Word Order In Interrogative Sentence

In some languages, you can ask a question by changing only the intonation in the voice. This is not enough in English. In English, there is special word order in interrogative sentences.

Therefore, in English, when we see the interrogative word order, we already understand that this is a question and not a statement!

What is the interrogative word order? This is the order in which we put the auxiliary verb first in the sentence.

Take a look at these two examples:

Statement: I know you.
Question: Do I know you?

As you can see, this interrogative order still contains the main verb after the subject. That is, the subject and predicate remain in their usual order. But in the question, the predicate has an additional part: an auxiliary verb. And this auxiliary comes first.

The auxiliary verb in an interrogative sentence plays a huge role. The auxiliary verb depends on who we ask the question, who is the subject in our question.

Does she like you?
Did you throw your ring?
Have they been there before?
Will he work here someday?

Another important function of the auxiliary verb in the question is that the auxiliary verb indicates the tense. By changing the auxiliary verb, we change the meaning of the question.

Thus, if we want to know what a person is currently doing, we ask:

Do you live here?

If we are interested in the past of this person, we ask:

Did you live here?

Or we can ask about future plans:

Will you live here?

Explanation about auxiliary verb in a questions sentence, examples. — Auxiliary verbs.

Word Order in Interrogative Sentence With the Verb To Be

We ask a question with the verb to be using the same scheme where we put an auxiliary verb at the beginning of the question.

But the main difference between to be and other verbs is that to be has no auxiliary verbs. The verb to be acts as an auxiliary verb for itself.

So to ask a question with to be we just put to be first before the subject. Compare:

I am going to spoil the plan!
Am I going to spoil the plan?

The rule how to ask a question with the verb to be. — A question with the verb to be.

The only exception to this rule is when we form a question with the to be verb in the future.

The verb to be in the future has the form: Will be.

To ask a question with Will be, we put only Will in the first place, and be remains in its place.

Correct: Will you be there next time?
Incorrect: Will be you there next time?

Remember that we do not use auxiliary verbs with to be. Many English learners make the mistake of using auxiliary verbs to form a question with to be.

Correct: Is she here?
Incorrect: Does she here?
Incorrect: Does she is here?
Correct: Were they in your school?
Incorrect: Did they in your school?
Incorrect: Did they were in your school?
Correct: Are we friends?
Incorrect: Do we friends?
Incorrect: Do we are friends?

The verb to be in questions plays the same role as auxiliary verbs with ordinary verbs. The verb to be also changes depending on who is the subject in the sentence:

Is she your girlfriend?
Were they in your old team?
Will you be working as always?
Are we the people you are looking for?

Also, the verb to be indicates the tense we are asking about:

Past: Was she your friend?
Present: Is she your friend?
Future: Will she be your friend?

Look at all forms of the verb to be not to be mistaken when you use it:

Present:

I am
He is
She is
It is
We are
They are
You are

Past:

I was
He was
She was
It was
We were
They were
You were

Future:

I will be
He will be
She will be
It will be
We will be
They will be
You will be

The rule and correct and incorrect examples of usage of the verb to be and auxiliary verbs. — Auxiliary verbs with to be.

Word Order in Subject Question

A subject question has exactly the same word order as an affirmative sentence. But at the beginning, we use the question word who or what.

Who broke the vase?
Who told you the truth?
What fell to the roof?

Thus, it is the word who or what that plays the role of the subject in the sentence. But we do not know who exactly is the subject, who is this person, thing, or being. Therefore, we ask a question.

Compare the usual question in which we know who the subject is and the question to the subject.

Who did she ask about it? (The subject is she)
Who asked you about it? (The subject is who)
What did he throw from the roof? (The subject is he)
Who threw something from the roof? (The subject is who)
Who will you take with you to the dance? (The subject is you)
Who will take you to the dance? ((The subject is who)
This is your car? (The subject is you)
Whose car is this? (Subject is Whose)

Most often, we use a singular verb after the word who or what. Because by asking a question to the subject, we mean that who or what is one person or thing.

Who works here?

We can use the main verb as we do it for the plural if we and our interlocutor understand exactly that who or what in the question means several people or objects:

Who were the people you are talking about?

The rule of the subject question word order, examples — Subject questions.

Word Order in Short Answer and Full Answer

A short answer to a question in English also has its own specific order.

In English, it is not customary to answer questions shortly: Yes or No.

Question: Do you like the movie?
Answer: Yes.

This answer may be considered rude.

So, in English, it is customary to form an answer in this order:

Affirmative or negative word.
Subject.
Auxiliary verb.

Question: Do you like the movie?
Answer: Yes, I do.

The word order in the answer above is considered correct and polite.

A full answer is even simpler. In a full answer, we keep the order of an affirmative or negative sentence. At the beginning of the sentence, we add the affirmative or negative words Yes or No.