Making Correct Questions
in English
Making questions…
…
is often difficult for students
because of the order of the words.
Here
is a way to help you remember
correct word order for questions.
Introducing…
ASVR
… and his cousin…
WASVR
Use ASVR when you want to form
Yes/No questions
Do
you like chocolate?
Is
anyone sitting there?
How can ASVR help you?
Use
his name to put the correct parts of
speech in the correct order:
A=
Auxiliary Verb (also called a Helping Verb) such as do, have,
or be.
S=
V=
R=
Subject (the complete subject! This might include modifiers
such as adjectives and articles).
The Main Verb (sometimes the main verb is a participle
ending in -ing or in -ed).
The “Rest” (This is the remainder or what’s left. This might
be an object, it might have a prepositional phrase with hit,
etc.)
It’s easy!
Auxiliary
Subject
Verb
Rest
Do
you
like
chocolate?
Is
anyone
sitting
there?
Exception:
ASVR
doesn’t work for questions that have
“be” as the main verb:
Are
Why
you from Arizona?
doesn’t ASVR work here?
What about WASVR?
Use
WASVR when
you want to form
Wh- questions
WASVR is similar to his
cousin, but he wears a
hat. This hat is a word
like where, when, why,
how long, etc. These are
called Wh- words (or
Question words).
The Wh- word comes before the Auxiliary Verb, just
like a hat is on the top of your head.
What
time does class start?
Where do you like to shop?
When will we visit the library?
W=
“wh” question word, such as what, why, what time, etc.
A=
Auxiliary Verb (also called a Helping Verb) such as do, have,
or be.
S=
Subject (the complete subject! This might include modifiers
such as adjectives and articles).
V=
The Main Verb (sometimes the main verb is a participle
ending in -ing or in -ed).
R=
The “Rest” (This is the remainder or what’s left. This might
be an object, it might have a prepositional phrase with hit,
etc.)
It’s easy!
Wh-word
Aux. Subj.
Verb
Rest
What time
does class
start?
Where
do
you
like
to study?
When
will
we
visit
the library?
Exception 1:
WASVR
with be:
What
Why
doesn’t work for questions
time is the ESL Compass test?
doesn’t WASVR work here?
Exception 2:
WASVR
doesn’t work for questions
about the subject:
Who
•
likes to take tests?
Why doesn’t WASVR work here?
Questions you must know how to
ask correctly:
W
A
S
V
How
do
I
pronounce
What
does
How
do
****
I
R
**** ?
mean?
spell
**** ?