Teaching Question Formation to ESL Students — Activities

Published April 10, 2026 · Grammar

Question Types: A Progressive Teaching Sequence

Level	Question Type	Structure	Example
A1-A2	Yes/No questions	Aux + S + V?	"Do you like coffee?"
A2	Wh-questions	Wh + aux + S + V?	"Where do you work?"
A2-B1	Subject questions	Who/What + V?	"Who wrote this book?"
B1-B2	Indirect questions	Polite opener + S + V	"Could you tell me where the station is?"
B2+	Tag questions	Statement + opposite tag	"You're coming, aren't you?"

Yes/No Questions: Building the Foundation

The core challenge: auxiliary verb inversion. Students must identify the correct auxiliary (do/does/did/is/are/was/were/have/has) and move it before the subject.

Drill sequence:

Teacher says statement → student converts to question. "She likes tea" → "Does she like tea?"
Increase complexity: past tense, continuous, perfect. "They were playing" → "Were they playing?"
Add short answers: "Does she like tea?" "Yes, she does." / "No, she doesn't."

Common error: "Do she likes tea?" → Students forget to remove -s from main verb when adding "does."

Wh-Questions: The Information Gap

Wh-questions add a question word before the yes/no question structure. The difficulty: students must choose the right question word AND apply inversion.

Question word selection activity: Give answers, students write the question. "I live in Warsaw." → "Where do you live?" "I work for Google." → "Who do you work for?"
Interview chain: Each student asks a wh-question, answers, then asks another. Builds fluency and variety.
Subject vs. object questions: The critical distinction. "Who called you?" (subject — no auxiliary) vs. "Who did you call?" (object — auxiliary needed). Use color-coding on the board.

Indirect Questions: The Politeness Upgrade (B1+)

Indirect questions remove inversion: "Where is the bank?" → "Could you tell me where the bank is?" The challenge: students want to keep the inverted order.

Transformation drill: Direct → indirect with different openers: "Do you know...?", "Could you tell me...?", "I was wondering...", "Would you mind telling me...?"

Workplace role-plays: Asking for information professionally. "I was wondering if you could send me the report" is far more appropriate than "Can you send me the report?" in many business contexts.

Activities for All Question Types

Question tennis: Students alternate asking questions on a topic. First person who can't think of a question loses. Builds speed and variety.
Press conference: One student is a "celebrity." Others prepare and ask questions. Practices both formation and interaction.
Error auction: Present questions with errors. Students bid on whether they're correct or not, then fix errors.
Question reconstruction: Give jumbled words, students form correct questions. "you / where / born / were?" → "Where were you born?"

Why do students struggle with questions so much?

Most languages don't use auxiliary inversion for questions. Students' L1 interference is strong — many languages just add intonation or a particle. English's do-support system is globally unusual. Expect this to need constant reinforcement.

When should I teach tag questions?

B2 minimum. Tag questions require mastering: auxiliary identification, positive/negative matching, and intonation (rising = genuine question, falling = expecting agreement). Don't rush — incorrect tag questions sound worse than avoiding them.

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