English Subject Question

Subject Question is the question about Subject. This belongs to Wh question. The pattern of English Subject question has specific form compared to other Wh questions (Non Subject questions).

Look at the example below:

1. Who gives you money every month? (subject Question)
2. Who visited you in hospital yesterday? (Subject Question)
3. Who is singing in the bath room? (subject question)
4. What makes you sad?

All the example above ask the subject of the sentence. The following sentences are the answers of the questions above. The bold words are the answers.

1. My father gives me money every month.
2. My friend visited me me in hospital yesterday.
3. Sally is singing in the bath room.
4. The letter makes me sad.

Yes/No Question Using "Was" and "Were"

Yes/No question using was and were is used in a past tense sentence which does not contain verb. We must not be confused with yes/no question using am, is or are. The difference is only the matter of Tense. Was/were is past tense while am/is/are is present tense. Look at the examples below:

1. Was he at home last night ?
(not is he at home last night?)

2. Were you sick two days ago?
(not Are you sick two days ago?)

3. Was she a diligent student when he studied in a university?
(not Is she a diligent student when he studied in a university?)

4. Were they in your house last week?
(not Are they in your house last week?)

5. Was your mother fat last year?)
(not Are your mother fat last year?

Yes/No question using "Do", and "Does"

Do and Does are used in yes/no question of the present tense. Do and Does are used in the sentence which contain verbs. When there is no verbs in the sentence, am, is, or are are used. The pattern of yes/no question using Do and Does is as follows:

Do/Does + S + V1 + ....

Remember!
Does is for the subjects he, she, singular subject
Do is for the subjects they, we, I, you, plural subject

Look at the examples below:
(+) -----He goes to school.
(?) Does he go to school?

(+) -----She cooks every morning.
(?) Does she cook every morning?

(+) -----Sally studies every night.
(?) Does Sally study every night?

(+) -----Robert swims twice a week.
(?) Does Robert swim twice a week?


(+) -----They work in a hotel.
(?) Do they work in a hotel?

(+) -----You come here everyday.
(?) Do you come here everyday?

(+) -----I come late.
(?) Do I come late?

(+) -----we need help.
(?) Do we need help?

(+) ----John and sally work in Florida.
(?) Do John and sally work in Florida?

The answer key of the exercises on Yes/No Question using "am", "is" or "are"

Translate the following Indonesian yes/no questions into English using am, is, or are .

1. Apakah Sally seorang perawat?
--> Is Sally a nurse?

2. Apakah saya tua?
--> Am I old?

3. Apakah John di kantornya tiap pagi?
--> Is John in his office every morning?

4. Apakah Ibumu sakit?
--> Is your mother sick?

5. Apakah mereka lapar sekarang?
--> Are they hungry now?

6. Apakah Dia (laki laki) temanmu?
--> Is he your friend?

7. Apakah buku ini mahal?
-- > Is this book expensive?

8. Apakah mereka di kamarmu sekarang?
--> Are they in your room now?

This is the answer key of the exercise here.

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Yes/No Question using "am", "is" or "are"

Yes/No question using am, is or are is used in a present tense sentence which does not contain verb. For Indonesian learners learning English, they must remember that yes/No question is the question which uses the word apakah, and the answer must be yes/No. Don't be confused with Wh- Question using What which is in Indonesian is apa or apakah . Some Indonesian learners make English Yes/No Question using the word What which is in Indonesian language is apakah/apa. Look at the examples below.

1. Is he a teacher?
--'Apa/Apakah dia seorang guru?'
(Is = Apa/Apakah, he = dia, a = seorang, teacher = guru)

2. Am I happy?
--'Apa/Apakah saya bahagia?
(Am = Apa/Apakah, I = saya, happy = bahagia)

3. Are you at home every night?
--Apa/Apakah kamu di rumah setiap malam?'
(Are = Apa/Apakah, You = kamu, at home = di rumah)

Based on the examples above, the Indonesian word apa/apakah used in yes/no question can be represented by the auxilary verbs is, am and are. While, some Indonesian learners have an assosiasion that apakah is what in English. That is why we sometimes findthat Iindonesian learners make English yes/no question using the word apakah like the examples below.

1. What are you happy? instead of Are you happy?
--( Apakah kamu bahagia?)

2. What is he sick? instead of Is he sick?
--(apakah dia sakit?)

Note: something that Indonesian learners must keep in mind is that the word apakah is not always represented by the word what in English. In English yes/no Questions, the word apakah can be represented by auxiliary verbs such as am, is, are, do, does, did, was, were, has, have, can, may etc.

Exercises:
Translate the following Indonesian yes/no questions into English using am, is, or are .

1. Apakah Sally seorang perawat?
2. Apakah saya tua?
3. Apakah John di kantornya tiap pagi?
4. Apakah Ibumu sakit?
5. Apakah mereka lapar sekarang?
6. Apakah Dia (laki laki) temanmu?
7. Apakah buku ini mahal?
8. Apakah mereka di kamarmu sekarang?

The answer key is available here.

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- The types of English Question

There are two types of question:

1. Yes/No Question
2. Wh- Question

1 Yes/No Question

- Yes/No question is the question which begins with auxiliary.
- The answer of yes/no question is yes or no.

Examples:
- Do you speak English? (Yes, I do/No, I don’t)
- Does she work ? (Yes, she does/No, she doesn't
- Is he at home? (Yes, she is/No she is not)
- Can I borrow your book? (Yes, you can/No you can't)
- Have you finished teaching? (Yes, I have/No, I haven't)
- Did he come here last night. (Yes he did/No I didn't)
- Was she studying when you came? (Yes She was/No, she wasn't)
- Will you go to the market tomorrow? (Yes, I will/No I will not)


2. Wh- Question

Wh-question is a question which begins with a question word ( who, what, when where, how, how old, how many, how much, what time, how often, etc.). There two types of Wh- Question:

1. Subject Question
2. Non Subject Question

Subject question is the question about the subject of the sentence. Non Subject question is the question about object, adverb, and so on but not the subject of the sentence. To know the difference, look at the examples below:

a. His wife goes to the market every morning.
1 2 3
1. Who goes to the market every morning? (who = His wife (subject question) )
2. Where does his wife go every morning? (where = to the market )
3. When does his wife go to the market? (when = every morning)

b. He is reading a novel.
4 5
4. Who is reading a novel? (who = he)
5. What is he reading ? (what = a novel)

c. Edi met Tuti yesterday.
6 7 8
6. Who met Tuti yesterday ? (who = Edi)
7. Whom did Edi meet yesterday ? (whom = Tuti)
8. When did Edi meet Tuti ? (when = yesterday)

d. She will go to Jakarta.
9 10
9. Who will go to Jakarta? ( who = she)
10. Where will she go ? (where = to Jakarta)