Workshop

Asking Questions

Intermediate
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 Today’s discussion topics

• The three different types of questions used in English

• Rules to formulate subject questions and object questions

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 Warm up Activity 1
Questions are sentences that ask for information.
There are three types of questions.

Answer these questions:

- Do you know what the three types of questions are?
- What is a ‘subject’ question?
- What is an ‘object’ question?

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 Basic rules to ask questions
Subject questions Object questions
We use subject questions when we ask We use object questions when we ask
about the subject of a sentence: about the object of a sentence:

Somebody is watching you. Laura is reading a book.

Who is watching you? What is Laura reading?
(No change in the word order)

Something sad happened last week. Oliver opened the door.

What happened last week? What did Oliver open?
(No change in the word order) (subject placed after the auxiliary
verb)

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 Types of questions
Give some examples for each type of question below:

- “yes/no” questions
- “wh-” questions
- “tag” questions

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 Brainstorming - “Yes or no” questions
• Why is this type of question called a yes or no question?
This is the basic structure for yes or no questions:
Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb + Object or Other Information + ?

• Give examples of yes/no questions in each tense: present simple,

present continuous, present perfect.
• Give examples of yes/no questions in each tense: past simple, past
continuous, past perfect.
• Give examples of yes/no questions in each tense: future simple, future
continuous, future perfect.

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 Answer yes/no questions
• Do you like English?
• Are you taking an English lesson now?
• Have you seen my last post on Facebook?
• Did you have a nice evening?
• Had you been to Tenerife before 1995?
• Were you talking to me earlier on?
• Will you watch television tonight?
• Will you be eating dinner at 8 o’clock?
• Will you have practiced before your next lesson?

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 Brainstorming – wh- questions
The structure of a “wh- question” is usually like this:
“Wh-” Question Word/Phrase + Auxiliary Verb + Subject +
Main Verb + Object or Other Information + ?

• What wh- question words do you know?

• Can we make wh- questions negative?

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 Brainstorming ideas – wh questions
Explain the use of the following question words and give examples
Question word Use - Example
: Where
What
Whose
Who
Which
Why
When
How
How much
How many
How often
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 Answer wh- questions
Now, practice answering these wh- questions:

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 Brainstorming ideas - question tags
What different question tags are used in English?

Rule to keep in mind:

Positive statement + Negative tag
Negative statement + Positive tag

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 Practice – question tags
Finish the sentences with question tags:

1. Lynne didn’t like the meal, ………………?

2. Alison plays the piano on Sundays, ………………?
3. You didn’t understand this text, ………………?
4. We will be working tomorrow, ………………?
5. Our meeting is at 1:00pm, ………………?
6. The website isn’t working, ………………?

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 Vocabulary review Activity 2
• Where • Did
• What • Have
• Who • were
• Which
• Whose
• When

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 Knowledge check in context Activity 3

You are a vegetarian and cannot find You are the waiter, you are going from
anything suitable on the menu and want one table to the other, you must be
the kitchen to offer alternatives… patient and polite at all times!

You are at the travel agency, you want to You are the travel agent, help your client
plan your dream holiday… problem is, plan the perfect holiday…
you don’t really know what you want!

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 Idioms and Typical Phrases Activity 4
“You will be sorry that you asked”
1. The answer to your question is excellent news and will please you.
2. The answer to your question is extremely bad and will sadden you.
3. The answer to the question you just asked won’t matter to you at all.

“To ask for the moon”

1. To ask to be taken on a trip very far away from home.
2. To make outlandish requests for something, such as a lot of money or
special privileges.
3. To request to be left in peace.

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 Activity Instructions
• Activity 1. Prepare a written answer to each question from the
introduction slide. Try to use key phrases and vocabulary from the
workshop.
• Activity 2. Create sentences using the words contained in the
vocabulary slide. When possible, use several words per sentence.
• Activity 3. Answer the questions asked in the knowledge check
slide. Use the new vocabulary and expressions contained in the
workshop and acquired with the trainer.
• Activity 4: Explain what you think each idiom means by using
each one in an imagined context.

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