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Auxiliary verbs - sounding interested
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FormGeneral usage
Short questions vs question tags
Intonation in short questions
Resource index for Auxiliary verbs - sounding interested
Form
auxiliary + subject + ?
'I'm so tired today.'
'Are you? What have you been doing?' 'We saw a great film last night.'
'Did you? What was it about?'
'I'm so tired today.'
'Are you? What have you been doing?'
'Did you? What was it about?'
General usage
We can use a short question with an auxiliary to show interest in what another person is saying and encourage them to tell us more. The function of this language is similar to expressions such as Really? and Oh yes?
Short questions are different from question tags
Short questions are different from question tags in the following ways:
- Two people are speaking: the short question is a response to somebody else.
- They follow the same positive / negative pattern as the first speaker's statement (see below).
'We've been shopping.' Present perfect. Auxiliary: have,
'Have you? What did you buy?' 'I'm going to Paris this weekend.' Present continuous. Auxiliary: be.
'Are you? Lucky you.' 'Derek can speak Spanish.' Modal auxiliary: can.
'Can he? I'll ask him to translate this, then.'
Simple tenses - present simple and past simple - do not use auxiliaries in positive statements. 'I live in Rome ' Present simple.
'Do you? Perhaps you can recommend a good hotel.'
We use the auxiliary do in the short question. We went to the wildlife park yesterday. Past simple
'Did you? Did you have a good time?'
We use the auxiliary did in the short question.
Short questions showing interest follow the same positive / negative pattern as the first speaker's statement.
'I'm so tired today.'
'Are you?' 'I don't like this cold weather.'
'Don't you?'
- Two people are speaking: the short question is a response to somebody else.
- They follow the same positive / negative pattern as the first speaker's statement (see below).
Short questions use the same auxiliaries as the statements they respond to.
'Have you? What did you buy?'
'Are you? Lucky you.'
'Can he? I'll ask him to translate this, then.'
Positive statements with simple tenses
'Do you? Perhaps you can recommend a good hotel.'
We use the auxiliary do in the short question.
'Did you? Did you have a good time?'
We use the auxiliary did in the short question.
Grammatical positives and negatives
'I'm so tired today.'
'Are you?'
'Don't you?'
Intonation in short questions
It is important that the intonation of the short question rises if you want to sound polite and show interest in what the other person is saying. 'I'm going to the pub after work.'
'Are you? Can I come too?' I bought a new computer at the weekend.
'Did you? That's nice.'
In the second example, a flat intonation with the comment that's nice rather than another question suggests the speaker is uninterested or busy. It doesn't encourage the first speaker to say more.
'Are you? Can I come too?'
'Did you? That's nice.'
In the second example, a flat intonation with the comment that's nice rather than another question suggests the speaker is uninterested or busy. It doesn't encourage the first speaker to say more.
