In-Depth Grammar MAKING QUESTION (Part1)

Usually when we teach inside the class, we emphasize more on making positive and negative rather than question. Why? Positive and negative statements are more commonly used rather than question. So it is a very reasonable act to focus more on those points.

So, on this blog post I would like to focus more on the step child which is making question.

USE

First things first, the main function of making question is of course to find out information (kepo). You want to know something, make questions. You want know what is the answer of number 6 on your national examination, ask your friend beside you (I mean study). The point is no question, lost on the way (tidak bertanya, sesat di jalan).

But secondly, you can also use question to make someone do something for you. For example when ask your friend:

“Can you lend me some money?”

Not only saying “yes”, if he is a good friend He will also take money from his pocket and lend it to you (more about this, try to search illocutionary and perlocutionary force).

Lastly, there is also rhetorical question, the question which does not demand any answer. For example when you meet your ex- in the wedding ceremony of your 3^rd cousin and you know that your ex- is actually an old friend of your cousins’s cousin’s friend. You can say:

“What are the odds meeting you here?”  or “it’s a small world, isn’t it?”

You don’t need to answer these types of questions.

INVERSION IN QUESTION

In most cases when making questions, we only need to invert Auxiliary and the subject

Statement	Question
He was waiting for me She has left an hour ago We should be there a week ago	Why Was he waiting for me? Has She left an hour ago? We should be there a week ago

In simple tenses we use the auxiliary do or did

Statement	Question
You (do) write letter every week He confessed his love yesterday? He (did) confess his love yesterday?	Do you write letter every week Did he confess his love yesterday?

YES OR NO QUESTION

Yes or No questions can be answered with yes or no. they begin with auxiliary

Do you love me? Yes I do

Will you marry me? No I will not

WH- QUESTION

Wh- question begin with question word.

When will you marry me?

Why do you love me?

Here are the question words in English: What, Where, Why, When, Who, Whose, Whom, Which, How

Asking for Subject	Who will give me the explanation? I will give you explanation
Asking for Object	What can we do in the place? We can cook food
Asking for Complement	Whose is this laptop’s? Mr Faizal’s laptop
Asking for Adverb
·         Time	When should we meet again? Maybe on 7 o’clock
·         Place	Where are you now? I am in your heart
·         Reason	Why did you leave me? Because of your habit
·         Manner	How did you find me? By following you

SUBJECT AND OBJECT IN QUESTION

Compare these two Questions

Who saw you last night? Someone saw me last night Note: the missing information here is the subject, so we use this pattern	Who did you saw last night? I saw someone Note: the missing information here is the object, so we can use this pattern

Important notes:

A question sometimes can only be just question word?

I will visit grandpa. ~ When?

A question can have two question words

When and where will we go?