Learn Declarative and Reply Questions in English - How to Ask English Questions

Hello students, welcome back. “I  like cheese. You like cheese?”  

Today’s English lesson is about declarative  questions and reply questions in English.  

First, let’s start with declarative questions  in English. What are declarative questions?  

Declarative questions are yes / no questions that  has the form of a declarative sentence with rising  

intonation at the end. Ok, ok, don’t worry, I’ll  explain. Declarative questions can be used when  

the speaker thinks he / she knows or understands  something but want to make sure or express  

surprise about something. Remember declarative  questions have rising intonation at the end. 

Here’s an example of a declarative  statement: I like cheese. A simple statement.  

If I want to make a declarative question,  I simply make that statement a question:  

You like cheese? As you can see, I turned the  statement “I like cheese,” into a declarative  

question; “you like cheese?” Now obviously  you can’t see the question mark when someone  

is speaking, so you have to listen for the rising  intonation at the end. Listen, “you like cheese?”  

“You like cheese?” The intonation rises at the end  which signals that it’s a declarative question.  

Remember we can use declarative questions to  show that we understand something or to express  

surprise. Let’s see some examples: This is your house? (I guess this is your house,  

but I want to be sure) Here’s another example: 

A: We’re going to Thailand for vacation. B: You’re going to Thailand? 

Next, let’s learn about reply questions. First, short reply questions.  

Often, we answer a question by asking for  more information. Questions of this kind  

have a very simple structure in informal  speaking - often just a question word (who,  

what, when, where, why, how), or short  phrase beginning with a question word.  

Remember these short reply questions are used  in informal speaking. Here are some examples. 

A: My mother is coming to visit. B: When? 

A: I’m going out to dinner. B: Who with? 

A: My friend wants to talk to you. B: What about? 

A: The trains aren’t running today. B: Why not? 

Another type of reply questions is echo  questions. Echo questions seek to confirm  

or clarify a speaker’s  statement, by repeating it back  

as a question. With these questions  rising intonation is common. For example:

A: My brother is getting married. B: He’s getting married? 

You can question one part of a sentence,  by repeating the rest of the sentence,  

and putting a stressed question word  for the part you are asking about. 

A: Take a look at that. B: Take a look at what? 

A: I am going to Miami for vacation. B: You’re going where? 

A: I lost my wallet. B: You lost your what? 

You can see we can replace the part of  the sentence we have a question about  

with a stressed question word. “You did what?” If we want to question a verb, or the part of a  

sentence beginning with a verb, use “do what.” A: I ate the whole chicken. 

B: You did what? A: She exercised for  

six hours yesterday. B: She did what? 

Now let’s learn about attention signals. Attention  signals are short questions used in conversations  

to show that the listener is interested and paying  attention. Some common attention signals are: “Oh,  

yes?” And “Really?” Here’s an example: A: It was a great party. 

B: Was it? A: Yes, it was so much fun. 

Attention signal questions do not  ask for information instead they  

show that the listener is reacting to what  has been said. Here are some more examples. 

A: We had a great vacation. B: Did you? 

A: Yes, we went to Bangkok Thailand. A: I feel sick. 

B: Do you? You should see a doctor. A: I watched a movie last night. 

B: Really? A: Yes, the new James Bond movie. 

Now you know a little about declarative  questions and reply questions in English.  

Learn more English by clicking one of the videos  on the screen. I’ll see you in the next video.