Hey guys, this is Alex. Thanks for clicking and welcome to this beginner lesson on simple
present yes/no questions. Now, these are not yes/no questions with the "be" verb in the
present tense. If you'd like to learn about yes/no questions with the "be" verb, you can
check out another lesson on www.engvid.com.
For this lesson we are looking at simple present yes/no questions which use the "do" verb.
So on the board we have two sentences. "He works downtown." "I live in New Delhi." Now,
the first sentence, "He works downtown." Imagine that the answer is, "Yes, he works downtown."
So, if the answer is, "Yes, he works downtown," what is the question? Here, the verb is "works."
The verb is not the "be" verb. If you have a simple present sentence where there is no
"be" verb, when you make a question, you need the auxiliary verb, which is the "do" verb.
So, here, if you have studied the "do" verb, you will know with "he," the subject "he,"
we say, "He does," not "He do," not "He did." Well, "He did" in the past. In the present,
it's "He does." So, here, no "be" verb. To make a yes/no question, what we have to do
is put the auxiliary verb, "do." Now, since the subject is "he," it's "does." "He," you
follow it with the subject, "Does he work downtown?" Now, one thing you have to notice
here is, in the third person, with present simple verbs, we know that you have to add
the "s." We say, "He works," in the affirmative. "He works downtown," with the "s." You say,
"I work," no "s." "You work," no "s." "He, she, it works," with "s." So, you see this,
and you say, "Hmm, he, does he work?" Why is it "work"? Why is there no "s"? Well, when
you make a yes/no question, or when you use an auxiliary verb, right? Like, "do" is an
auxiliary verb. The next verb will be the base form, okay? The base, base, base form.
Okay, so here we have, "Does he work downtown?" How do we give a short answer to this? Well,
you say, "Yes." "He does," for the affirmative. Or, if the answer is, "He doesn't work," say,
"No, he doesn't." And now, one mistake you have to be careful with is to not say, "Yes,
he works." Okay? Or, "No, he doesn't work." Okay? When you give a short answer, you need
to only give the auxiliary. "Yes, he does." Okay? You can also say, "Yes, he does work
downtown." But you can't say, "Yes, he does work." The meaning is different. You can't
say that.
In the second sentence, we have, "I live in New Delhi." Okay? The subject is "I." The
verb is "live." There is no "be" verb. So, if there is no "be" verb in a simple present
sentence, if you make a yes/no question, you need the auxiliary "do." Okay? So, the question
is, "Do..." We say "do" because the subject is really "you." You're asking this to another
person. "Do you..." And again, always, we have "do" or "does" plus the subject, plus
the base verb. "Do you live in New Delhi?" Okay? Now, here, "Do you live in New Delhi?"
Again, "do" or "does," the "do" verb, plus subject, plus the base verb. Always the base
verb. Okay? Now, the yes/no answers, "Yes, I do. No, I don't." Okay, guys. So, it's very,
very important to remember this formula for yes/no simple present questions. You have
"do" verb. Okay? Let's write this on the board. I'm going to write it here. "Do" or "does"
depends on the subject, plus the subject, plus the base verb. Okay? So, please remember
this formula when making yes/no questions that don't have the "be" verb. Okay, guys.
If you want to test your knowledge on this grammar point, please check out the quiz on
www.engvid.com. Good luck, and take care.