Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end
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| Question | YES | NO |
|---|---|---|
| What strange birds they are? - I don't know, I've never seen them before. | ||
| How big your house is ! - Yes, it is. | ||
| How big is your house ! - Yes, it is. | ||
| How big is your house ? - It's 240 square metres | ||
| How fast your car is ! - Yes, I need to control myself | ||
| How beautiful the stars are tonight ! - Yea, I was thinking the same | ||
| What nice hair have you got ! - Thanks :) | ||
| How lucky are you ! - I know. | ||
| How interesting this book is ! - Yes, you can't stop reading. | ||
| How boring it is when you have nothing to do ! - Yes, I agree | ||
| What a cool song is this ! - Yea, I love it too. | ||
| What short stories do you like ? - Traditional fairy tales, they're my favourite | ||
| How big your house is ? - It's 240 square metres | ||
| What nice chairs you have ! - Thanks, they are from Milan | ||
| What nice hair you've got ! - Thanks :) | ||
| What a cool song this is! - Yea, I love it too. | ||
| What a delicious soup this is ! - Oh yea, it is! | ||
| How interesting is this book ? - Well, it's boring at first but then it's ok | ||
| How tall are you ? - I'm 1.8 metres | ||
| What a nice river this is ! - Oh yea, it is! | ||
| How old your grandmother is ! - Yes, she's 98. | ||
| What beautiful eyes you have ! - Thank you | ||
| How old is your grandmother ! - Yes, she's 98. | ||
| What short stories you like ? - Traditional fairy tales, they're my favourite | ||
| How old is your grandmother ? - She's 98. | ||
| How tall are you ! - Thanks | ||
| How beautiful you are ! - Thanks | ||
| How lucky you are ! - I know. | ||
| How beautiful are you ! - Thanks | ||
| How tall you are ! - Thanks |
We use inversion for questions. We don't use inversion for exclamations
Questions in English need an inversion, we put the verb before the subject:
- Mike is Scottish (Mike + is)
- Is Mike Scottish? (is + Mike)
Modal and auxiliary verbs (special verbs) can do the inversion
- Are you tired?
- Can you see me?
- Will you come with me?
- Have you seen this movie?
- May I come in?
But normal verbs can't, so they use the auxiliary verb DO for the inversion:
- Do you like this? (Do + you)
- Does she live in Rome?
- Did you go to the party?
Questions can begin with an interrogative word:
- What is your name?
- What do you like?
- How is your mother?
- How do you open this door?
- When do you see your friends?
- Where do you live?
EXCLAMATIONS can also use WHAT and HOW, but they are not questions, so they don't use inversion:
- What a nice car you've got!
- What tall trees these are!
- How fantastic this song is!
- How tall your boyfriend is!
Compare:
How tall is your brother? (question, inversion)
How tall your brother is! (exclamation, no inversion)
- How difficult is that job?
- Oh, it's not very difficult
- How difficult that job is!
- Oh yea, you're right!
Exclamations with WHAT don't usually have an exact equivalent question:
What a nice girl you are!
Are you a nice girl?
