PREPOSITIONS IN QUESTIONS

1.   We often put a preposition (with, at, for etc.) at the end of a question with Who...? or What...?, especially in spoke English.

Examples:

a.   Who did you go with? (More natural than With whom did you go?)

b.   Who is that letter for?
c.   What are you looking at?
d.   What's she talking about?

2.   We also ask questions with Where ... from? and Where ... to?

a.   Where do you come from? (Or Where are you from?)
b.   Where shall I send the letter to?

3.   In conversation, we often ask short questions with Who/What/Where + preposition.

Examples:

a.   'I'm going camping.' 'Who with?'

b.   'Peter wants to talk to you.' 'What about?'

PREPOSITIONS AT THE END OF QUESTIONS

When a question word is the object of a preposition, the preposition usually comes at the end of the clause, especially in an informal style.

• What are you looking for? (More natural than ‘For what are looking?’)
• Who is this present for? (For whom is this present? is extremely formal.)
• Who were you speaking to? (NOT To whom were you speaking?)
• Which pictures are you talking about?
• What are you laughing at?
• Who put the cat in?
• Who turned the lights off?

Prepositions come at the end of clauses in indirect wh-questions and what-clauses which are not questions.

Tell me what you are looking for. (NOT Tell me for what you are looking.)

What a lot of trouble I have gotten into! (NOT Into what a lot of trouble I have gotten.)

Some questions consist of simply a question word and preposition.

• What with?
• Who for?
• What about?

Note that this structure is unusual when there is a noun with the question word.

With what money? (NOT What money with?)

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions.

1. What are you crying ————–?
2. Who shall I give this ——————?
3. What are you waiting ——————?
4. Which writer were you talking ——————?
5. Which candidate have you voted ——————-?

Answers

1. for
2. to
3. for
4. about
5. for

http://www.englishpractice.com/grammar/prepositions-questions/

TAG QUESTIONS

You speak English, don't you?

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure:

statement	question tag
+ Positive statement,	- negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn't it?
- Negative statement,	+ Positive tag?
You don't like me,	do you?

Notice that the question tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

A question tag is the "mini-question" at the end. A tag question is the whole sentence

Present continuous	We're working tomorrow, aren't we?
Past simple 'be'	It was cold yesterday, wasn't it?
Past simple other verbs	He went to the party last night, didn't he?
Past continuous	We were waiting at the station, weren't we?
Present perfect	They've been to Japan, haven't they?
Present perfect continuous	She's been studying a lot recently, hasn't she?
Past perfect	He had forgotten his wallet, hadn't he?
Past perfect continuous	We'd been working, hadn't we?
Future simple	She'll come at six, won't she?
Future continuous	They'll be arriving soon, won't they?
Future perfect	They'll have finished before nine, won't they?
Future perfect continuous	She'll have been cooking all day, won't she?
Modals	He can help, can't he?
Modals	John must stay, mustn't he?

Present simple 'be'	We aren't late, are we?
Present simple other verbs	She doesn't have any children, does she?
Present continuous	The bus isn't coming, is it?
Past simple 'be'	She wasn't at home yesterday, was she?
Past simple other verbs	They didn't go out last Sunday, did they?
Past continuous	You weren't sleeping, were you?
Present perfect	She hasn't eaten all the cake, has she?
Present perfect continuous	He hasn't been running in this weather, has he?
Past perfect	We hadn't been to London before, had we?
Past perfect continuous	You hadn't been sleeping, had you?
Future simple	They won't be late, will they?
Future continuous	He'll be studying tonight, won't he?
Future perfect	She won't have left work before six, will she?
Future perfect continuous	He won't have been travelling all day, will he?
Modals	She can't speak Arabic, can she?
Modals	They mustn't come early, must they?

NEGATIVE QUESTIONS

THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF NEGATIVES QUESTIONS:

• CONTRACTED
• UNCONTRACTED

Contracted negative question

Word orden: auxiliary verb +n't + subject

• Why don't you listen to me?
• Don't you understand?
• Hasn't she any friends to help her?
• Aren't they ready?

Uncontracted negative questions

Uncontracted negative questions are more formal than contracted negative questions.

Word order: auxiliary verb + subject + not

• Why do you not listen to me?
• Do you not understand?
• Has she not any friends to help her?
• Are they not ready?

Contracted negative questions beginning with Won’t you …? Wouldn’t you…? or Why don’t you …? are very common in polite requests, invitations, offers, complaints and criticisms.

• Wouldn’t you like a cup of coffee?
• Why don’t you come and stay with us?

In a reply to a negative question, yes suggests a positive answer, and no suggests a negative answer.

• ‘Haven’t you written to her?’ ‘Yes.’ (= I have written to her.)
• ‘Haven’t you told her about us?’ ‘No.’ (= I haven’t told her about you.)

WHO, WHOM, WHOSE

Subjects, Objects and Possessive Forms

To understand how to use "who," "whom," and "whose," you first have to understand the difference between subjects, objects, and possessive forms.

Subjects do an action:

• He loves movies.
• She goes to school.
• We enjoy Chinese food.

Objects receive an action:

• The teachers like him.
• Thomas knows her.
• The actor smiled at us.

Possessive forms tell us the person something belongs to:

• His bike is broken.
• I like her new book.
• The teacher graded our homework.

"Who" is a Subject Pronoun

"Who" is a subject pronoun like "he," "she" and "we" in the examples above. We use "who" to ask which person does an action or which person is a certain way.

Examples:

• Who made the birthday cake?
• Who is in the kitchen?
• Who is going to do the dishes?

"Whom" is an Object Pronoun

"Whom" is an object pronoun like "him," "her" and "us." We use "whom" to ask which person receives an action.

Examples:

• Whom are you going to invite?
• Whom did he blame for the accident?
• Whom did he hire to do the job?

"Whose" is a Possessive Pronoun

"Whose" is a possessive pronoun like "his," "her" and "our." We use "whose" to find out which person something belongs to.

Examples:

• Whose camera is this?
• Whose dog is barking outside?
• Whose cell phone keeps ringing?

"Who," "Whom" and "Whose" in Indirect Questions

The sentence below contains an example of an indirect question:

• I don't know whom he invited.

Such sentences usually start with a phrase such as: "I am not sure" or "He doesn't know" or "We don't care." Just ignore the first part of the sentence and look at the indirect question when deciding whether to use "who," "whom" or "whose." Ask yourself if the indirect question requires a subject, object, or possessive form.

Examples:

• He doesn't know who the boss of the company is. subject of the indirect question
• I don't care whom you invite. object of the indirect question
• She isn't sure whose car that is. "Whose" shows possession of car.

"Who," "Whom" and "Whose" in Adjective Clauses

The sentence below contains an example of an adjective clause:

• I know the man who won the contest.

Adjective clauses are used to describe a noun in the main sentence. In the example above, the adjective clause tells us about "the man." Just ignore the main sentence and look at the adjective clause when deciding whether to use "who," "whom" or "whose." Ask yourself if the adjective clause requires a subject, object, or possessive form.

Examples:

• We knew the actress who starred in the movie. subject of adjective clause
• They hired the man whom we interviewed last week. object of adjective clause
• She knew the family whose house we bought. "Whose" shows possession of house.

"Whom" Less Common

The form "whom" is becoming less and less common in English. Many native English speakers think "whom" sounds outdated or strange. This trend is particularly common in the United States. Especially when combined with prepositions, most people prefer to use "who" as the object pronoun. To most native English speakers, the examples below sound quite natural.

Examples:

• Who did you come to the party with?
• I don't know who he gave the book to.
• That is the woman who I was talking to.
• Who did you get that from?
• Do you have any idea who he sold his car to?
• That is the person who I got the information from.

http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/who_whom.html

NEGATIVES QUESTIONS

We use negative questions to show surprise, in exclamations and when we expect the listener to agree with us.

1. TO SHOW SURPRISE

Didn't you hear the bell? I rang it four times.

2. IN EXCLAMATIONS

Doesn't that house look beautiful! (= that house looks really beautiful)

3. WHEN WE EXPECT THE LISTENER TO AGREE WITH US

"Haven't we met somewhere before?" "Yes, I think we have."

NOTICE THE MEANING OF YES AND NO IN ANSWERS TO NEGATIVE QUESTIONS:

Didn't Roberto pass his exams? Yes. (= Yes, he passed them.) No. (= No, he didn't pass them.)

NOTICE THE WORD ORDER IN NEGATIVE QUESTIONS WITH WHY...?:

Why didn't you lock the door? (not why you didn't lock) Why don't we go out to Harley's restaurant? (not why we don't go) Why can't you help me? (not why you can't help me) Why wasn't Claudia invited to the party? (not why Claudia wasn't)

QUESTIONS WORDS

The most common question words in English are the following:

WHO

WHO is only used when referring to people. (= I want to know the person)

• Who is the best football player in the world?
• Who are your best friends?
• Who is that strange guy over there?

WHERE

WHERE is used when referring to a place or location. (= I want to know the place)

• Where is the library?
• Where do you live?
• Where are my shoes?

WHEN

WHEN is used to refer to a time or an occasion. (= I want to know the time)

• When do the shops open?
• When is his birthday?
• When are we going to finish?

WHY

WHY is used to obtain an explanation or a reason. (= I want to know the reason)

• Why do we need a nanny?
• Why are they always late?
• Why does he complain all the time?

Normally the response begins with "Because..."

WHAT

WHAT is used to refer to specific information. (= I want to know the thing)

• What is your name?
• What is her favourite colour?
• What is the time?

WHICH

WHICH is used when a choice needs to be made. (= I want to know the thing between alternatives)

• Which drink did you order – the rum or the beer?
• Which day do you prefer for a meeting – today or tomorrow?
• Which is better - this one or that one?

HOW

HOW is used to describe the manner that something is done. (= I want to know the way)

• How do you cook paella?
• How does he know the answer?
• How can I learn English quickly?

With HOW there are a number of other expressions that are used in questions:
How much – refers to a quantity or a price (uncountable nouns)

• How much time do you have to finish the test?
• How much is the jacket on display in the window?
• How much money will I need?

How many – refers to a quantity (countable nouns)

• How many days are there in April?
• How many people live in this city?
• How many brothers and sister do you have?

How often – refers to frequency

• How often do you visit your grandmother?
• How often does she study?
• How often are you sick?

How far – refers to distance

• How far is the university from your house?
• How far is the bus stop from here?  
• http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Question_Words.htm

Double negatives

A double negative uses two negative words (in bold below) in the same clause to express a single negative idea:

We didn't see nothing. [ = We saw nothing.]

She never danced with nobody. [ = She didn't dance with anybody.]

The rules dictate that the two negative elements cancel each other out to give a positive statement instead, so that the sentence ‘I don’t know nothing’ could literally be interpreted as ‘I do know something’.

Double negatives are standard in many other languages and they were also a normal part of English usage until some time after the 16^th century. They’re still widely used in English dialects where they don’t seem to cause any confusion as to the intended meaning. Nevertheless, they aren’t considered acceptable in current standard English and you should avoid them in all but very informal situations. Just use a single negative instead:

We didn’t see anything.

She never danced with anyone.

There is one type of double negative that is considered grammatically correct and which people use to make a statement more subtle. Take a look at the following sentence:

I am not unconvinced by his argument.

The use of not together with unconvinced suggests that the speaker has a few mental reservations about the argument. The double negative creates a nuance of meaning that would not be present had the speaker just said:

I am convinced by his argument.

Double Negative Examples

• That won’t do you no good.
• I ain’t got no time for supper.
• Nobody with any sense isn’t going.
• I can’t find my keys nowhere.
• She never goes with nobody.
• John says he has not seen neither Alice or Susan all day.
• You can’t see no one in this crowd.
• There aren’t no presents left to open.
• The secret cave did not have none of the treasures they wanted.
• All the witnesses claimed that didn’t see nothing.
• The pilot can’t find no place to land.
• He did not mention neither the deposit nor the rate.
• There is no way you can do nothing about this.
• He doesn’t have nothing but the clothes on his back.
• We haven’t never seen a tornado that big.
• It ain’t right to not paint the house.
• You shouldn’t do nothing to the house.
• The hospital won’t allow no more visitors.
• I don’t have nobody to mow my lawn.
• That attitude won't get you nowhere.
• After the nose job, she didn’t want no one to see her.
• The star couldn’t sing no more after the matinee performance.

Subject/Object questions

Sometimes you might see questions like this.

• Who broke the window?
• What happened next?
• Who told you that?

There is no auxiliary verb and the word order is not inverted.

These are called subject questions – because the question word is the subject of the sentence.

Look at these two questions.

• Who does Romeo love? Romeo loves Juliet.
• Who loves Romeo? Juliet loves Romeo.

In the first question, Romeo is the subject of the verb.
In the second question ‘who’ is the subject and Romeo is the object.

EXERCISES WITH HOW MUCH

QUESTIONS WITH HOW MUCH

How much money can you pay?

I can pay five dollars

How much fruitdo you eat?

I eat a lot of fruit

How much does this computer cost?

This computer costs a lot of money

How much water do you drink?

I drink a bottle of water

EXERCISES WITH HOW MANY

QUESTIONS WITH HOW MANY

How many brothers do you have?
I have two brothers

How many apples are on the table?
There are five apples

How many boys are in the classroom?
There are ten boys in the classroom

How many computers do you have?
I have two computers

How many students are there?
There are nine students

How many teachers are in the University?
There are a lot of teachers 

Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted. Most nouns in English are countable.

Examples:

• I have two dogs.
• Sandra has three cars.
• Jessie has ten dollars.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are not counted in English. This usually has to do with the way English speakers think of these nouns. We often picture these nouns as a single concept or one big thing which is hard to divide. Many of these words are countable in other languages, but they ARE NOT countable in English. Generally, we do not use plural forms of these words; however some of these words do end in "s", so don't get confused.

Examples:

• Mack drinks a lot of water.
• Cindy gives great advice.
• Paul enjoys politics. Ends with "s" but uncountable

Uncountable nouns tend to belong to one of the following categories:

Liquids and Gases

• water
• coffee
• milk
• air
• oxygen

Solid and Granular Substances

• wood
• metal
• cheese
• sand
• rice

Energy Words and Forces

• electricity
• sunshine
• radiation
• heat
• magnetism

Subjects

• French
• chemistry
• economics
• science
• math

Grouped Concepts

• fruit
• money
• food
• vocabulary
• news

Information and Abstract Concepts

• information
• advice
• education
• democracy
• intelligence

Uncountable Plurals

Sometimes in English, we do use uncountable nouns in plural forms. This is most commonly done with liquids and substances. It usually takes on the meaning of "cups of", "bottles of" or "types of".

Examples:

• We'll have two coffees. Cups of coffee
• I bought three waters. Bottles of water
• The company produces two leathers. Types of leather

Different Meanings

There are certain words which have multiple meanings. It is possible for one meaning to be countable and the other to be uncountable. Take for example the word "light":

Examples:

• I couldn't see anything because there was no light. Uncountable noun
• The Christmas tree was covered with hundreds of lights. Countable noun