Questions and negatives
Apprentissage rapide
Turning a statement into a question or a negative is a mechanical operation in English, and the mechanics are worth doing slowly until they are automatic.
À retenir
- Identify the helper: be, a modal, have in a perfect, or none.
- With no helper, insert do, does or did and return the verb to base form.
- A question word goes first, and the inversion happens behind it.
Exemples
- 1Are your parents staying for dinner?
- 2Can you help me with this form?
Piège courant à éviter
When the question word is the subject, there is no inversion and no do at all: who called you keeps statement order.
Approfondir
La règle
Find the helper
Questions and negatives in English follow one mechanism: find the helper verb, then move it or add not after it. There are four kinds of helper. Be as a main verb or a helper:
- She is tired
- They are leaving.
A modal verb: can, will, should, must, would. Have in a perfect tense:
- He has finished.
No helper at all: a present simple or past simple verb such as works or worked.
Yes/no questions
Yes/no questions swap the subject and the helper:
- She is tired→Is she tired?
- You can swim→Can you swim?
- They have left→Have they left?
When there is no helper, add do, does or did in front of the subject, and the main verb returns to its base form:
- You like jazz→Do you like jazz?
- He works late→Does he work late?
- They arrived→Did they arrive?
The tense and the -s now sit on the helper, so the main verb never carries them twice.
Wh-questions
Wh-questions put the question word first and then follow the same pattern: Question word + Helper + Subject + Main verb.
- Where did you park the car?
- How long have you lived here?
- What are you cooking?
Longer question words stay together at the front: how much, how many, how often, how far, what time, which platform. A preposition belonging to the question word usually goes to the end in everyday English:
- Who are you waiting for?
- Which room is the meeting in?
Subject questions
Subject questions are the exception: when who or what is itself the subject, there is no inversion and no do:
- Who opened the window?
- What happened next?
Negatives
Negatives put not directly after the helper, and do, does or did is added when there is no helper:
- She is not ready
- We cannot stay
- They have not replied
- I did not see the sign.
Contractions are normal in speech: isn't, can't, haven't, didn't. Before an infinitive, not goes in front of to:
- Try not to forget.
Anatomie de la phrase
Des phrases de cette leçon, découpées dans l'ordre qu'exige l'anglais.
Mot interrogatifWhereAuxiliairedidSujetyouVerbeleaveObjetthe car keys?
AuxiliaireDidSujetthe plumberVerbefixObjetthe leak?
Mot interrogatifHow oftenAuxiliairedoesSujetthe busVerberunTempson Sundays?
SujetMy cousinAuxiliairedoesNégationnotVerbeeatObjetmushrooms.
Guide visuel
How to read this A2 topic
At A2, the challenge is choosing between similar time frames, pronouns, and quantity patterns.
1. Look for the time clue
Yesterday, now, every day, already, and since often decide the tense.
I watched it yesterday.
2. Choose the pattern first
Pick the whole grammar structure before choosing the final word.
I am going to study.
3. Check word position
Adverbs, objects, and pronouns must sit in natural English order.
I know him well.
Decision path before answering
Use these checks before choosing between close options.
- 1Mark the subject, main verb, object, and any connector.
- 2Underline the time expression or discourse clue.
- 3Reject any option with the wrong agreement, tense, article, pronoun case, or word order.
- 4Read the whole sentence once more for naturalness and register.
Contrasts that often decide the answer
Event or background
Simple forms move events forward; continuous forms show an action in progress.
I left while she was talking.
Fact or stance
Modals, hedges, and reporting structures show how certain or responsible the speaker sounds.
This may indicate a problem.
Clause or compressed phrase
Advanced writing often compresses full clauses into participle, noun, or prepositional phrases.
Having reviewed the data, we revised the plan.
Exemples
- 1Are your parents staying for dinner?
- 2Can you help me with this form?
- 3Did the plumber fix the leak?
- 4Where did you leave the car keys?
- 5How often does the bus run on Sundays?
- 6Who are you writing to?
- 7Who left the lights on?
- 8My cousin does not eat mushrooms.
- 9We have not booked the tickets yet.
- 10Please try not to wake the baby.
Exceptions
Have for possession behaves like an ordinary verb in modern English: "Do you have a pen?", "She does not have a car." British English also uses have got, where have is the helper: "Have you got a pen?" Negative questions keep the contraction in front of the subject: "Didn't you get my message?" In a reported or indirect question, the order goes back to statement order and do disappears: "She asked where I lived", "Do you know what time it is?" Imperatives form the negative with do not in front: "Do not touch the oven."
Erreurs fréquentes
Question with no helper
Erreur
You like coffee?
Correct
Do you like coffee?
Written questions need do or does when there is no other helper.
Tense marked twice
Erreur
Did you went out?
Correct
Did you go out?
Did carries the past, so the verb stays in base form.
Do in a subject question
Erreur
Who did call you?
Correct
Who called you?
When who is the subject, there is no do.
Not in the wrong place
Erreur
I not understand.
Correct
I do not understand.
Not needs a helper in front of it.
Inversion in an indirect question
Erreur
Can you tell me where is the station?
Correct
Can you tell me where the station is?
Récap
L'essentiel de la leçon sur une carte, avant de te tester.
À retenir
- Identify the helper: be, a modal, have in a perfect, or none.
- With no helper, insert do, does or did and return the verb to base form.
- A question word goes first, and the inversion happens behind it.
Erreurs fréquentes
Erreur: You like coffee?
Correct: Do you like coffee?Erreur: Did you went out?
Correct: Did you go out?Erreur: Who did call you?
Correct: Who called you?
Teste-toi
Take five statements through both transformations, then practise the topic.
Points de grammaire associés
Poursuivez votre apprentissage avec d'autres notions de ce niveau.