OXFORD LEARNER''''S GRAMMAR 2 ppsx

Questions and answers

19 Answering questions

?R

A How long should an answer be?

Some questions can be answered in a word or phrase, but for others you need

one or more complete sentences. , Here are some examples from real

conversations.

Didn't you hear abolilche bank robbcly?-No.

I've gal a hac. '" What c%ur?'" BrauJII.

Do you like school? - Yes, I do. It's OK.

/low long do you practise? '" About /Jalf all /Jour.

How is Lucy? ..... S/J e's a laC better flOW. In fact I think she'll be back at .

school next week.

Why did you sell lile car? '" It was gillillg me too much trouble. I was

spending more money on it Ihan it was worth spending money Oil.

It is usually enough 10 give the relevant piece of informa tion without

repeating all the words of the question. There is no need 10 say No, I didn 't

Ilear aboUllhe bank robbery or fhe haL is brown in answer to these questions.

NOTE

People sometimes gIve an indirect ;lJlswer or avoid answering the qUl:stuJIl.

Wlua lime will yO/~ he I)(u;ki'- Well, the$e meetings sometimes go 1m/or IlOurs.

Are you (I. member of tllis club?- Why do yo" ask?

B Yes/no short answers

We can sometimes answer wi th a simple yes or no, but English speakers often

use a 'short answer' like Yes, I do or Nu, we haven 'c. A shon answer relates to

the subject and aUxiliary verb of the question. A positive answer is yes +

pronoun + auxiliary. A negative a nswer is ' /0 + pronoun + auxiliary + 11 '1.

Is it raining?

Have you finished?

Can your sister swim ?

Positive

Yes, it is.

Yes, I have.

Yes, she call.

Negative

No. it isn't.

No, I have,,'t.

No, she can 't.

In simple tenses we use the auxiliary verb do.

Do YOll play lite piano?

Did we do Ow righl thing?

Positive

Yes, I do .

Yes, we did.

Negat ive

No, I don 't.

No, we did" 'to

In this example, Ihe question has be as an ordinary verb.

Positive Negative

Are you in a !wr/:V? Yes, I am. No. I'm not.

19 Answering questions

We can someti mes use a nother phrase or clause instead of yes or 110.

Am I ill the leam?", Ojcourse (you are).

Were youlale?.....,J'm afraid I was.

Does the jacket go wilh Ihe shirl?....., I think it does.

We often add information or comment after a simple yes or tlO or after a

short an~wer.

Were you late? ..v Yes, J missed the bus.

Did Carl gel the job?-No, he didn't, unfortunately.

/-lave you. read this book?,..." Yes, r halle. I really enjoyed it.

TIP

In some situations it can seem abrupt or unhelpful to simply answer

Yes or Yes, it is. In a friendly conversation, it is better to add something

relevant to keep the conversation going.

Is this CD player new. - Yes, it is. J bought it last week.

NOTE

a The full form 11m In a short answer is [onnul or emphatic.

Was (he sd/eme a S/.Icce:-,s? ~ No, it was IIot. It W(u a complete failure.

b We can u.')e a shOl1 answer to agree or dls<lgrce with <.l st,H cment.

Agreemg. These photos are good. "" Yes, riley are.

II doesn't feel very /lJarm. No, it doe.m't.

Disagreeing: J posted the leller. ~N(J, you didn't. /l's still 011 the table

We c(m't afford (l car. '" Yes, we call, If Wf' borrow tile mOlley

c We can use a pronoun + aUXi liary whpn we answer a wh-qucst.IOJI.

Who filled lhis crossword 111" "-' I did.

C Requests, offers, invitations, and suggestions

We cannot usually answer these with a short answer such as Yes, yuu can or

Yes, I would.

Can I use your phone, plea.se?,...". Sure.lO[ course_

Would you like a chocolare?,..... Yes, please, Thank you.

Would YOIl. like to come to my parry?,.... Yes, I'd love to_ Thank you very

much.

Shall we luwe a coffee?",Cood idea. rYes, wily not?

A negative answer to a request, invitation or suggestion needs some

explanation.

("m r use your phone, please?"",Sorry, someone'f '(Sing it. at the moment.

Wuuld you like to come !O my party on. Sat urday? -I'm sorry. I'd like to,

but {'m goillg to be away this weekend.

Shall we haw a coffee?", I've just had one, but you go ahead.

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Questions and answers

20 Question tags -+ Audio

A The form of a negative tag

:0

The form of a tag depends on the subject and auxiliary of the main clause:

/l's . . . , isn'l it? The slmcture of a negative tag is auxiliary + n't + pronoun.

It's raining, isn't it?

You 've finished now, haven't you?

Th e others can go, can't they?

In simple tenses we use the auxjliary verb do.

Louise works at the hospital, doesn't she?

You came home late, didn 't you?

In these examples the main clause has the ordinary ve rb be,

It's colder today, isn', it? Those sausages were nice, weren't they?

Arter I am or I'm ... the lag is aren't T?

I'm ulte, aren't I?

NOTE

A negative tag occasionally has the full form 'lOt Instead of ,,'t. Nol comes after the pronoun.

Progress is bcHig made, is it not?

This sl.ruclUre is used in a formal style or 10 add emphasis.

B The form of a positive tag

A positive tag is like a negative one, but without n 'l.

It isn't raifling, is it? You have,, 't finished, /rave you?

These beans do n', taste very nice, do they?

C More details about the pronoun

We can use the subject there in a tag.

There were lots of people at the carnival, weren't there?

But we do not use this, that, these or those in the tag, We use it or chey instead.

11wt !Vas lucky. wasn't it?

These plates aren't very expensive, are they?

If the subject is a word ending in -one or -body (e.g. anyone. nobody), we use

Ihey in a tag.

Anyone could just walk in here, couldn't they?

Nobody likes going to the dentist, do they?

If the subject is a word ending in -thi"g, we use it in a tag.

Somelhillg/ell aUla/your bag. didn'l il?

20 Question t ags

o Summary of structures with tags

OFF TO AUSTRALIA

lames: It's colder today, isn't ill

Tim: Yes, it's not lIery warm, is it? But I'll be off to Australia soon,

as usual.

James: Lucky you. You go there every year, do you?

Tim: Yes, I always spend our winter in Sydney.

lames: You gee che best of both worlds, don't you ?

There are three main structures.

Positive statement + negative tag:

Negative statement + positive tag:

Positive statement + positive tHg:

NOTE

for tags with th e imperative and let's. >lIE-F.

II's your birthday, isn't it? > E

Il isn't your birthday, is it? > F

It's your birthday, is it? > G

E Positive statement + negative tag ... Audio

This kind of tag asks the hearer to agree that the statement in the main clause

is true. rt is sometimes obvious that the statement is true. For example, in the

conversation in D, both James and Tim know that it is colder today. In the

sentence It's colder coday, isn't it? the tag is nut really a request for

information. It is an invitation to the hearer to respond.

It's cold, isn't it?-1t's freezing. I should have put a coat on.

You 're Italian, aren't you?- Yes, I come from Milan. I'm staying here

with some frie nds.

We can use a tag in a reply.

It's not so warm today. - No, it's freezing, isn't it?

Here the tag expresses agreement. We do not need to reply to it.

When the statement is clearly true, a falling intonation is used on the tag.

/t's cold, .... isn't it? Coa/fires are nice, ...... aren't they?

Bur when the speaker is not sure if the statement is true, the voice can rise on

the tag.

You'll be back in the spring, ,. won " you?

We're going the right way, ,. aren't we? '" I hope so.

In the second example the speaker can choose a rising intonation in order 10

ask for reassurance.

NOTE

Sometimes a tag with a rising intonatio n can express surprise.

They have central heating, do,,'t riley? Everyone has central heating nowadays.

Compare Don 'l they haw cen/rat heating?, which aJso expresses pris~. > 18A

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