They worked hard.
They did not work hard.

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Here are the question forms and negative forms for be in the present simple and past simple:

Present simple




Past simple




We make questions and negatives with have in two ways. Usually we use do • does or did:

Do you have plenty of time?
Does she have enough money?
Did they have any useful advice?

I don't have much time.
She doesn't have any money.
They didn't have any advice to offer.

but we can also make questions by putting have • has or had in front of the subject:

Have you plenty of time?
Has she enough money?
Had they any useful advice?

and make negatives by putting not or n't after have • has or had:

I haven't much time.
She hasn't any money.
He hadn't any advice to offer.

Wh-questions are questions which start with a word like
what · when · where · which · who · whose · why · how.


Questions with when • where • why

We form wh-questions with these words by putting the question word in front of a Yes/No question:

Where are they working?
They are working in a shop.

Why have they been working hard?
They have been working hard for their exams.

When did they arrive?
They arrived at six.

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Questions with who • what • which

When we ask who • what • which about the object of the verb, we put the question word in front of a Yes/No question:

Who is he seeing tomorrow?
He is seeing Joe tomorrow.

What do you want?
I want a computer.

Which would you prefer, tea or coffee?
I'd prefer some tea.

When we ask who • what • which about the subject of the verb, the question word takes the place of the subject:

Who gave you the chocolates?
Barbara gave me the chocolates.

What happened?
Something funny happened.

Which dog frightened the children?
The dog frightened the children.

We sometimes use what • which with a noun:

What subjects did you study at school?
Which English newspaper started in 1986?
What subjects does everyone have to study?
Which newspaper do you prefer, The Times or the Guardian?

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Questions with how

We use how for many different questions:

how are you?
how do you make questions in English?
how long have you lived here?
how often do you go to the cinema?
how much is this dress?
how old are you?
how many people came to the meeting?

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Questions with verbs and prepositions

When we have a question with a verb and a preposition, the preposition usually comes at the end of the question:

Who did you give the money to?
I gave the money to my brother.

Where does she come from?
She comes from Madrid.

How long were they waiting for?
They were waiting for an hour.

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Other ways of asking questions

We sometimes use phrases like these in front of a statement to ask questions:

Do you know …?
I wonder …
Can you tell me …?

For Yes/No questions, we use the phrases with if:

Do you know if this is the right house?
This is the right house.

I wonder if everyone will agree.
Everyone will agree.

Can you tell me if Mr Brown lives here?
Mr Brown lives here.

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For wh-questions, we use the phrases with a question word:

Do you know who lives here?
I wonder how much this dress is.
Can you tell me where she comes from?

We often use do you think …? after question words:

How much do you think this dress is?
Where do you think she comes from?
Who do you think lives here?

Negatives with the to-infinitive

When we make a negative with the to-infinitive, we put not in front of the to-infinitive:

He told us not to make so much noise.
We were asked not to park in front of the house.