Question Forms
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Two sentence patterns are enough for clear questions in a first conversation.
With be, move am, is, or are before the subject. With other verbs, place do or does before the subject and use the base form of the main verb.
Updated: July 2026
A1 · Question Forms · 10 min
A structured ten-slide lesson for A1 learners. Hear two question forms in a first conversation, learn the patterns with be and do/does, and practise matching short answers. Then write your own dialogue and check your understanding in five questions — no signup required.
An English yes-no question looks visibly different from a statement. In the statement *“You are new,”* the subject comes first. The question *“Are you new?”* places a verb before that subject. The same basic signal appears in *“Do you work here?”*: the helper do opens the question, followed by you and the base form work. This order lets the listener recognise immediately that you expect a yes or no answer. At this level, you therefore need two question routes. If the statement contains a form of be, use that form directly. If it contains another main verb such as work, speak, or live, add do or does. Both routes create the same broad shape: a verb or helper before the subject. In a first conversation, this lets you ask for useful information quickly: *“Are you the new manager?”*, *“Do you work in Berlin?”*, and *“Does she speak English?”* The choice at the beginning determines how the rest of the question is built.
With be, you do not add do. Take the existing form am, is, or are and move it before the subject. *“You are ready”* becomes *“Are you ready?”* and *“She is here”* becomes *“Is she here?”* The form must still agree with the subject: use are with you, we, and they, and is with he, she, and it. With I, the question begins with am, as in *“Am I early?”* The rest of the sentence follows the subject. In *“Are you the new manager?”* the noun phrase the new manager remains together. In *“Is she in the office?”* the place phrase comes after the subject. A learner detour such as *“Do you be ready?”* mixes the route for ordinary main verbs with the direct route used by be. Check the statement first. If its verb is a form of be, you already have the verb the question needs. You only have to reverse the verb and subject.
With ordinary main verbs, place do or does before the subject. Use do with I, you, we, and they: *“Do you work here?”* and *“Do they live in Berlin?”* Use does with he, she, and it: *“Does she speak English?”* The crucial point is that the third-person ending now sits on the helper does. The main verb returns to its base form. The question is therefore *“Does he work here?”*, not *“Does he works here?”* In the statement *“He works here,”* works carries the ending; in the question, does carries that grammatical information. You can imagine the -s moving forward. It must not appear on both verbs at once. The form after the subject is therefore the base verb: does she speak, does he work, and does it open. This mechanism remains the same when extra information follows. In *“Does she work in Berlin?”* the core does + she + work stays intact, followed by the place phrase.
You can answer a yes-no question with yes or no, but a natural short answer also repeats the helper from the question. *“Do you work here?”* takes *“Yes, I do”* or *“No, I don’t.”* Answer *“Does she speak English?”* with *“Yes, she does”* or *“No, she doesn’t.”* A question with be repeats the matching form of be: *“Are you the new manager?” — “Yes, I am.”* This echo is more reliable than repeating the main verb. *“Yes, I work”* is not the neutral short answer to *“Do you work here?”*; the helper do performs that job. Keep the apostrophe in negative contractions: don’t and doesn’t mark omitted letters. The short answer also adjusts its subject to the speaker’s perspective. When someone asks you a question with you, you answer about yourself with I. The helper, however, stays in the same family as the one in the question.
German can move a conjugated main verb directly to the front of a yes-no question. The statement *“Du arbeitest hier”* becomes *“Arbeitest du hier?”* A direct transfer produces *“Work you here?”* Modern standard English gives an ordinary main verb support instead: *“Do you work here?”* In the patterns taught here, only be moves directly before the subject. The second common transfer involves the third person. Learners know that he or she triggers an -s in the present simple and may therefore build *“Does he works?”* But does already carries that information. The second -s duplicates it and must disappear: *“Does he work?”* Use a quick three-part check. Is the main verb be? Move its form forward. Is it another verb? Choose do or does. Does the question begin with does? Confirm that the main verb is truly in the base form. This sequence catches both transfer errors before they enter your sentence.
In relaxed speech, you may hear a statement with rising intonation: *“You work here?”* This pattern is especially common in American English and works in conversation. For neutral writing and assessment tasks, however, use the complete question form *“Do you work here?”* Intonation alone does not replace the helper there. English do-support is unusual because many languages simply invert an existing main verb. Support with do became regular in Early Modern English. For a learner, the important point is the modern division of labour: be moves forward itself, while other main verbs receive do or does. As a prerequisite, *be-present* (A1) secures the forms am, is, and are. Next, *question-words* (A1) places words such as what and where before the same question frames. *questions-in-english* (A2) later brings the patterns together and adds further question types. Once the two basic routes are secure, a new question mainly requires you to decide what belongs before that familiar frame.
When be is the verb in the statement, move its form directly before the subject: "You are new" becomes "Are you new?" With other main verbs, add do or does: "Do you work here?" or "Does she speak English?"
The third-person ending is already carried by does, so the main verb must return to its base form. The correct question is "Does he work here?", not a form in which both helper and main verb carry the ending.
A short answer echoes the helper from the question. "Do you work here?" therefore takes "Yes, I do." The main verb need not be repeated because do stands for the full verb phrase.
In relaxed conversation, a statement with rising intonation can function as a question, especially in American English. It is understood, but it does not belong in neutral writing or assessment answers. Use "Do you work here?" there.
*be-present* (A1) provides the foundation for questions with am, is, and are. *question-words* (A1) next places question words before the same patterns. *questions-in-english* (A2) then expands the system with further question types.
Do-support is an English peculiarity; many languages invert an existing main verb directly. It became regular in Early Modern English. Today, do or does carries the question grammar while the main verb stays in the base form.
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