Beginning English - Lesson 5 - Family
This page: Learn how to form the possessive, Yes/No questions, and questions with questions words.
Pages in this lesson: Vocabulary - Grammar - Listening - Dialogue - Reading - Pronunciation - Dictation - Game

 

Possessives in English

To indicate who something belongs to we use 's. 

Sue's book

If you want to use the possessive ('s) with a plural word, you have to put an apostrophe after the s that makes the word plural.

the students' books

Practice
The second word belongs to the first word. Write the possessive.

Example
Frank - car   

1.  Daniel - book 

2.  Michael - computer 

3.  Jennifer - sister 

4.  the teachers - books 

5.  Laura - pencil 

6.  Martha - friend 

7.  my parents - car 

8.  my brother - wife

 

 

Yes/No Questions

Video

Watch this "The English Minute" video below to learn how to form Yes/No questions in English. The English Minute (www.theenglishminute.com) is website designed for mobile phones that has short English lessons with videos.

 

We form Yes/No Questions (questions that you can answer with "Yes" or "No") in different ways depending on the verb. In this lesson we are going to review how to form Yes/No questions with the verb "to be" and verbs in the present tense.

to be

To make a question with to be you have to change the word order.  The verb goes first and the subject second.

She is a student.
Is she a student?

He is an accountant.
Is he an accountant?

They are students.
Are they students?

You are a father.
Are you a father?

 

Present Tense

Making a question with a verb in the present tense is a little more complicated. If the subject is in first person, second person, or third person plural (I, you, we, they), we use "do". If the subject is in third person singular (he, she, it) we use "does." After "do" or "does" we put the subject and the verb in the basic form.

Note
The grammar term "first person" refers to me or some group that includes me (like "we"). "Second person" is the person who I am talking to (like you). "Third person" means other people or things (like "he", "she", "it", "they", "the car", "Bob", etc.)

You play. Do you play? They play. Do they play? The children play. Do the children play?

He plays. Does he play? Maria plays. Does Maria play?

 

Practice
Change these sentences to questions. First you have to identify if the verb is "to be" or another verb in the present to know how to form the question.

example
Hank is her brother. 

1.  They're friends. 

2.  She is a teacher. 

3.  She's his sister. 

4.  They work in the bank. 

5.  He walks in the morning. 

6.  He lives in France. 

7.  The students study English. 

8.  Emma is a teacher. 

9. The doctor helps the patients. 

10. The waiters serve the food. 

 

Question Words

Video

Watch this "The English Minute" video below to learn how to form question-word questions in English. The English Minute (www.theenglishminute.com) is website designed for mobile phones that has short English lessons with videos.

Who
What
Where
When
Why
How
How many

If you want to make a question in which a question word (word from the list above) replaces the subject of the sentence, don't change the order of the words in the sentence. The subject is the person or thing that does the action of the verb (It usually comes before the verb).

Question
Who is in the house?

Answer
Brenda is in the house.

(The word order in the sentence doesn't change when we make a question in this case because the subject of the sentence is the information that we don't know. "Who" takes the place of the unknown subject.)

If you want to make a question in which the question word takes the place of the object in the sentence, you form the question according to the rules for formation of Yes/No Questions that we studied above. The object of the sentence is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb (It is usually after the verb).

Question What do they teach?           Answer They teach English.

Question Where does Scott work? Answer Scott works at the university.

"What" and "Where" represent the information that we don't know (the information that will be in the answer). We use "do" in the first question because the subject is "they" (third person plural) and "does" in the second because the subject is "Ron" (third person singular).

Practice
Select the question word that we use to take the place of the underlined information when we form a question.

example
Gail works at the restaurant. 
(We use "Who" because Gail is a person.)

1.  Gail works at the restaurant. 
       Who How Where When Why What How many
    

2.  Francis walks in the park on Sundays. 
       How What Where When Why Who How many
      

3.  The book is on the table. 
       Who Why Where When How What How many
      

4.  The book is on the table. 
       Who How Where When Why What How many
      

5.  Larry works in the hospital. 
       Where What How When Why Who How many
       

6.  Twenty two people are in the class. 
       Who How Where When Why What How many
      

Practice
Using the same sentences that we used above, now we are going to determine if the underlined information is the subject (does the action of the verb and usually is before the verb) or an object (receives the action of the verb and usually is after the verb). When we form questions with these sentences in the exercise after this one, in the sentences where the question word takes the place of the subject we won't change the order of the words. With the sentences where the question word takes the place of the object, we will change the word order according to the rules that we studied in the Yes/No Question section above.

example
Gail works at the restaurant. 
("Gail," the underlined word, is the subject because she does the action of the verb and comes before the verb.)

1.  Gail works at the restaurant. 
       subject object
      

2.  Francis walks in the park on Sundays. 
       subject object
      

3.  The book is on the table. 
       subject object
    

4.  The book is on the table. 
       subject object
    

5.  Larry works in the hospital. 
       subject object
      

6.  Twenty two people are in the class. 
       subject object
    

 

Practice
Write the question. The underlined information is the information that is going to be replaced by the question word (What, Where, etc.).

examples

Question

Answer
Ron teaches at the university.    
("Ron" is the subject)

Question

Answer
Ron teaches at the university.  
("at the university" is the object)

1.  Question


     Answer
     Gail works at the restaurant. (Who?)

 

2.  Question


     Answer
     Gail works at the restaurant. (Where?)

 

3.  Question


     Answer
     Ann walks in the park on Sundays. (When?)

 

4.  Question


     Answer
     The book is on the table. (Where?)

 

5.  Question


     Answer
     The book is on the table. (What?)

 

6.  Question


     Answer
     Larry works in the hospital. (Who?)

 

7.  Question


     Answer
     Twenty two people are there. (How many?)

 

Practice
You are a reporter at "Hollywood Magazine."  You are interviewing the famous actor Brent Slick.  Write the questions for the interview.   

REPORTER - (Where work?) example

BRENT SLICK- I work at Star Studios in Hollywood.

REPORTER - (Where live?)

BRENT SLICK - I live in a mansion in Beverly Hills, California.

REPORTER - (What do weekend?)

BRENT SLICK - I fly my airplane or swim in my pool on the weekends. 

REPORTER - (Where wife?)

BRENT SLICK- My wife is in Paris shopping.

REPORTER - Thank you for the interview Brent.

 

Instructions Find the errors in the sentences.  Write the sentences correctly. example She are a student. --> She is a student.  1. He watchs TV at night.   2. This is book of Walter.    3. Does she walks to school?     4. They have thier pencils.     5. This is me paper.

 

Recommend Passport to English to your friends!

 

Listening Exercise

 

Beginning English - Lesson 5 - Family
Vocabulary - Grammar - Listening - Dialogue - Reading - Pronunciation - Dictation - Game