Questions in English: types and structure

Ability to ask questions in a foreign language is the most important communicative skill, because dialogue without questions is impossible. Therefore, learners of English need to learn how to correctly set them. The main difference from the Russian language is the specific order of words in the question and the presence of an auxiliary verb, while in Russian, in most cases, it is sufficient to use the appropriate intonation to create the question.
First of all, it is necessary to understand the existing types. Questions in the English language are divided into 4 groups: general, alternative, special and separative. There is another, very unusual type - an indirect question, which is not included in the traditional classification.

Common questions in English are those that suggest a short answer, either affirmative or negative. It is necessary to take into account the specificity of the answer to the general question - necessarily with an auxiliary verb, simply the answer Yes or No to the ear of the native speaker sounds abruptly and even rudely. The general question is based on the following scheme:

The auxiliary verb - the subject - the semantic verb
Did he leave the party early yesterday?

It is necessary to consider which auxiliary verb corresponds to the time you use. By learning the order of words that characterizes the general question, you will no longer experience difficulties in formulating the remaining questions in English.
Alternative questions in form resemble common ones. Questions of this type offer a choice, for example, in Russian "Do you prefer coffee or tea?" . Strictly speaking, the difference between a general and an alternative question is the answer:
General Do you eat fish?
Variants of answer Yes, I do / No, I do not.
Alternative Do you like fish or meat?
Possible answer I like fish.

• Special questions in English are questions aimed at obtaining information. In other humanities, they are called open, as opposed to closed, which presuppose only a "Yes" or "No" answer. Such questions in the English language make it possible to learn the following data:
• Who Who
• Where Where
• When When
• What What
• Who Who (m)
• Why Why
• Which Which
• How How
• How Much How much / many

Structurally, special questions are similar to common ones, however, an appropriate question word must be used before the auxiliary verb.

Interrogative word - auxiliary verb - subject - semantic verb

How does he normally get to work?

Specifically, it should be clarified how those questions are constructed in the English language that request information about the subject-subject. For example, Jack broke the vase . If we want to find out who broke the vase Who broke the vase? - The auxiliary verb must be omitted.

Separating questions are two-part, in Russian this type would sound like this : "You've already seen this film, have not you?" The structure of this question in English is very simple: the first part is an affirmative or negative sentence, while the "tail" depends on the time and mode of the first part: You do not know this topic, do you? - negation in the first part and a positive second. You have met him before, have not you? - the statement in the first part and the negation in the second. It is important to note that the response should be on the main part, that is, in the sentence They have missed the plane, have they ?, if you want to agree, then the correct answer is Yes, they have , in case of negation - use No, they haven ' T.
Indirect questions are also two-part, in Russian such a question would sound like "Will you tell me how to get to the library?" . One part of such a question is a phrase of politeness, the second part carries a semantic load. Its specificity lies in the fact that the second part does not require any changes in word order, that is, we use the direct order of words, as in the statement, and therefore there is no need for an auxiliary verb. This is due to the fact that the load of the question, as such, is contained in the first part.

And finally, in order to make it easier to understand the form of the question, we can first present an answer, then it is clear what type of question to use better, and the main thing, knowing the form of the answer, is easier to formulate the question itself.