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Questions: yes-no questions (Are you feeling cold?)

Questions that need either a yes or a no answer are called yes-no questions:

  • Do you like vanilla ice cream? (answer: yes or no)
  • Have you ever seen a ghost? (answer: yes or no)

Forming yes-no questions​

With an auxiliary verb​

We form yes-no questions with an auxiliary verb (be, do or have) + subject + main verb or with a modal verb + subject + main verb:

Be: Is she working very hard?Were they travelling together?
Do: Does that taste okay?Did you go to the concert?
Have: Have they eaten yet?Had they visited Rome before?
Modal: Could you help me lift this?Should I open the window?

Where there is no auxiliary verb be, have or modal verb already present in the statement, we use the auxiliary do, does, did:

Statement form (no auxiliary)Question form
You usually walk to work.Do you usually walk to work?Not: Walk you…?
You liked disco music in the 70s.Did you like disco music in the 70s?Not: Liked you…?

We don’t use an auxiliary verb when we use be as a main verb:

  • Is she your sister?
  • Not: Does she be your sister?
warning

When there is more than one auxiliary verb or a modal verb plus auxiliary verb(s), we only put the first auxiliary or the modal verb before the subject and the others after the subject:

Auxiliary + subject + auxiliary + verb

  • Is this phone call being recorded?
  • Not: Is being this phone call recorded? or Is being recorded this phone call?

Auxiliary + subject + auxiliary + verb

  • Has the garden been looked after while you were away?
  • Not: Has been the garden looked after while you were away? or Has been looked after the garden while you were away?

Modal + subject + auxiliary + auxiliary + verb

  • Should we have been writing this down?
  • Not: Should have we been writing this down?

We only put auxiliary and modal verbs, not main verbs, before the subject:

  • Where did you find the keys?
  • Not: Where did find you the keys?
See also
  • Be
  • Have

Without an auxiliary verb​

When we ask yes-no questions using the main verb be, we don’t use an auxiliary verb. The word order is: be + subject:

  • Is the weather nice in Turkey in the winter?
  • Was she angry when you told her about the accident?

When we ask yes-no questions with the main verb have, we can also use the word order verb + subject, but it sounds rather formal. We use have got and do as more neutral or informal alternatives:

  • Have you an identity card? (formal)
  • Do you have an identity card? (neutral)
  • Have you got an identity card? (informal)
warning

When we ask questions with the main verb have in the past to refer to possession, we use did … have rather than had … got:

  • Did you have your glasses with you when you left the car?
  • Had you got your glasses with you when you left the car? (less common)

Responding to yes-no questions​

Other ways of saying yes and no include yeah, yep, mm, okay, and nah, nope. These are informal:

  • A: Would you like to play tennis with me later?
  • B: Okay. (meaning yes)
  • A: Have you seen Greg?
  • B: Nope. (meaning no)

We can also give more than just a yes or no answer. We sometimes add more information:

  • A: Can I grow potatoes in a pot?
  • B: Yeah. They grow really well in pots.
  • A: Will you be going to Ryan’s party?
  • B: No. I’m actually going to be away on Friday night.

Sometimes we don’t use yes or no as a reply but the answer that we give means yes or no:

  • A: Do you know Tina Gomez?
  • B: We’ve known each other for years. We went to the same school. (meaning yes)
  • A: Do you have the Thrills latest album?
  • B: I’m afraid we’ve just sold the last one! (meaning no)

We sometimes respond using the auxiliary verb from the question instead of yes and no:

  • A: Hey Tim, did you go fishing today?
  • B: I did. I went with the boys.
  • A: Has Jason had breakfast?
  • B: He hasn’t. He’s still in bed.

Negative yes-no questions​

We usually use negative yes-no questions to check or confirm something we believe or expect to be the case, or when we consider that something is the best thing to do:

  • Isn’t that Pauline’s car? (I’m pretty sure that this is correct. I’m asking for confirmation.)
  • Shouldn’t we be leaving? (I think that we should leave now.)

We form negative yes-no questions with not. We usually use the contraction n’t. If we use not in its full form, the question sounds very formal:

  • Isn’t that the oldest building on this street?
warning

When using the full form not, the order auxiliary + subject (s) + not is more common than auxiliary + not + subject:

  • [AUX] Is [s] that [not] not the oldest building in this street? (formal) (preferred to [the very formal] Is not that the oldest building on this street?)

We can use negative yes-no questions to make invitations, offers and complaints stronger:

  • Won’t you stay for dinner? (invitation; stronger than Will you stay for dinner?)
  • Wouldn’t you like another coffee? (offer; stronger than Would you like another coffee?)
  • Can’t the manager do something about the noise? (complaint; stronger than Can the manager do something about the noise?)
See also
  • Requests
  • Invitations
  • Offers
  • Imperatives as offers and invitations
  • Invitations
  • Politeness
  • Hedges (just)

Intonation and yes-no questions​

The intonation of yes-no questions is normally either rising [↗ rising arrow] or fall-rising [↘ ↗ down up arrow] intonation depending on the meaning. If we do not know the answer, we use rising intonation. If we more or less know the answer and are looking for confirmation, we use fall-rising intonation:

  • Are you w↗arm enough?
  • Did you once li↘ve in Ir↗eland? (I think the answer is yes.)

We often use fall-rising intonation with yes-no questions when asking a number of questions together:

  • A: You’re living i↘n B↗ayswater? [Question 1]

  • B: Yeah. That’s right.

  • A: Are you rentin↘g you↗r house? [Question 2]

  • B: Yeah, we are.

  • A: Is it exp↘ensi↗ve? [Question 3]

  • B: It’s not very expensive for somewhere so near the city centre.

See also
  • Intonation