Is there any pattern or heuristic that can be used to identify a yes/no question, with reasonable accuracy?
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2The questions without interrogative are 'yes/no questions.– aswaaksCommented Oct 16, 2015 at 21:15
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@aswaaks - do you include questions about the word Why?– JHCLCommented Oct 16, 2015 at 22:12
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Did you meet him? - Yes / No question. When did you meet him? - Question with the interrogative.– aswaaksCommented Oct 16, 2015 at 22:23
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3When you reply to a question with Yes or No, that question is Yes/No question.– aswaaksCommented Oct 16, 2015 at 22:31
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2Can the question reasonably be answered with "yes" or "no"? If so then it's a "yes/no" question.– Hot LicksCommented Oct 16, 2015 at 23:14
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1 Answer
Yes/No questions in formal English have the following characteristics:
A rising intonation at the end of the question; in print, the question mark.
An inversion of the subject and the first auxiliary verb. E.g,
You have lived in New York. ~ Have you lived in New York?
If there is no auxiliary verb at hand, Do-Support provides one:
You lived on 37th Street. ~ Did you live on 37th Street?
That's it for Y/N questions; they're the simplest.
Wh-questions start off from Y/N questions and add an interrogative Wh-word.
There are of course many other ways to ask questions. Aren't there?
answered Oct 16, 2015 at 23:21
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1Of course, "You have lived in New York" or "You lived on 37th Street" is sufficient to be a yes/no question if a rising tone is heard at the end. Commented Oct 17, 2015 at 1:16
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Right. That's one of the other ways. But the OQ asked for reasonable accuracy. Meeting both criteria increases accuracy. Commented Oct 17, 2015 at 2:15