​Questions and short answers

​1 Auxiliary verbs

We use be, have and do to form tenses, questions and negative forms, and we use them in short answers, question tags, etc. In all these cases they are called auxiliary verbs.

• We use be(+ verb + -ing) to form continuous tenses.

Present continuous: He’s studying to become a doctor.

Past continuous: I was talking to Charles the other day.

• We use have (+ past participle) to form perfect tenses.

Present perfect: We’ve been here for three months.

Past perfect: The film had started when we got there.

• We use do in simple tenses (in the question and negative forms).

​ Present simple: Do all your family live round here?

Past simple: I didn’t get your email.

​2 Auxiliary verbs in questions

• In continuous and perfect tenses, questions are formed by inverting the      subject and auxiliary verb.

  Is he studying to become a doctor?

  How long have your brother and sister lived here?

• In simple tenses, we add do/does or did (see above).

​3 Wh- questions

• We form many questions with wh- words and phrases.

When …? Where …? What …? Which …? Why …? Who …? Whose …? How …? What kind of …? What sort of …? What time …? What color …? How many …? How much …? How often …? How old …? What exactly …? Where exactly …? Why exactly …? Which book/school/woman, etc. …?

• Notice the word order after most Wh- questions.

​4 Auxiliaries used on their own

​SHORT ANSWERS

• These can make the speaker sound more polite/interested.

  A: Have you been here before?

  B: Yes, I have.

.• We also use auxiliaries to avoid repeating long sentences.

  A: Does your family live in Paris?

  B: My father does, but my mother doesn’t.

​SHORT QUESTIONS AND QUESTION TAGS

  A: My brother’s gone to live in Australia.

  B: Has he?

  You were at home last night, weren’t you?

Choose the correct auxiliary verb.

​Complete the questions with suitable words.

​Put the words in the correct order to make questions.