Asking Questions [antikvár]

Introduction While acknowledging the fact that civilised conversation is not conducted solely by question and answer, we must alsó acknowledge the fact that no conversation, however civilised, would get very far without the occasional use of the interrogative. At a less sophisticated level, such as when we go shopping or visit the doctor's, conversation is often little more than a series of questions and answers supplemented every now and then with a comment on the weather or the family. As soon as one has learnt a few elementary phrases in a foreign language, it becomes necessary to start on the interrogative forms. In English, no sooner have you learnt to say 'This is a book' than you find that you have gone on to 'Is this a book ?' and 'What is this ?' Many foreign students of English, while being able to express themselves quite fluently in the language, find it rather difficult to master the interrogative forms. It is confusing, to say the least, that you can say 'Where were you?' but not 'Where went you?' Having learnt to say 'Did John go ?' they extend it to say 'Who did go ?' An explanation is not sufficient to remedy this; it is necessary to do exercises and have considerable practice in the interrogative. Although the main purpose of the situational dialogues in this book is to help the student to practise and perfect the quick formuládon of questions, it is alsó designed to increase his comprehension of spoken English, his vocabulary and his mastery of structures. A.B.K.