Short forms

A: Can you come round tomorrow?
B: Yes, I can. / No, I can't.

A: Have you seen Jack lately?
B: Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.

A: Do you like living here?
B: Yes, I do. / No, I don't.

Sometimes we change the verb:

A: Will you come to the party?
B: Yes, we might.

A: Do you think they might come?
B: Yes, I think they will.

2. We often use verbs like think, suppose, expect and hope to answer questions. When the answer is positive, we add so:

A: Can you come tomorrow?
B: I hope so.

A: Will they be at home?
B: I expect so.

When the answer is negative, we use don’t and so:

A: Is Amsterdam the capital of the Netherlands?
B: I don't think so.

but with hope we use not:

A: Do you think it's going to rain?
B: I hope not.

3. We often use adverbials of probability like perhaps, probably, possibly, maybe, definitely and certainly as short answers:

A: Do you think it's going to rain?
B: Yes, possibly.

A: Can you come round tomorrow?
B: Definitely!

When the answer is negative, we put not after the adverbial:

A: Do you think it's going to rain?
B: Probably not.

A: Can you come round tomorrow?
B: Maybe not.

 

Agreeing and disagreeing

4. We can use short forms to agree or disagree with what someone says. Usually we repeat the first word of the verb phrase:

A: It's a lovely day.
B: Yes, it is.

A: I think they might have missed their train.
B: Yes, I think they might.

A: The children will be coming to see us next week.
B: No, they won't. They're going to their grandparents'.

Sometimes we change the verb:

A: The children will be coming to see us next week.
B: Yes, they might.

A: The children might be coming to see us next week.
B: No, they won't. They're going to their grandparents'.

We use do/does/don't/doesn't to agree or disagree with statements in the present simple:

A: Your grandmother looks very well.
B: Yes, she does.

A: I think Jack lives here.
B: No, he doesn't.

and we use did/didn't for the past simple:

A: Everybody really enjoyed the trip.
B: Yes, they did.

A: The children went to Malaysia last year.
B: No, they didn't. They went to Singapore.

 

Tags

5. We sometimes put a short tag at the end of an agreeing comment. We use a Yes/No question form for the tag. If the comment is positive, we normally use a negative tag:

A: It's a lovely day.
B: Yes, it is, isn't it?

A: Your grandmother looks very well.
B: Yes, she does, doesn't she?

A: Everybody really enjoyed the trip.
B: Yes, they did, didn't they?

If the comment is negative, we normally use a positive tag:

A: They didn't seem to enjoy the trip very much.
B: No, they didn't, did they?

A: It's not a very nice day.
B: No, it isn't, is it?

A: They haven't done much.
B: No, they haven't, have they?

6. Sometimes we put a tag at the end of a statement:

It's a lovely day, isn't it?
Your grandmother looks very well, doesn't she?
They haven't done much, have they?
They all seemed to enjoy the trip, didn't they?

 

so and neither/nor

7. We use so and neither/nor to add to what other people say. We use so to add to a positive statement:

A: John is working in Barcelona.
B: So is Maria.  (= Maria is working in Barcelona too.)

A: I love Indian food.
B: Yes, so do I.  (= I love Indian food too.)

A: They've just bought a new computer.
B: Really? So have we.  (= We’ve also bought a new computer.)

We use neither or nor to add to a negative statement:

A: I don't smoke any more.
B: Neither do I.  (= I also don't smoke.)

A: They haven't written to us for ages.
B: Nor has Peter.  (= Peter hasn't written to us for ages too.)

A: We won't be taking a holiday this year.
B: Neither will we.  (= We also won't be taking a holiday this year.)

A: I never have time for breakfast.
B: Nor have I.  (= I am as busy as you.)

 

Short questions

8. We often use short forms to ask questions when we want more information:

A: I'll see you on Monday.
B: What time?

A: We are going on holiday next week.
B: Where?

A: You can get a new computer very cheaply.
B: How?

If we want to be more polite, we can use a longer question:

A: I'm going to London on Monday.
B: What time are you going?

A: We are going on holiday next week.
B: Where are you going?

A: You can get a new computer very cheaply.
B: How can I do that?

9. We often use questions with What about … or How about … to refer back to what we’ve just said:

A: I love the Beatles. What about you?
B: Yes, me too.

A: Your father seems well. What about your mother?
B: Yes, she's fine too.

A: I'm exhausted. How about you?
B: No, I'm fine.

A: I really enjoyed the film. How about you?
B: No, I didn't like it very much.

10. We can use echo questions to check what someone has just said. In this kind of question, we repeat the first word of the verb phrase:

A: They've just had a baby.
B: Have they?

A: He'll be here soon.
B: Will he?

or we use do/does/did:

A: Sophie wants to move to another school.
B: Does she?

A: George phoned last week.
B: Did he?

 

Leaving words out

11. When we speak, we can often leave words out if our meaning is still clear. For example, we could use any of these to offer someone a cup of coffee:

Would you like a cup of coffee?
You like a cup of coffee?
Like a cup of coffee?
A cup of coffee?
Cup of coffee?
Coffee?

and someone could reply:

Yes, please. I would like a cup.
Yes, please. I would.
Yes, please.
Please.

12. We often leave words out to avoid unnecessary repetition:

I asked him to come but he wouldn't come.
Jack can come but Jill can't come.
He didn't come even though she asked him to come.
Jack wanted to come but Jill didn't want to come.

He opened the door and he went in.
They play billiards but they do not play snooker.
I know George but I do not know his brother. 
She likes Indian food but she does not like Chinese food.

 

"Put your question in the box"