Types Of Questions English

There are various types of questions english language has given to the world. A question can be defined as a linguistic expression that would be used for making a request for information. This requested information would be provided by the form of an answer. However, questions could also be used for various other purposes. Various types of questions English could be asked in order to test someone’s knowledge, for example: quiz, interview or examination. While few of the questions would be used primarily as the polite requests some other questions would be used as jokes or for embarrassing the audience. Sometimes, different types of questions English could be used as title for literatures and arts.

Basically, the different types of questions English could be classified based upon 2 factors:

• Purpose

• Grammatical Form

Types of questions English by Purpose:

Based upon the purpose, there are two types of questions English:

• Closed-Ended Questions: The closed-ended types of questions English usually require a yes or no answer. Sometimes, these questions would require an answer from the choice of options from a list. These are also known as dichotomous questions. Also, there are nominal questions that are designed for inquiring about level of quantitative measures which would usually make connections between numbers and concepts.

• Open-Ended Questions: The open-ended questions are also called as open questions. These types of questions English would offer greater freedom to the respondent in order to provide information or opinion about a topic. This distinction between closed- and open-ended questions would be applied in various contexts like job interviewing.

Types of questions English by Grammatical Form:

The types of English based upon grammatical form are as follows:

• Yes-No Questions: These are the questions that are asked to know whether or not any statement is true. These types of questions English are principally answered by a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

• Alternative Questions: These are the questions that would be similar to yes-no questions, yet not intended for answering with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. These are also called as choice questions. The answers expected out of these questions would one of the alternatives or few other indications like ‘both’ or ‘neither’.

• Wh-Questions: These are other main types of questions English which would use interrogative words. These are also known as non-polar questions. These questions would allow an open-ended answer or some other answer except ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The interrogative words are:

• What

• Who

• Whom

• Whose

• Which

• When

• Where

• Why

• How

Some other types of English are:

Rhetorical Questions: These are the questions that do not require an immediate answer. These are meant to draw attention or to start a meaningful discussion over any matter.

Disjunctive Questions: These are also known as question tags. These are the small questions that would appear at the end of sentences.

Embedded Questions: These are also called as indirect questions. These questions would have an affirmative word order and could be used in two situations:

• Polite Questions

• Reported Speech

Hypothetical Questions: These are the questions that would be asked out of interest and the answer would have no effect over the situations.