Chapter 9: Questions

Types of Questions

Questions fall into two main categories:

Yes/no questions ask whether something is true. Content questions (also called wh-questions in English) ask for specific information using interrogative words.

English Questions

Yes/No Questions: Inversion and Do-Support

English forms yes/no questions by inverting the subject and auxiliary verb:

When no auxiliary is present, English requires do-support:

This do-support for questions parallels its use in negation — a distinctive feature of English.

Content Questions: Wh-Words

English content questions begin with an interrogative word:

Word order: The wh-word comes first, followed by auxiliary-subject inversion:

• What did you see? (not What you saw?)
• Where is he going? (not Where he is going?)

Exception: When the wh-word is the subject, no inversion occurs:

• Who came? (not Who did come?)
• What happened? (not What did happen?)

Intonation

In speech, yes/no questions typically have rising intonation at the end, while content questions have falling intonation.

Tag Questions

English uses tag questions to seek confirmation:

French Questions

French has three main ways to form yes/no questions:

1. Intonation Only

The simplest method — use statement word order with rising intonation:

• Tu viens? — You’re coming? (Are you coming?)
• Il est arrivé? — He’s arrived? (Has he arrived?)

This is common in casual speech.

2. Est-ce que

Add est-ce que before the statement:

Est-ce que (literally “is it that”) turns any statement into a question without changing word order. It’s versatile and common in speech.

3. Inversion

Invert the subject pronoun and verb:

With noun subjects, add a pronoun that echoes the subject:

• Pierre vient-il? — Is Pierre coming? (literally: Pierre comes-he?)
• Marie est-elle arrivée? — Has Marie arrived?

Inversion is more formal than est-ce que or intonation.

Content Questions

French content questions use interrogative words:

These can combine with est-ce que or inversion:

• Où est-ce que tu vas? / Où vas-tu? — Where are you going?
• Quand est-ce qu’il arrive? / Quand arrive-t-il? — When is he arriving?

The -t- in Inversion

When a verb ends in a vowel and the subject pronoun begins with a vowel, French inserts -t- for euphony:

• Parle-t-il français? (not Parle-il)
• A-t-elle fini? (not A-elle)

Spanish Questions

Yes/No Questions: Intonation and Optional Inversion

Spanish forms yes/no questions primarily through intonation — the word order can remain unchanged:

Inversion is optional and often used for emphasis or clarity.

Inverted Punctuation

Spanish uses inverted question marks at the beginning of questions:

• ¿Hablas español? — Do you speak Spanish?
• ¿Cuándo llegaste? — When did you arrive?

This signals that a question is beginning, which is helpful in longer sentences.

Content Questions

Note: All Spanish interrogative words carry an accent mark to distinguish them from their relative pronoun counterparts (que vs. qué, donde vs. dónde).

Word Order with Interrogatives

The interrogative word typically comes first, often followed by verb-subject order:

• ¿Dónde está María? — Where is Maria? (not ¿Dónde María está?)
• ¿Qué quiere Juan? — What does Juan want?

German Questions

Yes/No Questions: Verb-First

German forms yes/no questions by placing the finite verb first:

No auxiliary verb is needed (unlike English).

Content Questions: W-Words

German interrogatives all begin with w-:

Word order: The w-word comes first, the finite verb second, the subject third:

• Wo wohnt er? — Where does he live?
• Wann kommt der Zug? — When does the train come?

Wer Declension

Wer (who) declines for case:

Latin Questions

Yes/No Questions: Particles

Latin uses question particles attached to the first word of the sentence:

-ne is enclitic — it attaches to the first word (often the verb or the word being questioned):

• Estne hoc vērum? — Is this true?
• Rōmamne īstī? — Did you go to Rome?

Questions can also be formed by intonation alone, as in speech.

Content Questions

Word order: The interrogative typically comes first, but Latin word order is flexible:

• Quid agis? — What are you doing?
• Ubi est frāter tuus? — Where is your brother?

Quis vs. Quī

Greek Questions

Yes/No Questions: Particles

Greek uses several question particles:

Questions can also be formed by intonation alone.

Content Questions

Τίς Declension

Τίς (who/what) declines:

Accent Distinction

The interrogative τίς always has an acute accent on the first syllable, distinguishing it from the indefinite τις (someone), which is enclitic:

• τίς ἦλθεν; — Who came? (interrogative)
• ἦλθέ τις. — Someone came. (indefinite)

Comparison Across Languages

Yes/No Question Formation

Do-Support: An English Oddity

English is unusual in requiring the auxiliary verb to do for questions in simple tenses. Most other languages either: - Invert subject and verb directly (German, French) - Use question particles (Latin, Greek) - Rely primarily on intonation (Spanish)

Previous: Chapter 8: Negation

Next: Chapter 10: Parsing Sentences