Hello! In this video lesson we’ll take a look at some easier question types, which are also typically used in informal situations.
We’ll start with Mirror questions. We use them confirm information, express surprise, or to focus on a specific part of an utterance that we didn’t hear or don’t understand. In the example Did you hear that Sarah and Jack got married? we can see different reactions to the information. One person is surprised: They did what? Another person didn’t hear Jack’s name: Sarah and who? Both ladies have formed mirror questions. Do you notice the word order? It’s different than what we would have with questions like What did they do? or Who did Sarah marry?
When we want to use a mirror question we have just a part of the original utterance, with a question word replacing what we’re interested in or surprised by. We use appropriate question words depending on what we’re asking about – who for a person, when for a time, where for a place, which for an object, etc. Be careful when you want to ask about an action – then we need to include the verb do (in our chosen tense), followed by what. And we do what with the question word? We stress it (поставяме под ударение) to focus on that information. These questions are very useful when we want to understand instructions and directions better.
Let’s look at some more examples. We’re told by someone I want to visit a boulangerie. We’ve never heard of the word boulangerie, so we can ask Visit a what?
The clients escalated the case. We didn’t hear the verb, so we can ask They did what?
Their service is not expensive, it’s just 500 euros. -> It’s just how much?
Sam and Tom went to the HQ. -> They went where?
Have you seen Carson’s car? -> Whose car?
As you can see, these are very easy and convenient, much like the next type - Negative questions. Haven’t you encountered them before? They follow the typical question word order. The only difference is that if we have a question with the verb be as a main verb, it is in the negative form: Isn’t the coffee a bit too sweet?
And if the question is with another main verb and not be, we need to make the auxiliary verb negative. We do the same if we have a modal verb: Don’t you like sweet things? Haven’t I told you? Didn’t you put extra sugar? Why don’t you get a new one? Won’t it be too expensive?
We can use negative questions to confirm information, express surprise or disappointment, ask for a reason, even give advice.
Last but not least, we have the most informal questions. These are short and usually consist of minimal number of words. We can expect them in an informal conversation. They are are stripped of everything but the most important parts that we need to be understood, for example: Where to? Who with? Where to? How come? Why not? Why is that? How so?, etc. Try not to use them in a formal situation because they might sound too direct and a bit rude.
Hopefully these will be useful in your everyday conversations.
