The previous article introduced the five basic sentence types in English, and before we further introduce how sentences can become complex with various additions on top of the five sentence types, let's first figure out the inversion feature of English interrogative sentences as well as the normal order of subordinate clauses.
This is a vital thing, but in fact, too many beginners are given to ignore, in the circle of ignorance in the hard learning for a long time, the results in the actual application of a variety of confusion, twice as much as half the effort.
In this article, I would like to try to clarify this matter by giving examples, so that more English beginners can be half as good as they are, and if it can make the long confused partners can be clear, then the author will also be happy for you.
- 1. Question inversion features
- 2. Noun clauses led by question words
- 3. Noun clauses led by other common words
1. Question inversion features
To start with a simple example, look at a quiz like this:
Chinese:
- What color do you like?
- I like the color red.
English:
- What color do you like?
- I like red.
We find that in the answer section, both English and Chinese are declarative sentences, which are well understood.
But in this question, the Chinese is in normal order, while the English is clearly inverted.
As we all know, the above question belongs to the special interrogative sentence.
Answers are also specific to the specifics of what is being asked.
In the case of a general question, it is simply a question that can be answered using a Yes/No beginning, as in the following example:
Chinese:
- Do you like red?
- Yes, I like it.
- No, I don't like it.
English:
- Do you like red?
- Yes, I like it.
- No, I don't like it.
In this interrogative sentence, the English language appears to be asking a question by simply adding an auxiliary verb to the beginning of the sentence.
In the case of the SVC structure, on the other hand, the V will be directly mentioned at the beginning of the sentence to make a question, which is actually inverted in nature. For example:
Chinese:
- He's an engineer.
- Is he an engineer?
English:
- He is an engineer.
- Is he an engineer?
So, to think about one more question, how are special and general questions related?
There are so many different opinions on this talk that the use of a variety of words to describe it is probably understating the case.
Putting aside the complexity of the concept for the moment, I think the simplest way to say it is that special questions are essentially less stuff, and then the less stuff is asked through the special question word. The general question is not less stuff, so you just need to add an auxiliary verb or bring the be verb forward to ask the question directly.
And what specifically is missing from the special interrogative?
For example, look closely at the example above:
- Do you like red?
- What color do you like?
Obviously, the special interrogative here is when you don't know exactly what color the other person prefers, and you use thewhat colorask a question followed directly by a general questiondo you likeJust, of course, remove the part you asked about, the so-called lesser thing, which here is thered。
Familiarize yourself with this feeling and let's look at it with more examples:
Chinese:
- How's the weather?
- It's raining.
English:
- How is the weather?
- It is raining.
The special question here uses the special question word How. which is also in inverted order.
And if it's a general question, it is:
Chinese:
- Is it raining?
- Yes, it's raining.
English:
- Is it raining?
- Yes, it's raining.
Here.itIt's a reference to thethe weather, so equivocal:
- Is the weather raining?
And when it's not known whether it's raining or windy or what, that is, when the sentence is missingState of the weatherIf you want to ask about the state of the weather, add a special question at the beginning of the sentence.HowRemove.rainingThis specific state of the weather becomes the preceding special interrogative:
- How is the weather?
If there must be any correlation between general and special questions, the author believes that this is some correlation between them, and this tip is suitable for giving aids to beginners.
Of course, here is an example of What, How, in fact, many parts can be used to do the question, such as: which, who, whose, when, where, what reason, respectively, corresponds to the special question words: Which, Who, Whose, When, Where, Why.
Let's continue to delve deeper into the issue of normal and inverted word order.
These special question words mentioned above are used in simple special questions, that is, with a special question word + a general question (minus the questioning part), mostly in inverted order. But there are exceptions:
- The case of a special question word as a subject is itself in normal order
Take the title of that famous bestseller, for example:
- Who moved my cheese?
- Who moved my cheese?
Although this is a special interrogative sentence, the English language actually has a normal order, and this is because the special interrogative word here itself makes the subject of the sentence, so it does not need to be inverted.
2. Noun clauses led by question words
Here's a look at one of the more important parts, and one that confuses many beginners. All clauses led by a special question word need to be in special question word + normal order.
At this time.Special question words + Normal order It is actually equivalent to a noun clause, which can be simply understood as a big noun (N), and will slowly become easier to use once you become proficient with the concept.
Do the transformation according to the example given above, such as expressing I want to know... (N):
-
I'd like to know what colors you like.
-
I wonder what color you like.
-
I want to know who he is.
-
I wonder who he is.
-
I'd like to know what he does for a living.
-
I wonder what job he does.
-
I want to know what the weather's like.
-
I wonder how the weather is.
These 4 sentences cited above are all of a type, constructed with a big noun that makes the object (O) of the sentence.
In fact, big nouns can likewise be used as subjects, epithets, and cognates:
-
What she said surprised everyone. [as subject (s)]
-
What she said surprised everyone.
-
The question is when we should leave. [as an epithet/complement (C)]
-
The question is when we should leave.
-
The reason why she left early remains unknown.
-
The reason why she left early is still unknown.
3. Noun clauses led by other common words
This approach, described above, is not really the only case of special question words likethat、whether/ifBoth can be used with complete sentences of normal order to form a big noun (noun clause).
3.1 whether/if
-
Whether she will attend the meeting remains unknown. [as subject (s)]
-
Whether she will attend the meeting is still unknown.
-
It is still unknown whether she will attend the meeting.【Itas formal subject (grammar)（S）】
-
I don't know if he'll come. [as object (O)]
-
I don’t know whether he will come.
-
I don’t know if he will come.
-
The question is whether we should wait or leave. [as an epithet/complement (C)]
-
The question is whether we should wait or leave.
3.2 that
-
It is a well-known fact that the earth revolves around the sun. [as subject (s)]
-
That the earth revolves around the sun is a well-known fact.
-
It is a well-known fact that the earth revolves around the sun.【Itas formal subject (grammar)（S）】
-
I'm sure she'll make it. [as object (O)]
-
I believe that she will succeed.
-
The truth is that he lied. [as an epithet/complement (C)]
-
The truth is that he lied.
3.3 wh- + ever
By extension, subordinate clauses of the form "wh- + ever", such as: whoever, whatever, whichever, wherever, whenever... , denote anyone, anything, any choice, any place, any time, etc., respectively. , which means anyone, anything, any choice, any place, any time, etc., respectively.
- You can do whatever you like.
- You can do whatever you like.
In fact, nouns are basically the same way that big nouns (noun clauses) are created by all of the above, except for the kind that you can look up directly in a dictionary.
Finally, recall what key points were covered in this article and see if you can quickly understand and answer the following questions correctly:
- Chinese-English Differences in the Inversion Characteristics of Question Clauses
- Interconversion laws for questions (special questions, general questions)
- The case of order in interrogative sentences when a special question word is used as a subject
- The case of the order of subordinate clauses led by special interrogative words
- That, whether/if, wh- + ever-led clauses order case
The end.