Question formation

Knowing how to form questions is essential for real conversations in English.

With the present simple, we normally use do or does.

“You work here.”

Becomes:

“Do you work here?”

“She lives in London.”

Becomes:

“Does she live in London?”

For the past simple, use did.

“You went to Spain.”

Becomes:

“Did you go to Spain?”

Notice that we say go, not went, after did.

With the verb to be, we don’t use do or did.

“You are tired.”

Becomes:

“Are you tired?”

“He was at home.”

Becomes:

“Was he at home?”

We can also add question words like what, where, when, why, who, and how.

“Where do you live?”

“Why did she leave?”

“What are you doing?”

So remember: English questions often change the word order or require an auxiliary verb.

Instead of just changing your voice at the end of a sentence, build the question correctly:

“Where do you work?”