Question forms

Do you know how to make questions? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how questions are made.

Is he a teacher?
Does she eat meat?
When did you get here?
How much does a train ticket cost?

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1: Question forms: Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

To make questions, we often put the verb before the subject. This is called inversion.

Affirmative	Question
I am late.	Am I late?
I can help.	Can I help?
She is sleeping.	Is she sleeping?
We have met before.	Have we met before?

If there is a question word (why, what, where, how, etc.), it goes before the verb.

Question	Question with question word
Are you late?	Why are you late?
Was she there?	When was she there?
Can I help?	How can I help?
Have we met before?	Where have we met before?

This is true for sentences with be, sentences that have auxiliary verbs (e.g. They are waiting. She has finished.) and sentences with modal verbs (can, will, should, might, etc.).

Questions in the present simple and past simple

For other verbs in the present simple, we use the auxiliary verb do/does in the question.

Affirmative	Question	Question with question word
You work at home.	Do you work* at home?*	Where do you work?
It costs £10.	Does it cost £10?	How much does* it cost?*

We use the auxiliary verb did in the past simple.

Affirmative	Question	Question with question word
She went home.	Did she go home?	Where did* she go?*
They went to the cinema.	Did they go to the cinema?	Where did* they go?*

Subject questions

In some questions, who or what is the subject of the verb. There is no inversion of subject and verb in these questions.

Who broke the window?
Who is knocking on the door?

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2: Question forms: Grammar test 2

Try another grammar lesson

Language level

A1 Elementary

A2 Pre-intermediate

is it enough for me to study the free part in this platform ?

can you advice me regard it ?

how can I organize my time to cope with platform ?

is there any additional information ?

Hello Husseinzakariahassan,

If you use the free available materials on LearnEnglish you will certainly be able to make progress and improve your English; if you take a course with a tutor then you'll make faster progress.

I can't say which option is better for you, of course, as I don't know your personal situation. I can give you some links where you can find more information, however:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/getting-started

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/frequently-asked-questions

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team