Questions

Watch Emma's class:

How long time?

Questions are NOT actually hard to form. For example:

Who?
When?
What?
Why?
How?
Where?
Which?

That's 7 questions made with only a single word.

Start with some basic (pre-int) grammar:

Questions help us manage a conversation - steer it, control it, make it GO where we want it to.

If we find it tricky to articulate questions, it can be really hard to even think of them, and to develop a conversation fully. It ends up getting stuck in the mud.

Even native speakers may be quite limited in using different forms of question. 

Think of questions as the keys that open conversations up. Or the crane that lifts you out of the mud.

Insert the missing words, then use these questions to interview someone you don't know very well.

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When in conversation, be explorative and proactive. Prompt your conversational partners. Try to anticipate and direct the subject matter by asking interesting questions that lead the conversation somewhere interesting.

A well-known English teacher I once knew always used to ask her students this question at the end of a lesson:

"What questions did you ask today?"

Prompts like these elicit further input from a conversational partner. Use them!

Really?
Interesting.
Go on?
Okay.
Yes?
Great.

Continue.
Did you really?
Perfect.
Nice.
How terrible.
Oh.
And?
Then what?
So?
Crazy!
Amazing.
No!?
You're kidding, aren't you?
Funny. Keep talking!
Good one.
Good for you.
Of course.
No way!?
Ha ha.
Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah!

Echoing:

Another easy way to keep the other person talking is to echo the key thing they're saying, like this:

A) I'm going to the movies tonight.

B) The movies?

 In this dialogue the speakers echo one another to maintain clarity. Guess the words in the gaps.

A) I'm going to the movies tonight.

B) The _______?

A) Yes, I'm going to see a new anime movie.

B) An _______ movie?

A) It's a new one from Studio Ghibli.

B) ___________! I love those movies.

A)You _____ them?

B) Of course - what's the title?

A) The _____ - I'm not sure. I'll google it.

B) Okay ______ it. If I haven't seen it, could I come along?

A) Sure, you can _____ _____... Here it is - it's called Ponyo.

B) ______ - I don't think I've seen that one.

A) Well, it's on a 6.45 tonight.

B) ______. Great. I'm keen to come.

A) _____! Let's meet here at school at 5.15 and then walk down to the cinema.

B) _____. Sure thing, I'll be here.

Check

A) I'm going to the movies tonight.

B) The movies?

A) Yes, I'm going to see a new anime movie.

B) An Anime movie?

A) It's a new one from Studio Ghibli.

B) Studio Ghibli! I love those movies.

A)You love them?

B) Of course - what's the title?

A) The title - I'm not sure. I'll google it.

B) Okay google it. If I haven't seen it, could I come along?

A) Sure, you can come along... Here it is - it's called Ponyo.

B) Ponyo - I don't think I've seen that one.

A) Well, it's on a 6.45 tonight.

B) 6.45. Great. I'm keen to come.

A) Great! Let's meet here at school at 5.15 and then walk down to the cinema.

B) 5.15. Sure thing, I'll be here.

Don't just do these exercises on your own. Try them right now with real people! Set yourself a simple goal. When you're talking in class and outside of class today, make sure you try using some new interjections and prompts, and try echoing a bit.

Instead of saying "okay" and "yes" try saying something less predictable. You will find this helps the other person feel more heard.

Common grammatical blocks

Watch Emma's class:

How long time?



What kind of question is it? 

a yes/no question, a subject question, a tag question, a rhetorical question, an indirect question...?


Can you imagine a world without ... ?
What kind of life would we have lived without ... ?
You mean ... might not be the only ... ?
How could that possibly be better than ... ?
Wouldn’t you say ... ?
Is there anything you want to add ... ?
Does it make sense that ... ?
It was said ... , wasn’t it?

What's the general purpose of these questions?

 Practice your question formation here

And here

Reacting to questions

When someone asks you a question, try commenting on the question before you answer it.

Oh, it's funny you should ask me that because...

I was wondering if you'd ask me that.

I wasn't expecting that question.

That's an interesting question.

I like the question.

That's a tricky one

This question makes me feel happy because...

I was hoping you'd ask me that.

Oh not that question!

Hmmm. Let me think about that.

Can you be more specific?

Can you rephrase the question?

What do you mean exactly?

Good question.

Tough question.

Nice question.

Subject question formation:

SIMPLE PRESENT QUESTIONS:

QUESTION WORD	AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	MAIN VERB
Where	do	you	work?
What	does	Martha	think	about the project?
How	do	you	like	your new apartment?
How many kids	does	Bob	have?

SIMPLE PAST QUESTIONS:

QUESTION WORD	AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	MAIN VERB
How	did	they	learn	English so fast?
When	did	you	get home	from work yesterday?
What	did	the manager	think	about your idea?
Where	did	you	buy	that T-shirt?

PRESENT CONTINUOUS QUESTIONS:

QUESTION WORD	AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	MAIN VERB
What	are	you	doing	at the moment?
Why	is	he	ignoring	me?
What time	are	we	meeting up	for dinner?
Who	is	she	dating	now?

PAST CONTINUOUS QUESTIONS:

QUESTION WORD	AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	MAIN VERB
Who	were	you	talking	to on the phone?
What	was	Jim	doing	when you called?
Why	were	the children	eating	candy before dinner?
How	was	he	feeling	after the surgery?

PRESENT PERFECT QUESTIONS:

QUESTION WORD	AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	MAIN VERB
How much money	have	you	spent	on clothes this month?
How long	has	your teacher	worked	at this school?
What	have	they	been doing	all day?
How long	has	the client	been waiting	for their order?

FUTURE QUESTIONS:

QUESTION WORD	AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	MAIN VERB
Who	will	you	invite	to the party?
What	will	your parents	think	about your plan?
When	are	you	going	to clean your room?
Why	is	she	going	to quit her job?

MODAL QUESTIONS:

QUESTION WORD	AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	MAIN VERB
What	would	you	do	if you had a million dollars?
How	could	we	improve	our English?
Where	should	I	go	on my next vacation?