Learning
Grammar
04

Questions & negatives

English questions and negatives almost always need an operator (do / does / did, be, have). Without it they sound off.

Yes/no questions

A1do / does / did + subject + base verb

Closed questions use the operator „do / does / did” (or „be”), not just a change of word order.

Examples
  • Do you like coffee?
    PLLubisz kawę?
  • Does she work here?
    PLCzy ona tu pracuje?
  • Did they call?
    PLCzy oni dzwonili?

Wh- questions

A1wh- + operator + subject + verb

Detail questions start with what / where / when / why / how, then the operator.

Examples
  • Where do you live?
    PLGdzie mieszkasz?
  • What does it mean?
    PLCo to znaczy?
  • Why did you leave?
    PLDlaczego wyszedłeś?
Common mistake

Where you are going?Where are you going?

In a question the auxiliary comes before the subject (inversion): „Where are you…?”, not „Where you are…?”.

Negatives

A1don't / doesn't / didn't + base verb

Negatives also need the operator: don't / doesn't / didn't + the base verb.

Examples
  • I don't know.
    PLNie wiem.
  • She doesn't like it.
    PLNie podoba jej się to.
  • We didn't go.
    PLNie poszliśmy.

Question tags

B1…, don't you? · …, isn't it?

A short tag at the end asking for confirmation. Positive sentence → negative tag, and vice versa.

Examples
  • You're coming, aren't you?
    PLPrzyjdziesz, prawda?
  • She doesn't smoke, does she?
    PLOna nie pali, prawda?

Indirect questions

B1Could you tell me + wh- + subject + verb

Politer and with no inversion: after „Could you tell me…” the word order is like a statement.

Examples
  • Could you tell me where the station is?
    PLCzy może pan powiedzieć, gdzie jest dworzec?
    „…where the station is”, not „where is the station”
  • Do you know if it's open?
    PLCzy wiesz, czy jest otwarte?