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Beginner · Now, yesterday and tomorrow · topic 14 of 59 · 16 min

Asking questions: yes/no and wh- questions

Explanation

There are two kinds of questions. Yes/no questions start with a helper verb: "Are you hungry?" "Do you like tea?" Wh- questions start with a question word: what, where, when, who, why, how. सवाल पूछना बातचीत की चाबी है।

In Hindi, a question often has the same order as a statement, with "क्या" in front: "क्या तुम आ रहे हो?" In English, the word order changes. The helper verb (am, is, are, do, does, did, can) moves to the front.

Yes/no questions

StatementQuestion
You are tired.Are you tired?
She is a nurse.Is she a nurse?
You like cricket.Do you like cricket?
He works here.Does he work here?
You can swim.Can you swim?

Wh- questions

WordAsks aboutHindiExample
Whata thingक्याWhat is your name?
Wherea placeकहाँWhere do you live?
Whena timeकबWhen does the shop open?
Whoa personकौनWho is your teacher?
Whya reasonक्योंWhy are you late?
Howthe way or conditionकैसेHow do you go to work?
Whicha choiceकौन साWhich bus goes to the station?
How much / How manyamount / numberकितना / कितनेHow many brothers do you have?

Where do you live?

Say it: wair doo yoo LIV?

आप कहाँ रहते हैं?

What do you do?

Say it: wot doo yoo DOO?

आप क्या काम करते हैं?

This means "What is your job?", not "What are you doing now?"

When does the next bus come?

Say it: wen duz the NEKST BUS kum?

अगली बस कब आती है?

Why are you so happy today?

Say it: wy aar yoo so HAP-ee to-DAY?

आज तुम इतने ख़ुश क्यों हो?

How many people are in your family?

Say it: how MEN-ee PEE-pul aar in yor FAM-lee?

आपके परिवार में कितने लोग हैं?

How many + things you can count. How much + money or uncountable things.

Which one do you want?

Say it: wich WUN doo yoo WONT?

आपको कौन सा चाहिए?

Think of it like this: Think of a question as a lock with a combination: question word + helper verb + person + main verb. "Where + do + you + live?" Put the numbers in the right order and the lock opens.
Careful: Common mistakes: "Where you are going?" (say "Where are you going?"), "What you want?" (say "What do you want?"), "Why you didn't come?" (say "Why didn't you come?").
Careful: Intonation: wh- questions usually go DOWN at the end. Yes/no questions usually go UP at the end.
Tip: Interview a friend or a family member in English with eight questions, one for each question word.

Watch the lesson

Asking questions: yes/no and wh- questions · 1/7

Asking questions

Hello! Today we learn how to ask questions in English.

Prefer a video by a teacher? Find free videos on “wh questions yes no questions in english for beginners in hindi” on YouTube ↗

In real life: Meeting a new classmate

Ankit: Hi! Are you new here? Joseph: Yes, I joined today. Ankit: Where are you from? Joseph: I'm from Kochi. Ankit: Why did you choose this college? Joseph: It has a good computer lab. Ankit: How do you come to college? Joseph: By metro. Which bus do you take? Ankit: I don't take a bus. I walk!

Practice (0/4 done)

Task 1 · Speak

Ask these questions.

Where do you live? What do you do? How do you go to work?

आप कहाँ रहते हैं? आप क्या करते हैं? आप काम पर कैसे जाते हैं?

Press Speak, then say the sentence.
Task 2 · Listen and type

Listen and type the question.

Task 3 · Practice

Write six questions you could ask a new neighbour. Use at least five different question words.

Task 4 · Question

Which question is correct?

Quick quiz

Question 1

1.Complete: "___ is your birthday?" (asking about the date)

Question 2

2.Complete: "How ___ sugar do you want?"

Question 3

3.Which question is correct?

Question 4

4."What do you do?" means...

Question 5

5.Complete: "___ she speak Tamil?"

Pass the quiz (60% or more) or mark this topic as done when you are ready.

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