word order – Teacher Julieta

Asking questions in English can be tricky, eh!

Sometimes we have to invert the subject and the verb to make a question.

Example:

You are my friend

Are you my friend?

Sometimes we have to use an auxiliary verb to make a question.

Example:

You like coffee.

Do you like coffee?

Is there an easy way to remember how to use auxiliary verbs correctly?

I’ve found that using charts is a great way to visualize the differences. Charts also help you remember which auxiliary to use when asking questions in English.

Verb be

Verb be is a unique verb that can change its position to change a sentence into a question.

A. Simple present

Subject	Affirmative S V O	Question S <-> V (V S O)
I	I am late.	Am I late?
You	You are Canadian.	Are you Canadian?
He	He is your father.	Is he your father?
She	She is our teacher.	Is she our teacher?
It	It is okay to make mistakes.	Is it okay to make mistakes?
We	We are tired.	Are we tired?
They	They are Brazilian.	Are they Brazilian?

B. Simple past

Subject	Affirmative S V O	Question S <-> V (V S O)
I	I was late.	Was I late?
You	You were sick yesterday.	Were you sick yesterday?
He	He was my best friend.	Was he my best friend?
She	She was our teacher.	Was she our teacher?
It	It was okay to make mistakes.	Was it okay to make mistakes?
We	We were tired last night.	Were we tired last night?
They	They were very hungry.	Were they very hungry?

AUXILIARIES

An auxiliary verb is not an action verb, rather it helps the action verb to convey its meaning. Therefore, it is also known as helping verb. Auxiliary verbs are used with main verbs to help express the tense.

Verb be is an auxiliary in the continuous tenses

C. Present continuous

(Aux: am/is/are)

Subject	Affirmative Subject + Aux + verbing	Question Aux + Subject + verbing
I	I am studying English.	Am I studying English?
You	You are living in Canada.	Are you living in Canada?
He	He is traveling to France.	Is he traveling to France?
She	She is chatting with her friends.	Is she chatting with her friends?
It	It is raining.	Is it raining?
We	We are having a good time.	Are we having a good time?
They	They are doing a great job.	Are they doing a great job?

D. Past continuous

(Aux: was/ were)

Subject	Affirmative Subject + Aux + verbing	Question Aux + Subject + verbing
I	I was studying English this morning.	Was I studying English this morning?
You	You were living in Canada last year.	Were you living in Canada last year?
He	He was traveling to yesterday.	Was he traveling to France yesterday?
She	She was chatting with her friends.	Was she chatting with her friends?
It	It was raining two hours ago.	Was it raining two hours ago?
We	We were having a good time.	Were we having a good time?
They	They were doing a great job.	Were they doing a great job?

Do is an auxiliary verb (Aux) that we use when we want to ask questions in simple present.

E. Simple present

Subject	Affirmative S V O	Question Aux + Subject + verb
I	I like studying English.	Do I like studying English?
You	You live in Canada.	Do you live in Canada?
He	He travels to France once a year.	Does he travel to France once a year?
She	She chats with Mike every day.	Does she chat with Mike every day?
It	It (The dog) plays with the children.	Does it (the dog) play with the children?
We	We always have a good time in class.	Do we always have a good time in class?
They	They always do a great job.	Do they always do a great job?

Did is an auxiliary verb (Aux) that we use when we want to ask questions in simple past.

E. Simple past

Subject	Affirmative S V O	Question Aux + Subject + verb
I	I liked studying English.	Did I like studying English?
You	You lived in Canada.	Did you live in Canada?
He	He traveled to France last year.	Did he travel to France last year?
She	She chatted with Mike yesterday.	Did she chat with Mike yesterday?
It	It (The dog) played with the children yesterday.	Did it (the dog) play with the children yesterday?
We	We had a good time in class yesterday.	Did we have a good time in class yesterday?
They	They did a great job.	Did they do a great job?

Have is an auxiliary verb (Aux) that we use when we want to ask questions in present perfect and present perfect continuous.

F. Present Perfect

(Aux: have/has)

Subject	Affirmative S + Aux + past participle	Question Aux + Subject + verb
I	I have studied English for 2 years.	Have I studied English for 2 years?
You	You have lived in Canada since 2010.	Have you lived in Canada since 2010?
He	He has traveled to France twice.	Has he traveled to France twice?
She	She has done her homework.	Has she done her homework?
It	It (The dog) has run away.	Has it (the dog) run away?
We	We have finished the course.	Have we we finished the course?
They	They have found a good job.	Have they found a good job?

G. Present Perfect Continuous

(Aux: have been/has been)

Subject	Affirmative S + Aux + verbing	Question Aux + Subject + verb
I	I have been studying English for 2 years.	Have I been studying English for 2 years?
You	You have been living in Canada since 2010.	Have you been living in Canada since 2010?
He	He has been working in France for 2 years .	Has he been working in France for 2 years?
She	She has been doing her homework since 5 o’ clock.	Has she been doing her homework since 5 o’clock?
It	It (The dog) has been sleeping all day.	Has it (the dog) been sleeping all day?
We	We have been taking this course since April.	Have we been taking this course since April?
They	They have been looking for a job since April.	Have they been looking for a good job since April?