Grammar is Easy: Simple Present – Does – Questions

June 7, 2017 - Priscila Pereira

1 Comment

It is time to ask more questions!!

Hi guys, how are you doing today?

Did you check my previous posts about Simple Present? Well, you need to! This is another Simple present Post. Today we are going to talk about questions. But we are going to focus on questions for 3 specific pronouns: he, she, and it. After you finish this post, don’t forget to comment! I really appreciate the comments because it is very important for me to know if you are enjoying the posts, ok?

If you want to know how to ask questions with different pronouns like you, they, we, etc… check the blog, you will find posts to help you, ok?

First I showed how to make affirmative and negative sentences with the simple present for he, she, and it.  Now, I want to teach you how to ask questions and also how to answer these questions. These questions are simple, ok guys? They are yes/no questions. I will make a post only to talk about WH  questions (what, where, when, etc) these questions are specific. They are not yes/no like the questions we are going to learn TODAY!

But here we go! First I want to show you the structure!

A     P      V    C

If you have read my previous posts, you know that in order to help my students learn how to make sentences,  first I show a sequence of words you need in a phrase. In this case, I’m showing you the sequence of words you need in order to make a question in English.

So what does A P V C mean?

A = auxiliary verb/ assistant

P = person/pronoun

V = verb

C = complement

Do you need to follow this order? Yes! Absolutely!

Now, let’s understand a little bit more about the “A”, the auxiliary verb or let’s call it “assistant”, shall we?

In English when you want to ask a question you need an assistant. You need a word to help you make the question. This “assistant” is going to show that:

   This phrase is a question

   The time of the sentence (simple present in this case). Does this word have a translation? Nope, not in this case.

For he, she and it the word you need is DOES. The word “does” needs to be the first word of the question, before anything else (in a future post you will learn different questions. This question is a Yes/No question).

Following the sequence, you have the Pronoun, which in this case are he, she and it.

Teacher Prix, how about the other pronouns? I, you, we, they?

They use a different word. Check my previous post. There I teach you all about it!

After the pronoun, you need a verb, which is the action of the sentence. That’s why it is important that you study verbs! Try to make a list of important verbs for you! Yes, for you! Verbs you need. Think about questions you would like to make. Think about the verbs you are going to need for these questions and then start creating your list. The best way to learn vocabulary and new words in English is by “contextualizing” the words. When you write down your list, write examples, real examples (things that you do, that happen to you) in order to make the sentences more realistic. That way, the brain memorizes faster!

After the verb, you are going to need the complement! The complement is basically words you need to complete the idea of the verb.

How about we see some examples?

Does Jenna work downtown?

A          P          V         C

A = Does

P = Jenna

V = work

C = downtown

 

 

Does the cat like milk?

A          P          V         C

A = Does

P = the cat (Person/pronoun can be animals, in the singular, ok?)

V = like

C = milk

 

Does the shopping mall open on weekends?

A               P                       V          C

A = Does

P = the shopping mall (Person/pronoun can be a place, in the singular, ok?)

V = open

C = on weekends

 

Now, what is the number ONE PROBLEM students have when they make questions?

They use DO instead of DOES.  So, try to remember that for he, she and it you need to use DOES.

 

Does the verb change?

 

If you read my post about simple present affirmative sentences with he, she and it you know that the verbs have a “small”  change in affirmative sentences. For example:

Jenna workS downtown.  You add the letter “s”

Paul studIES English. You drop the letter Y and add IES

Kevin watches TV every night. You add ES

PS: to know all about these rules, check my previous post! J

To make your life EASY, I have GREAT news! In questions, you don’t need to change the verb at all!!! Nothing happens to the verb! If you look at the examples I gave you, nothing happened to the verb. No “s”, no “es”, nada!

Keep in mind the question you learned today is in the Simple present and it is a “yes/no” question, ok?

 

How to answer to Yes/No questions

There are two ways to answer this question:

1. Short answer

2. Long answer

 

Let’s see some examples:

Does John work here?

Short answer: Yes, He does OR No, he doesn’t.

Long answer:  Yes, he works here. No, He doesn’t work here.

To make a long answer, you need to write the entire phrase. If you don’t remember how to do it, check my post about affirmative and negative sentences.

Teacher Prix, can I just say Yes or No?

Yes, of course, you can! However, when you are learning the structure, it is important you try to remember this in the beginning. As you learn more vocabulary you will be able to speak more things and therefore when you answer the question with a yes you will probably continue and talk about something else related to the question.

Exercise:  Answer the questions below. Give short and long answers:

1. Does your mother work?

2. Does your friend study English?

3. Does Bill Gates like to read?

4. Does Alex drive a car?

5. Does your boss play a musical instrument?

6. Does Sandy travel on weekends?

7. Does your pet like to play outside?

Homework: Write 5 questions and answer them. Write them in the comments and I will correct them for you!

Do you have any questions? Leave me your questions in the comments as well!

Thanks, guys!

Teacher Prix

Priscila Pereira

Starbucks and TV Series lover: juggling with teaching, blogging, and a YouTube life! I’m teacher Prix and I want to help you talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime in English! This blog is for English speakers who are looking for an effective blog. Get inspired by hundreds of different posts for all English levels, so that you can finally learn English easily and effectively on the internet.

One thought on “Grammar is Easy: Simple Present – Does – Questions

  • Aseel

    November 9, 2018 at 17:47

    Hi teacher Prix

    I’m a newbie learning English and I want to know when we ues “Do ” ?

    Thank you..

    Reply

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