May theory grammar

01-05-2014

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CHIMBORAZO

Yes / No Questions

Types of questions

There are two types of questions:

Yes or no questions Wh questions

Yes/no questions

Yes or no questions are questions whose expected answer is either "yes" or "no".

How to form yes/no questions

In English, a special word order (Verb, Subject, and Object) is used to form yes-no questions.

Examples:

AFFIRMATIVE YES OR NO QUESTIONThey are American Are they American?She is nice Is she nice?

02-05-2014


Rules of Yes/No Questions

1. If the main verb of the sentence is "to be", simply invert the subject and the verb to be:

Examples:

They are American. — Are they American?

They are nice. — Are they nice?

2. If the sentence includes a main verb and another or other helping (auxiliary) verb(s), invert the subject and the (first) helping (auxiliary) verb.

Examples:

They are visiting Paris. — Are they visiting Paris?

She has done the housework. — Has she done the housework?He will be reading the book. — Will he be reading the book?

3. If the sentence includes a verb which is not the verb "to be" and doesn't include a helping (auxiliary) verb, the transformation is more complex.

a) If the verb is in the present tense, add either do or does and put the main verb in its base form:

Do if the subject is the first person singular, second person singular, first person plural, and second person

plural and third person plural (I, you, we, they)

Examples:

I like apples. — Do you like apples?

Does if the subject is the third person singular (he, she, it).

Examples:

Nancy reads a lot. — Does Nancy read a lot?

b) If the verb is in the past tense, add did and put the main verb in its base form:

Examples:

He discovered the truth. — Did he discover the truth?

They did the homework. — Did they do the homework?

05-05-2014


Yes/No questions - be (am, are, is)

1. Subject and verb change their position in statement and question.

statement You are from Germany.

question Are you from Germany?

We always use the short answer, not only "Yes" or "No".

NOTE: If the answer is "Yes", we always use the long form.

Example: Yes, I am.

If the answer is "No", we either use the long or the contracted form (short form).

Example: No, I am not - No, I'm not.

Are you from Germany? Yes, I am.

No, I am not.'m not.

Is he your friend? Yes, He is.

Are Peter and John from England? Yes, They are.

06-05-2014


Making Simple Questions with Yes/No Questions

Simple (Yes / No) questions in English are formed in similar but ways.

The form of simple questions depends on whether the statement from which the question is made has BE (but no other verb), an auxiliary verb (including BE) and a main verb, or only a main verb.

1. Making Simple Questions with BE

To make simple questions with a form of BE (is, am, are, was, were)

The form is BE + subject + other words?

Examples:

a. Joe is here today. ---> Is Joe here today?b. Alice and Bob were in an accident. ---> Were Alice and

Bob in an accident?c. I'm on time. ---> Am I on time?d. The weather was nice yesterday. ---> Was the

weather nice yesterday?e. You're tired. ---> Are you tired?

07-05-2014


Making Simple Answers with Yes/No Questions

1. Answering Simple Questions with BE

For simple questions with BE, there are three possible answers: with Yes, with No, and I don't know.

The answer with Yes and No can be either complete sentences or "abbreviated forms":

Examples:

a. Is Joe here today? --->

Yes, Joe (he) is here today.

No, Joe (he) isn't here today.

I don't know.

b. Were Alice and Bob in an accident? --->

Yes, Alice and Bob (they) were in an accident.

Yes, they were.

Yes.

08-05-2014


Contractions in Yes/No Questions

1. Contractions are very common in complete answers with both Yes and No:

a. Were Alice and Bob in an accident?

Yes, they were in an accident. No, they weren't in an accident.

2. Contractions are also common in "abbreviated" answers, but only with No:

b. Is Joe here today?

Yes, he is. No, he isn't (he's not).

Wrong: *Yes, he's.

3. The full form for "I don't know" is almost never used, but it is "I don't know whether (or not) _____ (or not)" or "I don't know if _____ or not):

c. Is Joe here today? --->

I don't know whether or not he's here today. /I don't know whether he's here today or not. /I don't know if he's here today. /I don't know if he's here today or not.

09-05-2014


Information Questions

WH Questions Words

WH questions ask for information. They are different than Yes/No questions.

There are 6 different WH question words:

QUESTION ANSWER EXAMPLE

What Thing What is that?

When Time When is the game?

Who Person Who do you live with?

Where Place Where do you live?

Why Reason Why are you happy?

How Directions/Feelings How are you?

12-05-2014


Structure Of Wh Questions

WH questions in simple present use “do” or “be”:

WH Questions with "do"

WH + DO/DOES + SUBJECT + VERB

Examples:

* Where do you work?

* When does she wake up?

* Who is your brother?

WH Questions with "be"

WH + BE + SUBJECT

Examples:

* Where are you from?

* Who is that man?

* When is your class?

WH Questions are similar to YES/NO questions except they have WH words at the start.

Examples:

*Are you from Canada?


Here are some example questions and answers:


* I am from Japan.

* What is your name?

* My name is Jacob.

* When do you wake up?

* I wake up at 7:30 am.

* Why are you angry?

* I am angry because I did not pass my exam.

13-05-2014


WH Question Words

We use question words to ask certain types of questions. We often refer to them as WH words because they include the letters WH (for example Why, How).

Question Word

Function Example

what asking for information about something

What is your name?

asking for repetition or confirmation

What? I can't hear you.You did what?

when asking about time When did he leave?

where asking in or at what place or position

Where do they live?

which asking about choice Which colour do you want?

who asking what or which person or people (subject)

Who opened the door?

why asking for reason, asking what...for

Why do you say that?

how asking about manner How does this work?

asking about condition or quality How was your exam?

how far distance How far is Pattaya from Bangkok?

how many quantity (countable) How many cars are there?

how much quantity (uncountable) How much money do you have?

14-05-2014


Who, Whom, Whose

"Who" is a Subject Pronoun

"Who" is a subject pronoun like "he," "she" and "we" in the examples above. We use "who" to ask which person does an action or which person is a certain way.

Examples:

Who made the birthday cake?

"Whom" is an Object Pronoun

"Whom" is an object pronoun like "him," "her" and "us." We use "whom" to ask which person receives an action.

Examples:

Whom are you going to invite?

"Whose" is a Possessive Pronoun

"Whose" is a possessive pronoun like "his," "her" and "our." We use "whose" to find out which person something belongs to.

Examples:

Whose camera is this?

"Who," "Whom" and "Whose" in Indirect Questions

The sentence below contains an example of an indirect question:

I don't know whom he invited.

Such sentences usually start with a phrase such as:

"I am not sure" or "He doesn't know" or "We don't care."

Just ignore the first part of the sentence and look at the indirect question when deciding whether to use "who," "whom" or "whose." Ask yourself if the indirect question requires a subject, object, or possessive form.

Examples:

He doesn't know who the boss of the company is .SUBJECT OF THE INDIRECT QUESTION

I don't care whom you invite .OBJECT OF THE INDIRECT QUESTION

She isn't sure whose car that is . "WHOSE" SHOWS POSSESSION OF CAR.

16-05-2014


Countable And Uncountable Nouns

COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE

Books Money

Friends Meat

Teachers Juice

Tables Milk

Countable nouns (count nouns):

Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a number. (That's why they are called "countable nouns").

Example: 1 friend, 2 friends, 3 friends...

Countable nouns take many.

Example: 100 friends – many friends

Uncountable nouns (uncounted / non-count nouns):

Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns cannot be used with a number. (That's why they are called "uncountable nouns").

Examples:

I have a lot of money. (Not 1000 money)

You say I drink a lot of milk. (Not 5 milk)

19-05-2014


Much, Many And A Lot.

"Much", "many", and "a lot of" indicate a large quantity of something, for example "I have a lot of friends” means I have a large quantity of friends.

Much, many, and a lot are quantifiers.

Study the examples below:

How much money have you got? I haven't got much money.

I have got a lot.

I have got a lot of money.

How many students are in the classroom?

There aren't many.

There are a lot.

There are a lot of/lots of students.

Use how much and how many to ask questions about countable and uncountable nouns.

How many pens do you have? How many books are on the table?

How much sugar would you like? How much salt do you have?

As you can see, how much is for uncountable nouns and how many is for countable nouns.

20-05-2014


Use Of Much / Many

In the interrogative forms we use:Much with uncountable nouns. (Money, bread, water...)Example: How much money/bread/water...is there?

Many with countable nouns. (Students, desks, windows...)Example: How many students/teachers/desks... are there?

In the negative forms we use:

Much with uncountable nouns. (Money, bread, water...)

Example: I haven't got much money/bread/water...

Many with countable nouns. (Students, desks, windows...)

Example: There aren't many students/teachers/desks...

In the affirmative forms:

In spoken English and informal writing we tend to use:

A lot, a lot of, lots of with countable and uncountable nouns.

Example:

"How many students are there in the classroom?"

"There are a lot."

"How many students are there in the classroom?"

"There are a lot of / lots of students"

21-05-2014


Review Of How Much And How Many

Much or Many?

We use much and many in questions and negative sentences. They both show an amount of something.

1. Use 'Much' with uncountable nouns we use much with singular nouns.

Question: "How much petrol is in the car?"

Negative clause: "We don't have much time left."

2. Use 'Many' with countable nouns we use many with plural nouns

Question: "How many people were at the meeting?"

Negative clause: "Not many of the students understood the lesson."

3. Use an 'A lot of' and 'Lots of' with both mean a large amount.

We use them with countable and uncountable nouns.

A lot of is a little more formal sounding than lots of.

Countable:

“A lot of people work here”

“Lots of people work here”

Uncountable

“There was a lot of snow last night”

“There was lots of snow last night”

22-05-2014


Tag Questions

FORM: Auxiliary verb + subject

1. We use the same auxiliary verb in the tag as in the main sentence. If there is no auxiliary verb, we use do.

You live in Spain, don't you?

2. If the auxiliary verb in the sentence is affirmative, the tag is negative.

You're Spanish, aren't you?

3. If the auxiliary verb in the sentence is negative, the tag is affirmative.

You're not Spanish, are you?

MEANING

1. We use tag questions to confirm or check information or ask for agreement.

You want to come with me, don't you?

You can swim, can't you?

You don't know where the boss is, do you?

This meal is horrible, isn't it?

That film was fantastic, wasn't it?

2. We use tag questions to check whether something is true.

The meeting's tomorrow at 9am, isn't it?

You won't go without me, will you?

ADDITIONAL POINTS

1. In the present tense if the subject is I, the auxiliary changes to are or aren't.

I'm sitting next to you, aren't I?

2. With an imperative, the tag question is will you. Close the window, will you?

3. We use an affirmative tag question after a sentence containing a negative word such as never, hardly, nobody.

Nobody lives in this house, do they?

You've never liked me, have you?

4. When the subject is nothing, we use it in the tag question. Nothing bad happened, did it?

5. When the subject is nobody, somebody, everybody, no one, someone or everyone, we use they in the tag.

Nobody asked for me, did they?

6. If the main verb in the sentence is have, it is more common to use do in the tag question.

You have a Ferrari, don't you?

7. With used to, we use didn't in the tag. You used to work here, didn't you?

23-05-2014


Negatives

Some sentences are written to convey an affirmative or negative connotation in order to influence or persuade a reader. Specific words are chosen to construct this affirmative or negative tone.

The following lists are common negative words, adverbs and verbs used to illustrate a negative idea.

Negative words:

http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/used-to

1. No2. Not3. None4. No one5. Nobody6. Nothing7. Neither8. Nowhere9. Never

Negative Adverbs:

1. Hardly2. Scarcely3. Barely

Negative verbs:

1. Doesn’t2. Isn’t3. Wasn’t4. Shouldn’t5. Wouldn’t6. Couldn’t7. Won’t8. Can’t9. Don’t

The previous list can be overwhelming, as there appears to be a lot of negative words that must be memorized.

The easiest way to remember the proper word, adverb or verb to use when forming a negation is chose a word that implies no or none, another trick is to think about the message the reader is to absorb from the sentence as a whole, and pick words that will ensure this meaning is conveyed.

26-05-2014


Negative Senteces

1. A negative sentence (or statement) states that something is not true or incorrect.

2. A negative adverb has to be added in order to negate or “cancel” the validity of the sentence.

This “negation” element is created according to the following general rule.

The Negation Rule: In English, in order to claim that something is not true, you form a negative sentence by adding the word not after the first auxiliary verb in the positive sentence.

If there is no auxiliary verb in the positive sentence, as in the Present Simple and Past Simple tenses, then you add one (in both these cases, the auxiliary verb do).

Review the following table for examples of negation in English.

http://www.whitesmoke.com/free-online-dictionary/negation

http://www.whitesmoke.com/free-online-dictionary/validity

27-05-2014


Negative Sentences With Auxiliary Verbs

Do / does / did

Do is common for forming questions and making negatives.

Did is used for do and does in the past tense. Do and does is never used for the past.

In negative sentences

1. I do not. (I don't)2. You do not. (you don't)3. We do not. (we don't)

TENSE NEGATIVE ELEMENT + CONTRACTED

FORMS

EXAMPLES

Present Simple do+not = don’tdoes+not = doesn’t

I do not play.She doesn’t play.

Past Simple did+not = didn’t I didn’t play.

Present Progressive am + not (*no amn’t)is+not = isn’tare+not = aren't

I am not playing.

4. They do not. (they don't)5. He/she does not. (he/she doesn't)

Be = am / is / are

Be can be used as an auxiliary verb or the main verb in a sentence. Is tells us that an action is happening now or is going to happen in the future.


1. I am not. (I aren't)2. You are not. (you aren't)3. We are not. (we aren't)4. They are not. (they aren't)5. He/she is not. (he/she isn't)

Have = has / had`

Have is used to make the present perfect tense (it is always followed by the past participle).Has is used for the third person singular.

Had is used for past tenses especially the past perfect tense. It describes an action that began in the past and continues into the present or that occurred in the recent past.


1. I have not. (I haven't/ I've not)2. You have not. (you haven't/you've not)3. We have not. (we haven't/we've not)4. They have not. (they haven't/they've not)5. He/she has not (he/she hasn't)

28-05-2014


Negative Questions

Contracted and uncontracted negative questions have different word order.

Uncontracted negative questions are usually used in a formal style.

Aren’t you coming? (Contracted – auxiliary verb + n’t + subject)

Doesn’t he understand? (Auxiliary verb + n’t + subject)

Are you not coming? (Uncontracted – auxiliary verb + subject + not)

Does he not understand? (Auxiliary verb + subject + not)

Two meanings:A negative question can have two different kinds of meanings. It can, for example, be used to ask for confirmation of something you believe to be true.

Didn’t you see Ann yesterday? How is she doing? (= I believe that you saw Ann yesterday.)

You may also express your opinions in a more polite way by changing them into negative questions.

Wouldn’t it be nice to paint that wall green? (More polite than ‘It would be nice to paint that wall green.’)

A negative question can also be used to ask for confirmation of a negative belief. In this case the speaker is surprised that something has not happened or is not happening.

Hasn’t the postman come yet?

Polite requests, offers, complaints.

Pressing offers and invitations often assume the form of negative questions. They usually begin Won’t you…? Wouldn’t you…? or Why don’t you…?

Wouldn’t you like something to drink? Why don’t you come and spend the evening with

us?

29-05-2014


Double Negatives And Usage

In Standard English, when we use negative words such as nobody, nowhere, never or nothing, we do not commonly use a negative verb:

Examples:

1. He had nothing interesting to tell us.

Note: He hadn’t nothing interesting…

2. It was 10 am but there was nobody in the office.

Note: … but there wasn’t nobody in the office.

Double negation with adjectives and adverbs (not unexpected)

However, we can use not + an adjective or adverb with a negative prefix (e.g. un-, in-).

The meaning becomes affirmative, but the double negation shows that the writer/speaker is careful about it.

This is most common in formal writing:

The crisis has been attributed, not unreasonably, to the Prime Minister’s weakness.

30-05-2014


No One , Nobody , Nothing , Nowhere

No one, nobody, nothing and nowhere are indefinite pronouns.

We use no one, nobody, nothing and nowhere to refer to an absence of people, things or places.

We use them with a singular verb:

Nobody ever goes to see her. She’s very lonely. You usually have to wait for a long

time. Nothing happens quickly. There was nowhere to park the car.

We often use the plural pronoun they to refer back to (singular) no one or nobody when we do not know if the person is male or female:

No one remembers the titles of the books they’ve read.

No one or nobody? No one and nobody mean the same.

Nobody is a little less formal than no one. We use no one more than nobody in writing:

I knew nobody at the party. No one moved; no one said anything.

Nobody or not … anybody, etc.

Nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere are stronger and more definite than not …anybody/anyone/anything/anywhere:

I did nothing. (stronger than I didn’t do anything.)

She told no one, not even her mother. (stronger than She didn’t tell anyone …)

We don’t use not + anyone/anything/anywhere as the subject of a clause:

Nothing will make me change my mind. Not: Not anything will make me change my mind.

We don’t use nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere after no, not, never or other words which have a negative meaning (hardly, seldom). We use anyone, anybody, anything, anywhere:

I can’t do anything. Not: I can’t do nothing. She talks to hardly anyone. Not: She talks to hardly no one.

Education

May theory grammar