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Yes or No question is a kind of question that yields either yes or no as an answer. It is also known as "closed question".
There are two basic types of questions in English.
1. Wh questions: This type of question refers to questions that contain words such as why, when, where, what, who, and how. "Wh questions" are also known as "open questions". This is so because we have limitless possibilities where answers are concerned.
2. Yes or No questions: The name comes from the answer rather than the question. The question can have only two possibilities: "yes" or "no".
How to frame a yes or no question?
"Yes or no question" always starts with a verb. The typical word order followed when framing a question is "verb \(+\) subject \(+\) object".
Example:
Let us look at the word order of the following yes/no question.
"Are you a student?"
Are = verb
You = subject
A student = object
The answer to the question will either be a "yes" or a "no". For instance, it can be "Yes, I am a student", or "No, I am not a student". But nothing more is required or possible.
Types of verbs used in yes/no question:
A Yes / No question is often framed by using verb forms of "be", "do", or "have".
BE form of verbs include verbs such as "are", "were", "is", "was", "am", "be", "being", "been".
DO form of verbs include verbs such as "do", "does", "doing", "did", "done".
HAVE form of verbs include verbs such as "have", "has", "having", "had".
In addition to the above verbs, Modal verbs such as "can", "could", "may", "might", "shall", "should", "will", "would", "must", and "ought" are used while framing a question.
Important!
Note: Action verbs such as walking, visiting, study, jump, etc. WILL NOT appear in the beginning.
For example, let us look at the question, "Are you studying?".
Are = verb
You = subject
Studying = action verb
You cannot frame a proper question by placing "studying" at the beginning. "Studying are you?" will be an incorrect way to ask a question.
Example:
Sl. No. | Questions | Answers |
1 | Are they doing well? | No, they are not doing well. |
2 | Can I have the pen? | Yes, you can have the pen. |
3 | Have you completed your homework? | Yes, I have completed my homework. |
4 | Did you bring your book? | Yes, I did. |
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