Question forms


Question forms
 
We make questions by:

1: moving an auxiliary to the front of the clause:

Everybody is watching
>> 
Is everybody watching?
They had worked hard
>> 
Had they worked hard?
He's finished work
>> 
Has he finished work?
Everybody had been working hard
>> 
Had everybody been working hard?
He has been singing
>> 
Has he been singing?
English is spoken all over the world
>> 
Is English spoken all over the world?
The windows have been cleaned
>> 
Have the windows been cleaned?
2: … or by moving a modal to the front of the clause:
They will come
>> 
Will they come?
He might come
>> 
Might he come?
They will have arrived by now
>> 
Will they have arrived by now?
She would have been listening
>> 
Would she have been listening?
The work will be finished soon
>> 
Will the work be finished soon?
They might have been invited to the party
>> 
Might they have been invited to the party?

3: The present simple and the past simple have no auxiliary. We make questions by adding the auxiliary do/does for the present simple or did for the past simple:
They live here
>> 
Do they live here?
John lives here
>> 
Does John live here?
Everybody laughed
>> 
Did everybody laugh?


finished
themselves.
hard.
work.


A verb with "have" and the past participle expresses perfect aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect, and a verb with had expresses past perfect.
4) an auxiliary verb ("have" + "been") and a main verb in the –ing form:


Auxiliary "have" + "been"
Verb (-ing)

Everybody
He
has been
had been
working
singing
hard
 

A verb with "have" and "been" and the present participle expresses perfect continuous aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect continuous, and a verb with had expresses past perfect continuous.
5) a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and a main verb:


Modal Verb
Main verb
They
He
will
might
come.
come.


6) We can use modal verbs with the auxiliaries "be", "have", and "have been":


Modal
Auxiliary
 Verb
They
He
She
will
might
must
be
have
have been
listening
arrived
listening

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