QUESTIONS/ NEGATION
How do you form questions in English? When do you need "do", "does" and "did"? Which interrogative pronouns (question words) are there?
How do you negate an English sentence? When can you use "haven't", when do you have to say "don't have"?
Please choose from the rules below:> simple questions (without do/does/did)
> basics for negation> simple negation (without don't/doesn't/didn't)
> negation with don't/doesn't/didn't
>> Test yourself! Go to the exercises...
INTRODUCTION: basics for questions:
There are questions
You also have to distinguish between
used in sentences, where the main verb is "be" or "have got" or sentences in a composed tense (all tenses formed with "have" + verb or "be" + verb or sentences with modal verbs)
used for all sentences in a non-composed tense (present simple and past simple) with a main verb other than "be" or "have got"
First, this chapter will discuss questions in general; later the different interrogative pronouns and their use will be discussed.
Simple Questions (without “do”) (without interrogative pronouns)
If you want to transform a sentence where the main verb is “be” or “have got” into a question, you simply have to switch the first two parts of the sentence (subject and verb ).
The rest of the sentence remains unchanged.
Note: „have got“ is divided; „got“ stays in its original position; see example 2)
Examples:
- Sue is a nice girl.
- Is Sue a nice girl?- Melanie has got many toys.
- Has Melanie got many toys?
The same rule also applies for sentences in a composed tense. Composed tenses are all tenses that are formed with the verb "be" or "have" and a second verb. The second verb of the verbal group stays in its original position.
Tenses formed with „be“ + verb:
- all progressive tenses (be + „ing“-Form)
- “going to” - futureTenses formed with "have" + verb:
- Present Perfect (have/has + 3rd Form)
- Past Perfect (had + 3rd Form)Examples:
- She is reading a book.
- Is she reading a book?- The teacher has explained the rules.
- Has the teacher explained the rules?
Sentences with modal verbs (“will”, “shall”, “should”, “might”, “can”, “may”, “must”...) are also transformed into simple questions:
Examples:
- Lisa will visit her brother tomorrow.
-Will Lisa visit her brother tomorrow?- Tony can buy the house.
- Can Tony buy the house?
Questions with „do“ (without interrogative pronouns)
In sentences in the Present Simple or Past Simple with a main verb other than "be" or "have got" you need to use the verb "do" to form a question.
The form of the verb „do“ in the original tense of the sentence (do/does in Present Simple; did in Past Simple) must be put in front of the sentence, the rest of the sentence remains almost unchanged. However, the former main verb must be put into its base form!
Examples:
- Sue likes her brother.
- Does Sue like her brother?- Melanie walked along the street.
- Did Melanie walk along the street?
Interrogative pronouns:
Basically, interrogative pronouns must always be put in front of the sentence.
There are two kinds of interrogative pronouns:
a) interrogative pronouns referring to the subject of the sentence (who, what)
b) interrogative pronouns referring to an object or another part of the sentence (all others)
List of the most important interrogative pronouns (English - German - Spanish)
who.............................wer.............................................quién
what............................was.............................................qué
whom..........................wem/ wen...................................a quién
whose........................ wessen.......................................de quién
when...........................wann............................................cuándo
where..........................wo...............................................dónde
why..............................warum.........................................por qué
how…………...……..wie...............................................cómo
which.......………....…welche/welcher/welches...........cuál
where ... to…………...wohin.....................................a dónde
where ... from …….....woher.....................................de dónde
how much……………wieviel....................................cuánto
how many……………wie viele.................................cuántosNote: „what“ can refer to the subject or to another part of the sentence; therefore there are two possibilities to form questions with "what"!
overview of interrogative pronouns
a) interrogative pronouns referring to the subject of the sentence:Questions asking for the subject of the sentence (who, what) are formed as follows:
The interrogative pronoun is followed by the unchanged original sentence; the interrogative pronoun replaces the original subject.Example:
- Peter likes tomatoes.
- Who likes tomatoes?- The song was beautiful.
- What was beautiful?
Note that in this case, "who" or "what" are treated as a 3rd person singular; therefore, you need to add the "3rd person s" to the verb in the present tense; 'am' and 'are' are changed to 'is'; 'were' is changed to 'was'!
- We like oranges.
- Who likes oranges?- I am happy.
- Who is happy?
overview of interrogative
pronouns
b) interrogative pronouns referring to an object or another part of the sentence:For all other interrogative pronouns the above mentioned rules for "simple questions" and "questions with do" apply.
The interrogative pronoun must be put in front of the sentence, it replaces the part of the sentence it asks for.
Examples:
- Lenny sings a song.
- What does Lenny sing?- Susie is in the restaurant.
- Where is Susie?
If you want to ask for the verb, you have to replace the original verb with the appropriate form of "do" (do/done/doing):
- Rudolph went to the station.
- What did Rudolph do?- My dad has played the piano.
- What has your dad done?- The birds were singing in the morning.
- What were the birds doing.
INTRODUCTION: basics for negation:
There are basically two different forms of NEGATION in the English language:
You must distinguish between:
'Simple Negation': required in sentences, where the MAIN VERB (predicate) is 'be' or 'have got' (or any tense form that is formed with 'be'/ 'have')
Negation with "do": for sentences in Present Simple or Past Simple that have a MAIN VERB (predicate) which is NOT 'be' or 'have got'.
Simple Negation:
The Verbs 'be' and 'have got' can be negated directly - you don't need the auxiliary verb 'do'
CLICK HERE to see all forms of the verb 'be'
Examples:Sue is a nice girl. Sue isn't a nice girl.
They were very sad. They weren't very sad.
Pete has got a girlfriend. Pete hasn't got a girlfriend.
I've got a pen. I haven't got a pen.
For all sentences in tenses that are formed with 'be' as auxiliary verb, the same rules apply!
Tenses that are formed with 'be':
- all progressive forms
Examples:
I am writing a letter. I'm not writing a letter.
He is singing a song. He isn't singing a song.
Wilma was playing. Wilma wasn't playing.
The kids were eating. - The kids weren't eating.- "going to"-future
Example:
I am going to write a letter. I'm not going to write a letter.
For sentences in tenses that are formed with 'have' as auxiliary verb, the same rules apply!
Tenses that are formed with 'have':
- Present Perfect, Past Perfect
Examples:
I have already done it. I haven't yet done it.
They had seen her before. They hadn't seen her before.
'can', 'may', 'might', 'could', 'would', 'should', 'shall', and 'will' can also be directly negated
Examples:
I can do this. I can't do this.
She may go. She may not go.
They might be here. They might not be here.
We could do it. We couldn't do it.
Negation with 'do':
All sentences that do not belong to the above mentioned group (i.e. all sentences in Present Simple or Past Simple with a main verb other than 'be' or 'have', 'have got' or 'can', 'may', 'might', 'could', 'would', 'should', 'shall', and 'will' ) are negated with the auxiliary verb 'do' as follows:
The tense must be the same in the positive and the negative sentence! The main verb in the positive sentence is replaced by the appropriate negative form of the verb 'do'; (appropriate means that the verb 'do' must be in the same tense as the original verb)
negative forms of 'do':
Present Simple: Past Simple:
- I don't - we don't - I didn't - we didn't
- you don't - you don't - you didn't - you didn't
- he/she/it doesn't - they don't - he/ she/ it didn't - they didn't
The verb 'do' is then followed by the original verb in its BASE FORM!
"do" can NEVER be followed by a verb in any other tense form (e.g. past participle etc.)Examples:
They like ice cream. They don't like ice cream.
She plays the flute. She doesn't play the flute.
We went to the cinema. We didn't go to the cinema.
They had breakfast. They didn't have breakfast.
Commands are always negated with 'don't' (even if the main verb is 'be' or 'have')
Open the door! Don't open the door!
Be there at 8 o'clock! Don't be late!
Have a look at this! Don't have a look at this!
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