My EASY English grammar trick for yes/no questions

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[singing] I wanna know if you've seen the rain coming down on a sunny day.

Oh hey, one second.

Sorry for my terrible karaoke.

Hey everyone, I'm Alex, thanks for clicking and welcome to this lesson on answering yes

or no questions in English.

So, today, I am going to give you a simple trick to that you know which auxiliary verb

you can use when you are answering a yes or no question.

I will also mention some of the common mistakes that people make when they are trying to make

yes or no questions in English when they are just learning the language.

They're just starting to learn the language.

And in the second part of this video, I will give you some exceptions and also, I will

give you some negative yes or no questions, which, negative questions typically are yes

So, let's start with the beginning.

We have a variety of questions using a variety of tenses and a variety of auxiliary verbs.

So, number one: Does she like dogs?

This is a present simple question.

You have the auxiliary verb "Does", we use "does" because "She does", "Does she?"

Does she like dogs?

Now, to answer this question, very simple, "Yes, she does.", or "No, she doesn't."

Okay, just follow me, let's do one more then I'll explain the trick.

Did Eric call you last night?

Did Eric call you last night?

This is a past simple question.

Possible answers: "Yes, he did.", or "No, he didn't.".

Okay, now you've probably heard or seen these answers before.

I want to bring up the fact that a common mistake: "Does she like dogs?", some students,

when they are first learning English, sometimes will say "Yes, she likes.", or, you know,

"Yes, she likes.".

That's it, that's the one that I hear, sorry.

And what I want you to understand is that you have to focus on the first verb, the auxiliary

verb, when you are answering yes or no questions in the vast majority of situations.

So, does she like dogs?

You should be hearing "Does, does, does, does, does.

The verb is does".

Yes, she does, or No, she doesn't.

Did Eric... did, did, did, did, first verb, first auxiliary verb for yes or no questions.

Did Eric call you last night?

Yes, he did, okay?

Next one: Have you seen the new Batman movie?

Now, if we use the same trick, "Have you seen", the first verb is "have", right?

So, "Yes, I have.", or "No, I haven't.".

It's very important to remember that you still have to conjugate the auxiliary verb, so if

the question was "Has Erica seen the new Batman movie?", my friend Erica, you answer with

"Yes, she has.", because for "she" you use "has" for the third person with the verb "have",

or "No, she hasn't.", okay?

So just make sure you're still conjugating correctly.

Next: Are they married?

Auxiliary verb is "are", okay?

So, this is the verb "to be".

Are they married?

"Yes, they are.", "No, they aren't.", okay?

And here we have the conjugation.

"Yes, I am."

The verb "to be".

I'm okay, yeah, I'm okay.

Next: Will it be expensive?

Here, you have a future question so, you know, your friend wants to take you to a movie or

they want to go to a concert or to a festival and you ask the question "Will it be expensive?".

"Yes, it will.", or the negative, "No, it won't.".

Next: Should I bring anything?

So, there's a party or a picnic and you want to ask your friend who is organizing the party

or the picnic if you should bring, you know, some food or something to drink or maybe a

blanket for the picnic.

Should I bring anything?

Auxiliary verb: "Should", right?

Model - models are auxiliaries as well - "Yes, you should."

"No, you shouldn't.", or, you know "Don't worry about it.", basically.

And finally: Could you ride a bike at 4 years old?

When you were 4 years old?

You can also say "Could you do this at 4 years old?", this is past with "could".

"Yes, I could.", "No, I couldn't.".

So far, so good, right?

So, remember, when you have a yes or no question, that is basically asking for a fact, right,

like Does she like dogs?

Did Eric call you last night?

Have you seen the movie?

Always pay attention to the first verb in the question.

That is the verb that you are going to conjugate in your answer, oftentimes the exact same

verb: Does she?

Now, these are all correct, grammatically fine answers.

Obviously, we don't always just say "Yes, No, Yes, I have, Yes, I did, No, I didn't".

There are many ways to say yes and to say no in English, so I put some other possibilities

for other answers that you could give to some of these questions.

So, for example, "I think so.".

This is like, maybe.

You're not sure, so "I think so".

Which question could we ask for - to get the answer, or use the answer "I think so."?

Does she like dogs?

I'm not sure, okay?

Did Eric call you last night?

It doesn't really work unless you have a terrible memory or, you know, you were not 100% present

mentally last night for some reason, okay?

I'm not going to go through all of them, so, "No way.".

So again, "No way.", this is impossible.

This means something is impossible.

So, hmm, sure: Does she like dogs?

Like, I've seen her a million times with dogs and she is always really, really afraid of

them, or she just doesn't like them because they're furry or doesn't like their tongues

or something, okay?

For sure!, right?

Yeah, let's go with "For sure!".

Should I bring anything?

Yeah, absolutely, you can, you should.

Will it be expensive?

So, if you're going to an expensive concert, like you're seeing a big-name act like the

Rolling Stones, or Elton John, or, you know, somebody huge where you know the concert tickets

will be expensive.

Will it be expensive?

Absolutely, 100%.

And again, another one that is similar to "I think so.", you're not 100%, "Probably.",

or "Probably not.".

So, for example - maybe you have a bad memory.

Could you ride a bike at 4 years old?

I don't remember my life when I was 4 years old, but I don't think so, okay?

Alright, so, so far, so good.

Let's go to some more examples where there are some exceptions to this rule that I just

taught you, so let's keep going.

Okay, so now we are going to look at some of those exceptions or stranger versions of

yes or no questions.

So here: Does he have a bike?

A very common question I receive from students is "Teacher, can I answer 'Does he have',

'Do you have', 'Does she have', with 'Yes, she has.', or 'No, she hasn't', or do I have

to say 'Yes, he does', or 'No, she doesn't?'".

Well, the answer is you can say both, it just depends which part of the world you are in.

So, in American English, you just follow the rule that I established in the first part

of the video, and what is that rule?

Does he have a bike?

The first verb is "does", auxiliary verb in the present simple.

"Yes, he does."

"No, he doesn't."

So, this is American grammar, American English.

In the UK, in British English, you can say "Yes, he has.", or "No, he hasn't", okay?

So, this is why I think some students make the mistake with present simple yes/no questions.

They want to know "Teacher, if someone asks me 'Do you like pizza?', can I say 'Yes, I

or 'No, I don't like.'?" because they have heard "Yes, he has.", "No, he hasn't." with

a main verb in the yes/no answer.

So, "have" really is an exception where in British English, you can answer Does he have,

Do you have, Does she have, Do they have with "Yes, they have.", or "No, they haven't.

"Yes, he has.", "No, he hasn't", if you are in England or travelling in Ireland, for example.

Would you mind moving over?

So, this is a request with "Would you mind" is a very specific phrase in English.

It means "is it ok with you if I do something?" or if you do something.

So, "Would you mind moving over?"

Maybe you are at a movie theatre or you're on the bus and you're asking someone "Oh,

would you mind moving over, making more space?"

"No, I wouldn't.".

Now, this actually means "It's okay for me to move over, it is not a problem.", okay.

So, you can say "No problem", or "Of course not."

"Would you mind moving over?"

"No, I wouldn't."

It's okay, I can move over.

Or if they are, maybe, rude or very strong, "Yes, I would.".

So, it's a problem for me to move over.

I don't want to move over.

So, "Would you mind?" or "Do you mind?" also, this is the one question structure in English

where "yes" means "no", and "no" means "yes", so think about that for a second, okay?

So, would you mind?

No, not at all.

Or No, I wouldn't.

So, it's no problem, it's okay.

No means yes, yes means no with "Would you mind?" or "Do you mind?"

Okay, next, I put this one here.

It follows the rule 100%.

It's another offer - sorry, it is an offer, we did a request - offer.

"Would you like one?"

Would you like a piece of candy?

Would you like a peanut or something?

"Oh, yes I would.", right?

"Would you like one?"

"Yes, I would", first verb, would, "No, I wouldn't."

Okay, so, very simple rule.

With offers, again, there's more than one way to say yes, more than one way to say no

when someone makes an offer like "Would you like one?"

"No thanks.", okay, so there's more than one way to answer an offer when someone offers

you something, and here are some of the other ways in addition to the grammatical "Yes,

"No, I wouldn't.".

Alright, request.

This is very formal, so anytime you use "may" in a yes or no context, it's usually quite

So, "May I enter?", right?

Can I enter the house, or maybe, you know, the bathroom door is a little bit open and

your friend is there or your mom, I don't know.

Knock knock, "May I enter?"

And here, "Yes, you may."

"No, you may not."

I included this as a separate example, number one, to give you a variety of auxiliary verbs,

modal verbs that you can use in yes or no questions, but also, number two, "may not",

in the negative, you can't do a contraction, okay?

So, you cannot say "No, you mayn't".

It doesn't work, it doesn't exist.

So, if you use the negative, make sure you say "No, you may not", okay?

So far, so good?

Finally, negative questions.

So, the purpose of a negative question is you want to confirm with the person whether

what you think is correct.

So, let me give you an example of what I mean.

"Can't you swim?"

So, you are expecting the answer to be "Yes" in a negative question and maybe you're surprised

that the person can't swim, so "Can't you swim?"

"Doesn't she like dogs?"

I think she likes dogs.

Wait, doesn't she like dogs?

"Didn't Eric call you last night?"

Why are you asking me, you know, what time the theatre performance starts?

We're all going, me, you, and Eric.

Didn't you call Eric?

I expected you to call Eric.

"Aren't they married?"

I think they're married, okay?

So, you ask yes or no questions, negative questions with can't, doesn't, didn't, aren't,

haven't, shouldn't, won't, okay?

So, all the negative forms that we also saw in the first part of the video and in this

part of the video, you can ask negative questions when you are confirming or clarifying or checking

information with people and you expect the answer to be yes, but you're not sure or you're

surprised by something, right?

Isn't he married?

Aren't they married?

Wait, can't you swim?

Like, why are you so scared of the water, okay?

Alright, and again, same way to answer them.

You answer them the exact same way, there's no tricks, okay?

So, "Can't you swim?"

"Yes, I can.", "No, I can't."

"Doesn't she like dogs?"

"Yes, she does."

or "No, she doesn't."

"Didn't Eric call you last night?"

"Yes, he did", "No he didn't."

"Aren't they married?"

"Yes, they are.", or "No, they aren't."

Whew, a lot of information today, so just remember the first trick is if you are asking

or answering, I apologize, if you are answering a yes or no question that is just asking about

a fact, okay, like "Is she scared of dogs?"

"Does he have a bike?" or "Does he like pizza?".

Focus on the first auxiliary verb, okay?

No, she doesn't.

Yes, we should.

No, we shouldn't.

So, always listen to that first verb.

That's the trick, except for these little exceptions and weird kind of outliers - that's

An outlier is someone who is not common, not part of the common group, okay?

If you want to test your understanding of all of the material we covered today, as always,

you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com . While you're there, make sure to do the

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