Question formation

1.    Can you drive? Why are you crying?

2.    Where do you live? Did you go out last night?

3.    Why didn’t you like the film? Isn’t this a beautiful place?

4.    What are they talking about? Where is she from?

5.    Who lives in this house? How many people came to the party?

6.    Could you tell me where this bus goes?

Do you know if he’s coming?

1 - To make questions with modal verbs and with tenses where there is an auxiliary verb (be, have, etc.) invert the subject and the modal / auxiliary verb.

2 - With the present and past simple, add do/ does or did before the subject.

3- We often use negative questions to show surprise or when you expect somebody to agree with you.

4- If a verb is followed by a preposition, the preposition comes at the end of the question, e.g. What are you talking about? NOT About what are you talking?

• We often just use the question word and the preposition,

e.g.A : I’m thinking. B: What about?

5- When who/ what/ which, etc. is the subject of the question, don’t  use do/ did, e.g. Who wrote this? NOT Who did write this?

6- Use indirect questions when you want to ask a question in a more polite way.

Where does she live?(direct) Could you tell me where she lives?(indirect)

• In indirect questions the order is subject + verb.

Can you tell me where it is? NOT Can you tell me where is it?

• Don’t use do/ did in the second part of the question. Do you know where he lives? NOT does live.

• You can use if or whether after Can you tell me, Do you know, etc., e.g. Can you tell me if/ whether he’s at home?

Source: www.oup.com/elt/englishfile/upper-intermediate Study Link