Hi, everyone. Today we're going to talk about how to make questions, so how to
form questions in English, and we're going to start by talking about the verb
TO BE because it's a little different than the other verbs. So it's a bit of an
exception, and we're going to talk about making questions with TO BE that have a
yes or a no answer. So the answer is yes or no.
To make a question with TO BE, we have to flip the subject and the verb. So for example, if I
had a sentence saying "You are teacher", I would flip the subject and the verb to
make it a question and I would say to Larissa, "Are you a teacher?" And I would say, "yes."
Okay, so that's it. You flip the subject and the verb.
Another example: if I have a sentence, "He is late", and I want to make a question,
I flip the HE and the IS: "Is he late?" No, he's right over there.. on time!
Okay, and the last example: if I said "We are happy," but I want to make a question..
I don't know why I would need to..but I would say, "Are we happy?" No.
Come on! Yes, yes, we are happy. Always.
All the other verbs work the, same way. For these verbs when you take your sentence, and you want to
make it into a question, you don't need to flip anything around. We just add
a word - a helping word or an auxiliary verb - at the beginning. This word is
either DO or DOES in the simple present. DO if we're talking about I, you, we, and they.
DOES if we're talking about he, she, and it. DO or DOES and then your sentence.
If I have a sentence "I like pizza," and I want to make it a question, I can say.
"Do I like pizza?" She's asking herself. Do I like pizza? Yes, I think I do.
Another example: I could say, "Does he play piano?" No, not very well. Too bad.
So she said DOES because HE is one of those three
subjects that needs DOES instead of DO.
Another example with DO: DO they swim? They do swim.
Okay, we're going to play a game. (Woo!) Larissa and I both have a little paper crown.
We're queens..today. Yes. Looking fabulous.
So how it works is
we have some cards that we've written, that the other person hasn't seen, and they
have animals on them. So I'll put a card in my little crown and then I'll have to
ask Larissa questions to try to guess what animal it is. So she knows and can
answer my questions for me. So I'll say "Am I big?" or "Do I have claws?" and she'll
tell me yes or no, and then I'll see if I can guess.
Are you ready? Okay so you've seen this. Yes. So show the people. [mumbling]
Alright, so I don't know what this is. I'm going to ask some questions.
Ok, Misha. Am I large? Yes.
Do I live in Asia? Uh I think you live in most of the world.
Ok, and I am large. Do I eat animal? Yes. Do I eat humans? Sometimes.
Oh! Do I live on land? No. Do I swim? Yes. Am I a shark? You're a shark!
Scary.
Okay, my turn. You ready?
Ok, ready? Yeah.
Do I live on land? Yes. Am I large? No. Do I eat other creatures? No.
Do I live in Canada? Yes. Do I have fur? Yes.
Do I live on a farm? No. Do I live in a house? No.
Do I have brown fur? Yes, often. Do I have a tail? Yes.
[mumbling to herself] Do people like me? Yes. Am I a bunny? No.
Do I live underground? No. Tough one.
You're very common. Am I a squirrel? Yes. That was a helpful little hint.
Squirrel is a very hard word to say. Squirrel.
My turn.
Am I small? No. Do I live in a house? No.
It's a funny picture. Do I live in North America? Yes.
Do I live in a forest? No. Do I live on a farm? Yes.
Am I brown? You could be. Am I black and white? You could be.
Am I a cow? Yes. Do I make milk?
I'm a cow! I was waiting for the moo. MOO!
Ok, next.
Do I live in Canada? No. Do I live somewhere in Africa? Yes.
Am I large? Yes. Am I an elephant? No. Do I have fur? No.
Do I eat from trees? Yes. A giraffe? You are a giraffe.
Funny story: (yeah, great) When I was a teenager,
family called me a giraffe because my neck was so long. You do have a long neck.
Do you eat trees? I don't eat trees. Plants...
Yeah, that's true.
Okay. Here we go. Am I forest animal? No.
Am I a pet? No. I like the ways she says that: no!
Do I live in a warm place? Yes. Do I eat animals? No.
Am I large? You're medium.
Do I swim? No.
Do I run fast? You run. I don't know that you're particularly fast.
Do I fly? No.
I run, but not really fast. I mean, you can run but you're not known as a fast runner.
Do I have antlers or horns no anything on my head? Ears.
Do I have long ears or big ears? No.
Do I live in Asia? No. Am I colourful? Not colourful...
Am I striped? Yes. Am I a zebra? Yes.
Last one. Okay.
Do I live in Canada? Yes.
Am I large? No.
Do I have fur? No. Do I fly? No.
Do I swim? Yes. Am I a salmon? No. Am I a fish? No.
Am I a turtle? No. (But you're getting closer.) A beaver? No.
I swim...[Am I] a frog? Yes!
All right. Let's summarize. When you want to make a question that has an answer
which is yes or no with the verb TO BE, you just take the subject and the verb
and you switch them. In"stead of Misha is good at this game,"
I can say "Is Misha good at this game?" That's more appropriate, I think.
And you can answer that one yourself.
If we're using any other verb other than TO BE, what we do
to make it a question word is we add the auxiliary or helper verb - either DO or DOES,
depending on the subject. So I, you, we, they, you, we use DO. He, she or it is DOES.
So for example, I could say..if I want to know whether Larissa likes this game,
I could say, "Do you like this game?" I sure do.
I could say, "Do you know how to form questions?" I know how to form questions.
Okay, so you can play this game at home - like all of our games. Give it a try.
You will feel a little silly with the card on your head, but it's
part of the fun. It's part of the fun to be silly.
One more question: Do you want to see more videos?
If you do, if the answer is yes,
then you can just hit the subscribe button or if you wait, at the
end of this video, will give you some other videos to watch. Enjoy!
[mumbling about how to wear the headbands]
...we just have to look stupid..
Look that way. Where's the camera?