English Upper-Intermediate B2 Part 1

Our first topic is going to be about questions in English. What kinds are there and how do we form them?

There are different types of questions in English. 
Some are more polite, others more direct. Some are open-ended, others closed-ended.  Some ask for information about the object of the verb, others focus on the subject. 
In the following videos we’re going to take a look at several different question types and how to properly form them. 

Let’s begin with the easiest questions; the ones with the verb be as a main verb
By main verb we mean that we translate it as the action in the sentence.  To make a question with the verb be, we invert the usual statement order. 
For example, if our statement is The project was successful, the question will be Was the project successful? The subject (подлог) and the verb (сказуемо) simply switch places. 
Similarly, You are certain is a statement, and to make it a question we change the order to Are you certain?
Here are some examples with question words as well: What was the final decision? Who is the new manager? 
As you can see, the verb be (which is in bold) is always before the subject. 
Notice that be can be used to make questions on its own. People often forget that, resulting in common mistakes like in What was make the final decision? Who is became the new manager? Was the project become successful? Are you feel certain?. In most cases if we translate the main verb as be in Bulgarian, we don’t need another verb, so Who is became the new manager for example cannot exist in this form. We can say Who is the new manager, or Who became the new manager, but we don’t need both verbs. Also, we also don’t need auxiliary verbs (спомагателни глаголи) like do or have.

So, when do we need auxiliary verb then? When we use another verb and not the verb be to present the action. 
Therefore these questions will be a bit different. Bear in mind that the auxiliary verb (underlined in these examples), is followed by the subject, and then we include the main verb, which is in bold here. You can see examples in different tenses – Simple, Continuous and Perfect: What have they decided? Which sponsor are they choosing for the next event? Do you feel certain? Did the project succeed?
We don’t translate auxiliary verbs in Bulgarian, but we need them in the sentence – otherwise the question won’t be correct, and you don’t want to end up with something like these: What are they decided? Which sponsor they choosing for the next event? Feel you certain? Succeeded the project?

The rules regarding the main verb in questions (no matter if it’s the verb be or something else), can be seen in other question types as well, so let’s look at Yes/No questions. They are closed-ended, meaning that we answer them with yes or no. We don’t include any question words in their structure.
As we said previously, if the main verb in the sentence is be, we begin with it, then we add the subject. This applies to any tense, as you can see: Are you European? Were you at the meeting last week? Are you in my team? Is your name Jackie?

If the main verb is not be, we need to begin with an auxiliary verb. It’s also possible to have a modal verb (like will, could, should, etc.) in the beginning, but modal verbs are translated so we don’t usually forget them. However, since we don’t translate auxiliaries in Bulgarian, people often omit them from the structure, so be careful.
First comes the auxiliary, then the subject, and after that we put the main verb. 
So, we ask Do you come from Bulgaria, not Come you from Bulgaria? We also don’t say Are you come from Bulgaria? You can see examples in other tenses as well: Did you say Bulgaria? Could you repeat your name? have we met before?

Our next type, Wh-questions, also observe the same word order.
The only difference is that these are open-ended questions, so we need to begin with a question word or phrase. You will notice that if the main verb is be, it is still in front of the subject, and we still don’t include auxiliary verbs: Where are you from? How long was the meeting? Which team are you in? Who was the previous manager?
As for other main verbs, they again aren’t in first position. We begin with a question word or words, then we have an auxiliary or modal verb, next comes the subject and then we include the main verb: Which companies have you worked for? How many colleagues can you manage? What are you working on? Whose idea did they choose?

The good thing about this word order is that it doesn’t matter what kind of tense you have. These elements will be present in the same sequence. Of course, there are some exceptions which we will discuss in another lesson.