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Success Strategies
First Edition, Volume I: August 2006
Part II- English Language Grammar Primer & Exercises
INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE
So far we’ve only considered the sentence structure for indicative sentences, that is sentences which state facts. When we ask for facts, we use interrogative sentences, or questions. There are two types of questions: yes-no and information-seeking. The interrogative sentence belongs to one of the 5 basic sentence structures, but the order of words is changed in order to form a question.
Yes-No Questions
Question sentences usually split the verb by using a process known as subject-auxiliary inversion. This simply means you reverse the positions of the (first) auxiliary and the subject.
Examples: |
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Situation |
Indicative |
Interrogative |
|
1-aux. |
You will do the dance! |
Will you do the dance? |
(Aux + S + V + DO) |
2-aux |
Bill has been smoking. |
Has Bill been smoking? |
(Aux + S + Aux + V) |
3-aux. |
I should have been skiing. |
Should I have been skiing? |
(Aux + S + Aux + V) |
No aux. |
He caught a fish. |
Did he catch a fish? |
(Aux + S + V + DO) |
‘to be’ |
You are cold. |
|
(S + V + SC) |
‘to be’ |
|
Are you cold? |
(V + S + SC) |
Questions Seeking Information
In this type of question, a question word replaces one of the major sentence components (S, SC, OC, DO, IO, or OP). This question word is generally in the beginning of the sentence, and the sentence may undergo a subject-auxiliary inversion. In the following examples, the question word and the answer it seeks are underlined.
Examples: |
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Type |
Interrogative |
Indicative |
|
S + V |
Who sleeps in class? |
(S + V) | Yuri sleeps in class. |
SC + V + S |
Who is Mr. Gill? |
(SC + V + S) | Mr. Gill is my brother. |
S + V + DO |
How much did I score on the test? |
(DO + Aux + S + V) | I scored 85 on the test. |
S + V + IO + DO |
Whom did I give a cookie? |
(IO + Aux + S + V + DO) | I gave him a cookie. |
S + V + DO + OC |
What did he call me? |
(OC + Aux + S + V + DO) | He called me lame. |
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A question word can also replace a prepositional phrase or just the object of the preposition (OP). In the latter case, the prepositional phrase with the question word as the OP is moved to the front of the sentence.
Interrogative |
Indicative |
|
Where is Ike? |
(v + s) | Ike is in the garage. |
To whom did Greg give the key? |
(SC + V + S) | Greg gave the key to Ann. |
An imperative sentence is a request or command for an action to be performed. These sentences tell someone what to do. The subject of an imperative sentence is usually implied and is often not stated.
Examples: Proceed with caution.
Throw me the ball!
You do this right away!
LESSON #7 Activity
CHANGES TO BASIC SENTENCE TYPES