Meanings into Words: Grade XII

Unit 9 (Clarifying)

 

In this unit we learn a) information questions b) indirect questions and c) reported questions.

In formation questions are asked for getting information.

Question-words: (used for making information questions)

What, which, when, how, why, whose, where, whom, what kind of, what sort of, how far, how many , what shade, what grade, what colour, what size, what rank, what flavour, what make etc.

Follow-up structure:

While making information keep in mind the following things:

a) Change yes/no questions into wh-questions.

b) Remove three/four nouns or adjectives of the given questions deriving the common thing of them. For e.g.

Things                                                                         common/class

Rainy, foggy, cold, hot etc.                                        weather

Arson, blackmail, assault, murder etc.                       crime

c) In whichever tense the yes/no question is given, use the same tense in your information question.

 

From Student's Book:  Ex--9.1: page: 85

Question: Change the questions below to information questions:

1. Are we having tomato/chicken/mushroom soup today?

     → Which soup are we having today?

2. Was it raining/foggy/ cold when you were in London?

     → How was the weather when you were in London?

3. Are you planning to use your father's car/Tony's car/ my car?

     → Whose car are you planning to use?

4. Are you going to boil/fry/scramble those eggs?

     → What are you going to do with those eggs?

5. Is it 500 miles/1000 mines/a long way to London from here?

     → How far is London from here?

6. Would you like to do manual/ office/outdoor work?

     → What sort of work would you like to do?

7. Are there four/five/six of you?

     → How many of you are there?

8. I hear he's hurt his leg. Has he broken/bruised/cut it?

     → What has he done to his leg?

9. Are you Margaret's cousin/brother/ nephew?

     → What is the relationship between you and Margaret?

10. Is the cinema opposite/next to/round the corner from the station?

     → Where is the cinema from the station?

11. Have you given away/sold/burnt my old football boots?

     → What have you done with my old football boots?

12. Did you use half-inch/one-inch/three-quarter-inch screws?

     → What size screws did you use?

Question: Look at the sets of words below and decide a) what each set has in common: b) ask an information question about it:

1. arson/blackmail/assault

     → a) crime b) What crime did he commit?

2. Stew/grill/roast                              stew: cook slowly and for a long time in liquid.

     → a) cooking b) How shall I cook the meat?   Grill: cook over a grill.

3. major/sergeant/corporal

     → a) rank b) What rank was he promoted to?  Roast: cook with dry heat, usually in an                                                                                       oven.

4. primary/grammar/comprehensive

     → a) school b) What kind of school are they at?

5. ford/Volkswagen/citroën

     → a) car company b) What make of car was it?

6. rubber/leather/plastic

     → a) material b) What material are the soles of your shoes?

7. A4/foolscap/quarto

     → a) typing paper size b) What size typing paper do you want?

8. crimson/scarlet/maroon

     → a) shade of red b) What shade of red is her dress?

9. rare/medium/well done

     → a) cooking b) How would you like your steak done?

10. A/B/C

     → a) grade b) What grade did he get in the test?

 

From Work Book: unit 9: Ex--1: page: 42

Question: Fill in the gaps below with information questions:

1. A: What was the weather like?

     B: It was cold and rather windy.

2. A: What size of shoes do you take?

     B: I take 36, actually. I've got rather small feet.

3. A: When do you take your medicine?

     B: Ooh, after every meal, usually.

4. A: What kind of dog have you got?

     B: I've got a Labrador (most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, since 1991).

5. A: What are you going to have your hair done?

     B: I'm going to have it shampooed and set.

6. A: Mr. Coombs left £20,000 when he died.

     B: Really? Who got the amount then?

7. A: I only took one photo while I was in Rome.

     B: Did you? How does it look? Please show me.

8. A: Ow! I think I've been stung.

     B: How sad! What stung you?

9.  A: I've managed to borrow that £100 I need.

     B: Who is lending you that amount?

10.A: I had a really strange dream last night.

      B:  What was it about?

11. A: Sh! I'm listening to the Prime Minister on the radio.

     B: What is he talking about?

 

Indirect questions:

Follow-up structures:

While changing a yes/no or Wh-question into indirect question the word order remains as in an ordinary sentence or statement. For e.g.

He went somewhere. (simple sentence)

Where did he go? (Direct question or information question), but

Do you know where he went? (Indirect question)

Change the following items:

Given questions	Changed into
do+v1/ don't +v1	v1/ don't +v1
does+v1/doesn't+v1	v5/ doesn't+v1
did+v1/didn't+v1	v2/ didn't+v1
Auxiliary+sub	Sub+auxiliary

 

 

 

NB: Remember if the given words in the beginning are in question-form, put question mark at the end of your answer otherwise put full stop.

 

From Student's Book: 9.3: page: 86

Question: Rewrite the following questions as indirect questions:

1. What time did you wake up this morning?

→ Can you remember what time you woke up?

2. How much do colour TVs cost these days?

→ Have you any idea how much TVs colour cost these days?

3. What time does the film start?

→ I wonder what time the film starts.

4. Was he alone?

→ Did you notice if/whether he was alone?

5. When are they getting married?

→ I'm longing to know when they are getting married.

6. Did I lock the front door?

→ Do you remember whether/if I locked the front door?

7. Has the train left?

→ Have you found out if/whether the train has left?

8. What colour curtains did they buy?

→ Do you know what colour curtains they bought?

 

From Work Book: unit 9: Ex--2: page: 43

Question: Combine the following pairs of sentences into indirect questions:

1. What does he do for living? I often wonder.

→ I often wonder what he does for living.

2. Does she like classical music? Can you remember?

→ Can you remember if/whether she likes classical music?

3. Where are you going for your holidays? Have you decided yet?

→ Have you decided yet where you are going for your holidays?

4. Are you coming tomorrow? I need to know now.

→ I need to know now if/whether you are coming tomorrow.

5. Did you ever find your camera? I've been meaning to ask you.

→ I've been meaning to ask you if/whether you ever found your camera.

6. What crime has he been charged with? Do you know?

→ Do you know what crime he has been charged with?

7. What time does the concert start? I've no idea.

→ I've no idea what time the concert starts.

8. Did he look angry? Did you notice?

→ Did you notice if/whether he looked angry?

9. What is your brother's name? I've forgotten.

→ I've forgotten what your brother's name is.

 

From Student's Book: Ex--9.7: page: 89

Follow up structure:

While changing a sentence into indirect speech, mainly we change three things:

a. persons/pronouns b. tense C. Adverbials 

How to change?

Given sentence-type	Change into reporting verb	Use joining word
statement	told	that
yes/no question	asked/ wanted to know	if/whether
wh-question	asked/wanted to know	the same wh-word
command	told/requested/order etc.	to

 

Adverbial changes:

Direct speech	Indirect Speech
this	that
now	then
today	that day
tomorrow	the next day
yesterday	the day before
the day before	two days before
ago	before
next	the following
thus	so
last week/month	the previous week/month
here	there

Tense change: (verb change)

Given verbs	changed  into
v1/v5	v2
v2	had+v3
has/have+v3	had+v3
is/am/are	was/were
was/were	had been
had+v3	had+v3
can, may, shall, will, must etc.	could, might, should, would, must/had to etc.

Question: Report the following question:

1. Did you have a good journey?

→ My friend asked me if I had had a good journey.

2. Are you angry?

→ He asked me if I was angry.

3. Did you have a meal on the plane?

→ My friend asked me if I had had a meal on the plane.

4. Did you have any trouble at customs?

→ My friend wanted to know if I had had any trouble at customs.

5. How are you feeling?

→ The doctor asked the patient how he was feeling.

6. Have you been vaccinated against cholera?

→ He asked me if I had been vaccinated against cholera.

7. How much do you smoke?

→ The doctor asked me how much I smoked.

8. Do you do any exercise?

→ The teacher asked me if I did any exercise.

9. Have you been sleeping badly?

→ He asked me if I had been sleeping badly.

10. Have you worked in a restaurant?

→ The hotel manager asked me if I had worked in a restaurant.

11. How far away do you live?

→ He asked me how far away I lived.

12. Are you willing to work in the evenings?

→ He asked me if I was willing to work in the evenings.

13. When can you start?

→ He asked me when I could start.

 

From Work Book: ex-5: page: 46

Question: Report the questions using 'asked her' or 'wanted to know':

1. How long are you staying?

→ They wanted to know how long she was staying.

2. Are you planning to give any concerts while you are here?

→ They asked her if she was planning to give any concerts while she was there.

3. Have you written any new songs recently?

→ They asked her if she had written any new songs recently.

4. When is your next record going to be released?

→ They wanted to know when her next record was going to be released.

5. What have you been doing since your last visit?

→ They asked her what she had been doing since her last visit.

6. Are you glad you're here?

→ They wanted to know if she was glad to be there.

7. Do you think your next record will be a hit?

→ They asked her if she thought her next record would be a hit.

8. Why didn't your husband come with you?

→ They wanted to know why her husband had not come with her.

9. Will you be staying in London?

→ They asked her if she would be staying in London.

 

From Work Book: Ex--4: page: 45

Follow up structures:

It is/was+not +sub+ who/that/where/which+ is/was/were ……………

Question: Correct the statements below:

1. Charles Dickens was born in Stratford-on-Avon.

→ It was not Charles Dickens who was born in Stratford-on-Avon. It was Shakespeare.

2. Doctors look after your teeth.

→ It is not doctors who look after your teeth. It is dentists.

3. Marco Polo discovered America.

→ It wasn't Marco Polo who discovered America. It was Columbus.

4. The sun causes the tides.

→ It isn't the sun that causes the tides. It is the moon.

5. Democracy started in Italy.

→ It wasn't in Italy where democracy started. It was in America.

6. Agatha Christie wrote the James Bond stories.

→ It wasn't Agatha Christie who wrote the James Bond stories. It was Ian Fleming.

7. India has the largest population in the world.

→ It isn't India that has the largest population. It's china.

8. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Dallas.

→ It wasn't in Dallas where Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was Memphis.

OR

     It was not Martin Luther King who was assassinated in Dallas. It was John F. Kennedy.

 

From Work Book: Ex--3: Page: 44

Question: Ask questions beginning Is/Was it…?, as in the example:

1. Excuse me, sir. Did you order three steaks or four?

→ Excuse me, sir. Was it three or four steaks that you ordered?

2. Has your father been helping you with your homework? Or has your mother?

→ Is it your father or your mother who has been helping you with your homework?

3. Do remind me- did we last meet in Paris or Madrid?

→ Do remind me- was it in Paris or in Madrid where we last met?

4. I've completely forgotten- do we have to come early tomorrow or the day after?

→ I've completely forgotten- is it early tomorrow or the day after that we have to come?

5. He's engaged to a Japanese girl, I think. Or maybe she's Chinese.

→ Is it a Japanese girl or Chinese to whom he's engaged?

6. Do you grow flowers or vegetables in your garden?

→ Is it flowers or vegetables that you grow in your garden?

7. Did you want to speak to the manager or the assistant manager?

→ Was it the manager or the assistant manager that you wanted to speak to?

8. I can't remember- are you going to London by bus or by train?

→  I can't remember- Is it bus or train by which you're going to London?

9. John's father owns a garage, doesn't he? Or am I thinking of Tony?

→ Is it John's father or Tony's father who owns a garage?

10. Can you remind me- are the Spencers arriving on Saturday or Sunday?

→ Can you remind me- is it on Saturday or Sunday when the Spencers are arriving.

The End of Unit 9