Page 122 - Oxford_English_Grammar_Course_Basic_2015

Some questions begin with what + noun.

What time is the film? What time does the train leave? (NOT USUALLY Atwhat time... ?)
What colour are her eyes? (NOT What colour have... ?) What colour is your car?
What size are you? (buying clothes) What size would you like?
What sort of books do you read? What sort of films do you like? (OR What kind of... ?)

^ Put the beginnings and ends together, and put in an expression with What...

0 . . . does her plane arrive?' A 'Eight o'clock, if it's not late.'
1 ' is the baby's hair?' B ' , small or large?'......
2 music do you play?' C 'She hasn't got any.'......

3 'I'd like a packet of rice, please.' D 'Pop, mostly.'......
4 'Can 1borrow one of your sweaters?' E '1don't remember - it was very late.'......

5 ' holidays do you prefer?' F 'Sure....................would you like? Blue? Green?'.......
6 ' did you get home?' G 'Extra large.'......
7 '1 need a sweater.'' are you?' H 'We usually go to the mountains.'......

To ask for descriptions, we often use What is/are/was/were... like?

'Where have you been?' 'In Ireland.' 'What was the weather like?' 'OK.'
What's your new boyfriend like?' 'He's very nice.'
'My brother writes detective stories.' 'Yes? What are they like?' 'Not very good, really.'

^ Make questions with W hat... like?, using expressions from the box.

your new girlfriend your new house your new car your new job

your new boss/ your new school your new neighbours

wh a t's ujpur mw boss Llfze? 'He's not very good at his job.'

1 ..................................................... 'She's a lot of fun.'
2 ................................................................ 'Very noisy. They have parties all night.'
3 ..................................................... 'OK - it's a bit slow.'
4 ..................................................... 'Great - we've got much more room.'
5 ..................................................... 'It's interesting. I travel a lot.'
6 ................................................................ 'The teachers aren't much good.'

gr ammar an d vo c abu l ar y: some m ore useful questions
Where are you from? Where do you come from? (NOT From where...? - see page 111)
How long have you been here? How long are you here for? (='Until when ...?')
How long does it take to get to London? How long does it take to learn English?
How do you spell that word? How do you pronounce this word?

-» For questions with who, what and which, see page 108.

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew):
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

(Rudyard Kipling)

In some answers, both contracted forms (for example I'm, don't) and full QUESTIONS AND NEGATIVES 107
forms (for example lam, do not) are possible. Normally both are correct.