{"id":50022,"date":"2021-05-10T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T01:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/aee\/break-english-grammar-rule\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T15:38:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:38:01","slug":"break-english-grammar-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/break-english-grammar-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"AEE 1570: 3 Things to Consider When You Break an English Grammar Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever noticed that some questions don\u2019t seem like questions?<\/p>\n

Does it feel as though sometimes people are asking a question in English but they already know the answer?<\/p>\n

This is a common trend and something that may actually come up in conversation quite a bit.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to look at questions that are asked in a different way, and when this may be a good thing to try out in your conversations.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Get Your Transcripts Today!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Make sure you understand every word you hear on All Ears English.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bring your English to the advanced level with new vocabulary and natural expressions.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Subscribe and get the transcripts delivered by email.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Learn to speak naturally with the American accent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to subscribe and save 50%<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Today we have a question about questions, which is an interesting thing to think about and consider. <\/p>\n

\n

Hi Lindsay and Michelle, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I listen to your podcast every day since I started biking to work due to the pandemic. You both make the podcast so clever and fun, and you have really helped me to improve my listening and learning. I have a question that I am hoping you can help to answer today. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

My question is about how to ask questions. We learn to say things like \u201cdo you know?\u201d or \u201cwere you playing?\u201d But then I heard in a series something like \u201cyou know\u2026?\u201d I have also heard something that sounds like a statement come across in a question like way, such as \u201cYou were playing?\u201d I am just a bit confused by this and I feel unsure of how to ask questions in this way. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Could you please explain this idea to me? Would I sound weird and unnatural using the question structure that we learned in a textbook? Any help that you could provide would be really appreciated as this is a common area that I want to be sure I understand. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for your help, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Malvina from Italy<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n

When A Question Doesn\u2019t Feel Like A Question<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is a great question because sometimes the way in which you ask a question can be quite confusing. <\/p>\n

You may very well hear something that sounds like a statement in question form for example, and that can really add to the confusion. <\/p>\n

Typically we say \u201cdo you know\u2026\u201d like \u201cdo you know where the store is?\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at the other example, you might use \u201cwere you playing\u201d with something like \u201cWere you playing cards last night?\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one way to ask a question, and that may feel very familiar to you. <\/p>\n

Notice in these examples that this is about yes\/no questions. <\/p>\n

So in the example Malvina is asking about when people cut off the auxiliary, and though you may not be able to identify this as such you know when something sounds unusual to you. <\/p>\n

She\u2019s referencing a question that is framed differently, though it\u2019s trying to get similar information. <\/p>\n

Comparing to the examples you may instead ask something like \u201cyou know where the store is?\u201d or \u201cyou were playing cards last night?\u201d <\/p>\n

You can see in those examples that you cut off the first word in the questions. <\/p>\n

You are asking for the same type of information, but you are getting rid of the first word in each example\u2014and this is more common than you might think. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Why Do We Do This In The First Place?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So what is the advantage of dropping that part of the question? <\/p>\n

Why would we do this in conversation anyhow? <\/p>\n

There are a couple of reasons as to why you might do this in conversation. <\/p>\n

You might find that this is a helpful and very native way of talking in conversation, so let\u2019s see why this might happen and how it can work. <\/p>\n