Using the right structure

If English is not your native language, or even if it is, then using the correct structure is integral to forming questions accurately.

There are two main structures when making questions in English:

Structure 1: Using the verb ‘to be’

Structure 2: Using all other verbs

Nearly all questions in English fall into these two structures. Learning them, and practicing them, is a priority for all learners of English.

The major difference between using the verb ‘to be’ and all other verbs in questions is that the verb ‘to be’ does not use an auxiliary.

The closed question

When a question doesn’t include a question word (for example, ‘Is he from Mexico?’) it is because it is a yes/no question, also known as a closed question.

These types of questions are great when you are looking for a quick, straight answer.

Indirect questions

English is a very indirect language, and native English speakers generally don’t respond well to questions that are too direct in nature. Therefore, indirect questions are vitally important.

How to make indirect questions

1)    Open-ended indirect questions using the verb ‘to be’

2)    Open-ended indirect questions using all other verbs

3)    Closed indirect questions (sometimes using would + past tense to emphasize politeness)

Indirect questions work really well in English because they put the respondent at ease. Use them as frequently as possible. That said when you need to get to the point, do it!

Other important considerations when asking questions

There is more to asking a great question than getting the structure right, of course. Here are some other important considerations when forming questions:

·  Judge your timing. There is a time and a place for questions. And there is a time and a place to just listen and observe. Judge the right time to ask your question, as incorrect timing may not lead to the type of answer you were looking for.

·  Emphasize the positive. All people respond better to positivity, so try to pitch your question with this in mind. For example, “What went wrong?” could be replaced with “What can we do to make this right?”

·  Dig deeper with further questions. The lead-off question might not be the only one you need to ask. Depending on what the answer is, don’t be afraid to delve a little deeper to help you really understand. Just because you have asked the question, it doesn’t mean that you should just accept the answer as it is. “Could you give me an example?” is a really powerful follow-up question.

·  Pitch your question just right with the language you use. Don’t be too technical if you are speaking with a non-technical person. Don’t be too informal in your language if you are dealing with high-level management. Think about your audience at all times.

·  Don’t interrupt. This is a frequently made mistake. Once you have asked the question, let the other person respond. Don’t interrupt, and don’t dig into their answer until they have finished speaking. Prepare good follow-up questions for when the time comes that they have finished speaking and make sure that they don’t answer one of those follow-up questions in their initial response because that means you weren’t listening.

·  Listen. There is nothing worse than failing to listen to the answer that is given.

The post How-To Make Great Questions appeared first on Linguix Blog.

The table below reveals all the major verb tenses in English (there may be other niche tenses which are only used in very specific circumstances) and what they are for.

The table below reveals many of the major verb tenses in English, along with the other tenses they are typically used with. The collaborative nature of the verb tenses is one of the most difficult things to learn, as it is this aspect which can be most different between languages.

For this reason, it’s important to learn how to use verb tenses together. In fact, this is one of the keys to becoming fluent.

These are not all the tenses in English, but they are all of the most common. The ONLY tenses in English that MUST be used with other tenses (unless you state a specific time*) are past continuous and past perfect.

Past continuous is used to tell us when a longer action in the past was interrupted by another action (therefore, it MUST be used with another tense). For example,

“I was playing tennis yesterday when it started to rain.”

(playing tennis = long action that was interrupted, started to rain = the action that was the cause of the interruption)

Past perfect is used to talk about an action or situation that happened before another action.

“I hadn’t seen the new Star Wars film, so I went to see it yesterday.”

(hadn’t seen = the action that was the furthest in the past, went to see = the most recent past action)

* If you state a specific time, you can avoid the need to use these verb tenses in conjunction with another. For example:

“At 2 PM yesterday I was watching TV.”

“In June 2002, I had been living in London for nearly two years.”

The post The English Verb Tenses, and Their Relationship appeared first on Linguix Blog.