Grammar about use verb is/am/are/do/have

Question

Hi all,
Recently, I am doing some elementary English exercise, and I found it is very difficult to identify when to use 'is, am, are, be, have, do' etc.
e.g. I want to ask a question, I don't know it is "start' with 'are you..? or have/has you...? or do/does you...?
Can anyone tell me how to decide the "start" of a question?

Also, I don't know when to add a do/did/does + verb, and why sometimes I can use a verb without do/did/does.
Can anyone tell me how to decide when need to 'add or not add' them in a sentence?

The below are some of example that I very confused.

e.g. Where is she from? vs. Where does she come from? (What different use 'is' and 'does come'?)
She is from Germany. vs. She is come from Germany. (what different use 'come' and 'without come'?)

e.g. Sue often goes away. vs. Does she often go( not goes?) away?

e.g. Does he clean windows? vs. Is he cleaning a window? (why does and is are correct?)

e.g. What does (not is?) your sister do? She is a gardener. (Why use 'is' in answer but the question use 'does' instead of 'is'?

e.g. I'm going home now. Are you coming with me? (why not use 'do' you come with me?)

e.g. He has a bath everyday. vs. He doesn't have (not has?) a bath everyday. (also why use 'has' and 'doesn't have'? both correct?

e.g. What does this word mean? vs. How is this word pronounced? (why use 'does' and 'is'?)

Also, May I know why the below are all use 'was/were' instead of 'did'?

e.g. When was (not did?) this bridge built?
When was (not did?) not waken up by the noise?
When were (not did?) these windows broken?

I know they are very basic grammar but I am sorry I cannot understand them well..

Please if anyone can help! Thank you so much!

Best regards,
ankh

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

Let's start with the basic system: All interrogative forms in modern English use an auxiliary verb. (unless a wh- word is the subject of the verb, but we'll come to that later). If the sentence itself contains no auxiliary verb, then we use DO as an auxiliary verb in the interrogative.

Sentences with an auxiliary verb:

He can speak English - Can he speak English?
Mary will arrive tomorrow. - Will Mary arrive tomorrow?
They should go to the library. - Where should they go?
Peter has written a novel. - What has Peter written?
The children are playing in the garden. - Where are the children playing?
John didn't like Fred. - Who(m) didn't John like?

Sentences without an auxiliary verb.

He speaks English. What languages does he speak?
Mary worked in China. - Where did Mary work?

Is that clear so far?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

ankhe.g. I want to ask a question,

Think about the answer.
If there is a "be" verb, then use the proper form of "be" to start the question.

Mary is happy. (answer)
Is Mary happy? (question)

Mary is running. (answer)
Is Mary running? (question)

If there is a main verb (not "BE") then, in the question, use do/does for present and did for past.

Mary cooks breakfast in the morning. (answer)
Does Mary cook breakfast in the morning? (question)

Mary cooked breakfast yesterday. (answer)
Did Mary cook breakfast yesterday? (question)

Other questions also use do/does + wh-word.
What does Mary do in the morning? (question. We use "do" to get the answer "cook")
She cooks breakfast.

When does Mary cook breakfast?
She cooks breakfast in the morning.

Where does Mary cook breakfast?
She cooks breakfast in the kitchen.

Why does Mary cook breakfast in the morning?
Mary cooks breakfast in the morning because her children are hungry.

Ankh · Answer

Thank you so much for all replies, I really don't know these methods before. All the methods and examples are very useful!

So I try to remember, one method is first use auxiliary verb, then is auxiliary verb + wh~, if no auxiliary verb then add do/did/does + wh~.
May I know in "The children are playing in the garden. - Where are the children playing? " why the "are" is an auxiliary verb?
The other method is to find any main verb (e.g. be), if no 'be' then use main verb + do/did/does~ or main verb + wh+ do/did/does;
Am I correct? Thank you so much!

Fivejedjon · Answer

ankhMay I know in "The children are playing in the garden. - Where are the children playing? " why the "are" is an auxiliary verb?

The meaningful verb in that sentence is PLAY. The parts of be (am, is, are, was, were) in combination with the -ing form help us construct the progressive aspect of PLAY.

The parts of HAVE (have, has, had) in combination with the past participle (third form) of PLAY help us construct the perfect aspect of that verb.

The parts of DO (do, does, did) in combination with the bare infinitive (first form) of PLAY help us construct the interrogative, negative and emphatic forms of that verb.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

ankhWhere are the children playing? " why the "are" is an auxiliary verb?

Here is a very good instruction page (first in the series) on how to find verbs and auxiliary verbs in sentences:
http://lessons.englishgrammar101.com/EnglishGrammar101/Module1/Lesson1-1.aspx

Ankh · Answer

Dear all,
Thank you all so much for help! All info are very useful!

Besides, may I know the below question why I use (must pay) is wrong?

"You can't park your car here for nothing, you (must) pay / (have to) pay? The answer is "have to".

Some books said "must" means obligated to do, I think park a car need to pay is a "obligated to do", am I right?

Thank you so much!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

You can't park your car here for free, you have to pay.
You can't park your car here for free, you must pay.

Either sentence is fine, and I use both of them. But I think that the larger percentage of native speaker would say "have to" in a conversation. It seems less formal than "must."

Grammar about use verb is/am/are/do/have

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