Learn Rhetorical Questions in English - What are Rhetorical Questions

Can fish swim? Do dogs bark? Does a bear  poop in the woods? These are all examples  

of rhetorical questions in English. In this  lesson, you will learn English about rhetorical  

questions in English. Rhetorical questions are  questions that are asked more to make a point  

than to get information from the answer. They are  questions that do not expect an answer, or the  

answer is obvious from the question. You can use  rhetorical questions in English to make a point  

or draw attention to something. Very often, a  rhetorical question draws attention to a negative  

situation. I will talk about  a list of rhetorical questions  

and show you some rhetorical question examples. Here are some examples of rhetorical questions. 

Do you know what time it is? This rhetorical  question would be used to show that someone  

is late. Do you know what time it is? This  question does not require an answer. I am  

simply pointing out that someone is late. Danny: Where is Don? It’s already 9:10.  

He’s ten minutes late. Don: Phew, I made it. 

Danny: Do you know what time  it is? Let’s get started! 

Have you lost your tongue? This  means; why don’t you say anything. 

Danny: I seems like I have  been doing all the talking.  

Have you lost your tongue? Right, this question  doesn’t imply that I think the person has  

lost their tongue but is asking  why the other person isn’t talking. 

What do you think you’re doing? This means  that you can’t justify what you are doing.  

You can use this one when you see someone  doing something they shouldn’t be doing.  

Here’s an example: Don’s mom saw him eating  snacks and she yelled: “What do you think  

you’re doing? You shouldn’t eat so much sugar!” Some rhetorical questions start with “why should,  

or how should.” Why should…? Questions can be used  to reject suggestions, requests, and instructions.  

Why should…? Can be used to show that you  don’t want to do something. Here’s an example: 

A: Amy can you help me clean the house tomorrow? B: Why should I help you? 

Right, here I am saying I don’t  want to help clean the house. 

A: Don is very angry today. Danny: Why should I care? 

So, here I’m saying that I  don’t care that Don is angry. 

“How should I know?” or “How would I know?” is  an aggressive reply to a question. For example, 

A: What time does the movie start? B: How should I know? 

So here, “how should I know?” is an  aggressive way to say, “I don’t know!” 

There are also negative yes / no rhetorical  questions. Negative rhetorical questions  

are used to suggest that a situation is  actually positive. Here are some examples: 

Don: Can I borrow another hundred dollars? Danny: Haven’t I done enough for you? 

So here, “haven’t I done enough for you?”  means I think I have done enough for him.  

I shouldn’t need to loan him more money. Here’s another example: “Didn’t I help you  

study for your last exam?” Here I am using  a negative question to point to something  

positive, “I helped you study for you last exam. For the rest of the lesson, I will show you some  

rhetorical question examples: Rhetorical questions that have no answers: 

What is the meaning of life? What’s the matter with kids today? 

How many times do I have to  tell you to clean the house? 

With this one we can use “How many times do I  have to tell you to…? With many different tasks. 

How many do I have to tell you to do the dishes? How many times do I have to tell you to clean  

your room? Who cares? 

How should I know? Now some examples of  

rhetorical questions with obvious answers.  These are often used to make a point. 

Is rain wet? There’s no point, is there? 

Is there anyone smarter than me? Do cats meow? 

Is this supposed to be some kind is joke? So now you can recognize rhetorical questions  

in English and how to use rhetorical  questions in English. Want to learn  

more English? Click one of the videos on  the screen. I’ll see you in the next video.