15. Questions

Grammar 14: Question words: What..? Which..?....How much..? How many..? many..? How often..?... - Usamos “what” para cosas, tiene dos significados: “Qué” y “Cuál”. What is this? ¿Qué es esto? What’s your address? ¿Cuál es tu dirección? What’s white and round? ¿Qué es blanco y redondo? - Usamos “which” cuando nos referimos a pocas cosas. Caso contrario usamos “ what”. Tiene a su vez dos significados: “Qué” y “Cuál”. Which language do you speak? ¿Qué lengua habla? Which one do you prefer? The black computer or the white computer. ¿Cuál prefieres? La computadora negra o la blanca.

- Usamos “who” para personas, significa: “Quién”: Who’s that? ¿Quién es ese? Who’s the owner of this notebook? ¿Quién es el dueño de esta laptop?. - Usamos “where” para lugares, significa: “Dónde”: Where’s Ecuador? ¿Dónde está Ecuador? Where’s your house? ¿Dónde está tu casa? - Usamos “when” cuando queremos saber sobre fechas/tiempo, significa: “Cuándo”: When’s the party? ¿Cuándo es la fiesta? When are the games scheduled? ¿Para cuándo están los juegos pronosticados? - Usamos “why” para saber el porque de las cosas, significa: “Por qué”: Why are you here? ¿Por qué está usted aquí? Why does the man need a computer?¿Por qué el hombre necesita un computador?

- Usamos “how” para indicar el modo o el método, significa: “Cómo”: “Cómo”: How is life on Mars? ¿Cómo es la vida en marte? How do you do it? ¿Cómo lo haces? - Usamos “whose” para indicar posesión, significa “De quién”: Whose chip is that? ¿De quién es ese cirtcuito integrado? Whose computers are these? ¿De quiénes son estas computadoras? Building sentences. Construyendo oraciones. - Cuando queremos que nuestra respuesta sea un Sí o No y estamos usando el verbo TO BE, anteponemos el verbo al sujeto. Por ejemplo:

Tom is here.   You You are at home.

Is Tom here? Are you at home?

- Verb + Sbj + Object Is she a teacher?  Yes, she is. Are they at the beach? No, they aren’t. Is he Marcos?  Yes, he is. Are we in Canada? No, we aren’t. Is it true?  Yes, it is true.

Sin embargo, cuando queremos una respuesta afirmativa o negativa y usamos otro verbo, tenemos que ayudarnos con el verbo auxiliar TO DO:

- Aux Verb + Sbj + Vb + Does she have Do they live Does she study Do they play

Object the book? Yes, she does. in Cuenca? Yes, they do. English? No, she doesn’t. soccer? No, they don’t.

Cuando queremos saber algo puntual utilizamos “question words”: - Question Word + Vb + Sbj How are you? When is your Who is Who opens

+

Object. birthday? that girl? the concert?

Fine, thanks. Tomorrow. Monique. Ricky Martin.

- Question Word + nouns + Aux Verb + Sbj + Vb + Object. Where do you live? How does she write books in 1 day? What is she doing in your house? How many cars does she have? How much money do you have? How often does he go on vacation? Read the following conversation. Lee la siguiente conversación: A: Excuse me. Are these palmtops on sale? B: Yes, they are. A: How about this one? Is it on sale? B: Yes, it is. How much is it? A: It’s 800 dollars. B: Good. Are those mouse pads on sale, too? A: Yes, they are. Henry, how many mouse pads are there in the warehouse? H: There are no more mouse pads. B: How often do you buy stuff? A: We get new merchandise at the end of the month. How much ¿Cuánto ...? ¿Cuántos ...? Usamos HOW MUCH para hacer preguntas sobre precio, independientemente del número de objetos, y sobre sustantivos no-contables . Por ejemplo: How much is this car? 10 dollars. (un solo objeto) How much are these cars? 18 dollars. (dos objetos) How much sugar is there in the jar ? ( uncountable noun) How much water is left? ( uncountable noun) How many ¿Cuántos ...? Usamos HOW MANY cuando queremos saber la cantidad de un sustantivo contable. No se puede utilizar un sustantivo contable en singular después de la expresión “How many”. Por ejemplo: How many cars are there in the box? ¿Cuántos carros hay en la caja? How many rooms are available? ¿Cuántos cuartos están disponibles?

How often

¿Cuán a menudo ...?

Usamos how often cuando queremos saber cuán frequentemente alguien hace algo. Por ejemplo: How often do you turn on your computer? Twice a day. Cuán a menudo prendes la computadora? Dos veces al día How often do you eat out? Occasionally. Cuán a menudo comes fuera? Ocasionalmente.

(For) How long ¿Por cuánto tiempo ...? Usamos How long para saber por cuanto tiempo hemos hecho algo. Por ejemplo: (For) how long have you been outside? For three hours. Por cuánto tiempo han estado afuera? Por tres horas

Exercise 14: Question words How much..? How many..? How often..? How long..? How about..? 1. Make questions using where. Answer the questions.  The computer and the printer are on the black table. Where are the computer and the printer?. They are on the table. ___  Peter is at home. Where ___________. ___________________________  Monique and I are at college. Where _______________. ___________________________ 

2. Make questions using who. Answer the questions. Her name is Rebecca. Who _____________. ___________________________ 

His name is Dennis. Who _____________. ___________________________  My mother is at the door. Who ______________. ___________________________ 

3. Make questions using what. Answer the questions.  They are the new computers. What are they? They are the new computers.  The keyboard is red. What color ___________________. ____________________________. My name is Michael. What ________________________. _____________________________.

4. Make questions using which. Answer the questions. I have two pair of shoes. Which one _________________________. I like the white ones.

5. Make questions using when. Answer the questions. Every day I have English classes at 6h20. When ________________________. _____________________________.

6. Make questions using why. Answer the questions. I am a doctor. Why ________________________. Because ________________________. They are at home. . Why ________________________. Because ________________________. The dog is angry. Why ________________________. Because ________________________.

7. Make questions using how. Answer the questions. I’m fine. How ________________________. ____________________________.