Pronominal Question (WH Question)

Pronominal Question (WH Question)

Question words are also called wh questions because they include the letters 'W' and 'H'

Asking questions

1.If you ask about the subject of the sentence, simply add the question word at the beginning:

Example:
James writes good poems. — Who writes good pems?

2.If you ask about the predicate of the sentence (the part of a sentence which contains the verb and 

gives information about the subject), there are three options:

• If there is a helping (auxilary) verb that precedes the main verb ( foe example, can, is, are, was, were, will, would...), add the question word and invert the subject and the helping (auxilary) verb.
  Examples:
  He can speak Chinese. — What can he speak?
  They are leaving tonight. — When are they leaving?
• If you ask about the predicate and there is no helping (auxilary) verb and the verb is "to be", simply add the question verb and invert the subject and the verb.
  Example:
  The play was interesting. — How was the play?
• If there is no helping (auxilary) verb in the the predicate and the main verb is not "to be", add the auxilary "do" in the appropriate form.
  Examples:
  They go to the movies every Saturday. — Where do they go to the movies?
  He wakes up early. — When does he wake up?
  They sent a letter. — What did they send?

C. Question Tag

Tag questions are questions attached or tagged onto the ending of a declarative statement.  They transform a declarative sentence into an interrogative sentence.

Examples:

• You live in the city, don’t you?
• We need to get going now, don’t we?
• There’s a game on today, isn’t there?
• You’re coming to the party, aren’t you?

Sometimes interrogative sentences are actually declarative sentences that have a question mark at the end.  If you ask this type of question, the last syllable of the final word in the sentence is spoken with a rising intonation.  Here are a few examples.

• The bus has already left?
• The Saints won the Super Bowl?
• It’s snowing in Florida?
• You’ve lost 15 pounds already?
• The Subject of Interrogative Sentences

The subject of interrogative sentences may not be obvious.  Typically, you can spot them right after the verb.  But there’s a way to make the subject easier to spot.  Simply rewrite the question into a statement and then the subject is then easy to find.

Here are some examples below.  First you’ll find an interrogative sentence.  Immediately following is the declarative form of the sentence with the subject underlined.

• Did you clean up your room? You cleaned up your room.
• Has Jack come to visit? Jack has come to visit.
• Is this Jill’s wallet?  This is Jill’s wallet.

Interrogative sentences are the most simple to identify.  They always ask a question or request information.  Simply look for the question mark at the end and you’ll have no problem finding or understanding the function of interrogative sentences.

6.      Too – Enough

Form

too + adjective or adverb
too much/many + noun
too much/many + of + pronoun/determiner

adjective or adverb + enough
enough + noun
enough + of + pronoun/determiner

Meaning

1.      We use too to mean more than sufficient or more/less than necessary.

·         It's too late to stop him.

·         Jerry was too young to watch the movie.

·         There are too many people on this train, there's nowhere to sit.

·         You have too much money, give some to me.

·         You've eaten too many of those cakes.

2.      We use enough to mean sufficient.

·         Your clothes are big enough to fit me.

·         You've done enough work. You can stop now.

·         Have you got enough money to buy me a drink?

3.      We use enough in negative sentences to mean less than sufficient or less than necessary.

·         You're not working fast enough, you won't finish on time.

·         Sorry, I haven't got enough food for everyone.

·         Not enough of my friends are coming to the party.

Additional points

1.      We can use enough without a noun if the meaning is clear.

·         There's a lot of food but not enough for everyone.

2.      We can replace enough with the before a noun.

·         I don't have the money to go on holiday.

·         His company doesn't have the resources to do the job.

3.      We can use time or room alone to mean enough timeorenough room.

·         Is there room in your car for one more person?

·         Do we have time for a coffee?

Too and Enough are used with adjectives and indicate degree. Too means more than necessary, and it precedes the adjective. Enough means sufficient and usually follows the adjective.

He is too old to ride the Merry-Go-Round. She has too much money. Tony was tall enough to play on the basketball team. They were smart enough to pass the test.

(NOT: enough tall) (NOT: enough smart)

Enough can also be used with nouns. In such cases, enough usually precedes the word it modifies.

I have enough money for the CD player.

I don't have enough (money) for the computer.

There aren't enough people to make a team.

In some cases, enough can stand alone.

I have had enough of this nonsense.

Enough is enough!

Common problems include using very in place of too or enough.

She is very young to drink alcohol. She is too young to drink alcohol. He is not very tough to play football. He is not tough enough to play football.

(Wrong) (Correct) (Wrong) (Correct)