Short answers

1. Look at this example:

Question + Short Answer

Is he at work? -- Yes, he is.
Can I come? -- No, you can't.
Do you like it? -- Yes, I do.
Does she live here? -- No, she doesn't.

We call these 'short answer' because they are not 'full' answers:

Is she sick? --> Yes, she is sick. (full answer)
--> Yes, she is. (short answer)

We use short answers to reply to 'yes/ no' questions.

Are you coming? --> Yes, I am
--> No, I'm not

2. We form short answers by not using the main verb from the question:

Have they gone? -->Yes, they have gone.
Did he go to Paris? --> Yes, he did go.
Is she waiting? --> Yes, she is waiting.

When the main verb is be, we use be:

Are you tired? --> Yes, I am.

When use answer No, we use a negative verb:

Will they win? -->No, they won't.
Did Paul come? -->No, he didn't.
Are you cold? --> No, I'm not.

We never use positive short forms in short answers:

Are you tired? --> Yes, I am. ( not Yes, I'm.)
Is he happy?--> Yes, he is. ( not Yes, he's.)

3. We can also use short answers to reply 'yes' or 'no' to statements:

Statement + Reply

He's working hard --> Yes, he is.
She's at work. --> No, She isn't.
She loves films. --> Yes, she does.

Note that with Present Simple or Past Simple verbs, we use do, does or did in the reply:

She loves films -->Yes, she does.
He liked the book --> Yes, he did.

4. When we write, we normally put a 'comma' (,) after Yes or No in short answers:

He lives in London. -->No, her doesn't

Question tags

1. A question tag is a short question (e.g. isn't it? haven't we?) that we can add at the end of a statement:

Henry: We've met before, haven't we?
Jeff: Yes, we have.

2. Look at this part of a conversation:

Anna: Sandra is Swiss.
David: No, she's French, isn't she?

(= I thought she was French, but am I wrong?)


When tag question really are questions, like David's the voice up at the end.

but when tag questions are not really questions, the voice goes down at the end:

That was a boring programme, wasn't it?
(=I think that was a boring programme.)


3. Note that the verb we use in the tag depends on the verb used in the statement:

Verb + Tag

be: You're French aren't you?

verbs: He plays golf doesn't he?

auxiliary verb: It has arrived hasn't it?

Thus, most verbs use do/does, while be and auxiliary verbs use the same verb in the question tag.

4. A positive statement has a negative tag:

Positive + Negative

I'm right aren't I?
(Not am't I?)
You're 18, aren't you?
They're getting tired, aren't they?
They were friendly, weren't they?
He lives in France, doesn't he?
You speak Spanish, don't you?
You passed your exams, didn't you?
She has left, hasn't she?
You can drive, can't you?
The bus will come soon, won't it?

5. A negative statement has a positive tag:

Negative + Positive

It isn't very cheap, is it?

We aren't going to be late, are we?

She wasn't angry, was she?
You don't like this, do you?
She didn't win, did she?
She hasn't visited Ireland, has she?
She can't drive, can she?
It won't rain today, will it?

Whose is this? - It's John's

1. 's and'

We use the apostrophe ( ' ) to talk about possesion:

This is Mike's house. ( = The house belongs to Mike.)

Here are the rules:

---> Singular noun ( e.g. Mary) +'s:
Where is Tom's bike?

---> Irregular plural noun ( e. g. men) + ' s:
Have you got the children's books?

---> Regular plural noun ( e. g. teachers) + ' :
We have eight children. This is the boys' bedroom, and this is the girls' bedroom.


2. We use the apostrophe for people, but not normally for things. We use of for things:
The boys' room. ( Not The room of the boys.)
The end of the film. ( Not the film's end.)

We say:

I'm going to the newsagent's, the baker's the butcher's. . . .
because we mean "the newsagent's shop/ the baker's shop/ the butcher's shop.


3. We use whose to ask about possesion:

A:Whose car is that? (= Who does that car belong to? )

B: It's John's. (= It belongs to John.)

A: Whose shoes are those?

B:They're mine. (=They belong to me.)


The word whose does not change:

Whose book is that?
Whose books are those?

We often use this, that, these and those in our questions. We often use mine, yours, his, etc. in our answers:

Whose watch is that ? --->It's Steven's.
---> It's his.

( We don't need to say: It's Steven's watch.)


4. Whose sounds the same as who's but it is different in meaning:

Whose coat is this? (= Who does this coat belong to?)
Who's coming? (=Who is coming?)
Who's finished? (=Who has finished?)

Who and what : subject and object

1. Compare these examples:

Ann: Who told you?
Mary: James told me


who -----> Subject

This is a subject question.


Ann: Who did you tell?
Mary: I told Bill.


Who ----->Object


This is an object question



2. Compare subject and object questions with who:

in the sentence Who told you? Who is the subject. Here is another example:

Who -----> Subject

Ann: Who wrote Hamlet?
(= Somebody wrote Hamlet. Who?)

Mary: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

When who is the subject, the order of the word is the same as in a statement:


Who is going to come with me?
Who lives in that old house?
Who wants some more coffee?


In the sentence Who did you tell? Who is the object. Here is another example:

Who -----> Object

Ann: Who did you meet last night?
(=You met somebody. Who?)

Mary: I met a couple of friends.


When who is the object, we use an auxiliary ( be, do, have, etc.) before the subject:

Who are you going to invite?
Who did Laura ask for help?
Who have you told about this?


3. Compare subject and object questions with what:

What -----> Subject

What is in this dish?
(= Something is in it. What?)

What -----> Object

What did you buy at the shops?
(= You bought something. What?)

What ... like?

1. Look at this questions and answer:

A: What's Julie like?
B: She's very pretty and she's very kind, but she's not very clever.


We use What ... like? to ask about person's physical appareance ( tall, short, pretty, etc.) or character (interesting, boring, friendly, unfriendly, etc).

We can also use What ... like? to ask about places, books, films and events (e.g. a party, a football match):

A:What's Rio de Janeiro like?
B: Well, the beaches are wonderfull but the traffic is awful.

A:What's Spielberg's latest film like?
B: It's excellent.

2. We use look like? to talk about someone's appearance:

A:What does Julie look like?
B: She's tall with brown hair.

We can also use like with taste, feel, sound and smell:

A:What does that taste like?
B: It taste like cheese.

A: What is this material?
B: I don't know. It looks like wool but it feels like cotton.

3. We can also use like, with the question word Who and in statements, to mean "similar to":

A: Who's Julie like- her father or her mother?
B: She's like her mother. (= she is similar to her mother.)

Rio de Janeiro is like Buenos Aires. (= Rio is similar to Buenos Aires.)

4. The word like in What's she like? is a preposition; it is not the verb like. Here is an example of like used as a verb:

A: What music does Julie like?
B: She likes rock music.

5. We usually use How?, not What ... like?, when we ask about someone's health or temporary state:

A: How's your brother today?
B: He's feeling much better.

A: How was your boss today?
B: He was very friendly today!

How long/far/often...?

1. We use How long...? to ask about a period of time:

How long have you been waiting?- About twenty minutes.

How long will the journey take?- Three hours.

We use from... to or from... until to talk about a period of time:

She was a student from 1995 to 2000

Tomorrow I'm working from 8.30 until 6.


2. We use How far...? to ask about the distance from one place to another. We can use from and to with the places we are asking about:

How far is it from Amsterdam to Paris? 475 kilometres.

How far are the shops from here?- Not far.


3. We use How often...? to ask about the number of times something happens. We can use phrases like every day, once a week, etc. In the answer:

How often do the buses run?- Every hour.

How often do you play squash?- Twice a week.


4. We can use How much...? to ask about the price of something:

How much is a return ticket to Florence?

How much did you pay for this car?


5. We use How much...?with an uncountable noun to ask about the amount of something.

An uncountable noun cannot be plural beacuse it describes something that cannot be counted (e.g. bread, work, weather, money, music,meat,milk, cheese.)

How much bread is there in the cupboard?

How much work have you done today?


6.We use How many...? with a plural noun to ask about numbers:

How many student are in your class?- Fifteen.

How many people went to the party?- Ten.


7. We use How old...? to ask about someone's age:

How old are you?- I'm 19.

Note that we say:

I am 19, or:19. (not I have 19.)

We can also say: I'm 19 years ols. But we cannot say: I'm 19 years.

How long/far/often...?