Interrogative sentences in English and examples. Types of questions in English. Auxiliary or modal verb in questions

And now we will look at examples of the basics of making simple sentences to express the past, present and future tenses.

Building sentences in the Simple group

affirmative sentences

Let's start with Present Simple. All affirmative sentences are built according to the following scheme:

1. "I" in this example is the subject. Do not confuse it with the object, since the subject performs the action, and it is performed on the object. Moreover, in Russian, the order of words is not important to us, because it is already clear who performs the action. We can freely say: "I eat the cake." But in English, it’s not possible to build a sentence like this, because the one who performs the action must be in the first place, otherwise they will simply laugh at you when you say: “The cake eats me.” Even through the passive voice, such a phrase will sound very strange.
2. In second place should be the predicate, which expresses the action itself. In Russian, there are often sentences with an incomplete grammatical basis, where there is no subject or predicate, or both are missing. In the latter case, we are dealing with an impersonal sentence: "Dark." In English, there must always be a subject and a verb. So, if there is no verb in the Russian sentence, then in English it will definitely appear. Let's take for example a one-part sentence in which there is no predicate: "The phone is on the table." To translate it correctly, we need to use the verb "to be", which will connect the subject with the predicate. As a result, the phrase will literally be translated as: "The phone is on the table."
3. In third place, the secondary members of the sentence lined up according to a certain rule: first there is a direct object (answers the question “who?”, “What?”, “Who?”), then indirect (answers the same questions, but with the prepositions “with whom ?”, “to whom?”, etc.). This rule is not always observed and is not strict.

As in Russian, English verbs change depending on the person. The main changes occur in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), where the suffix "s" or "es" is added to the predicate. As a result, we get the sentence: "He goes to school."

Negative sentences

In addition to the affirmation, there is also a negation, the scheme of which is as follows:

In this scheme, all the same components are found, except for the linking verb "do" and the particle "not", which is equivalent to the negative particle "not" in Russian. What is an auxiliary verb and why is it needed? Unlike Russian, where we simply put the “not” particle before the verb, in English, the “not” particle must be preceded by an auxiliary verb. It is different for each tense, and in the case of Present Simple, it will take the form of either “do” or “does”, depending on the number and person of the subject. Example: "She does not go to school".

Interrogative sentences

So, we have considered the affirmation, negation, and we are left with a question, the formation of which also requires an auxiliary verb:

So, we have analyzed with you the basic principles for constructing various types of sentences in Present Simple. Past Simple and Future Simple are built in a similar way, the main differences will be in the form of the auxiliary verb.

Building sentences in the Future Simple

Statement

The scheme for constructing a statement in a simple future tense (Future Simple) is as follows:

The auxiliary verb will indicates that the action takes place in the future tense, and the phrase would be translated as: "I will go to school."

Negation

Negation is built using the particle "not" already known to us and the auxiliary verb "will".

Question

Any question begins with an auxiliary verb, so when building a question, simply put will in first place.

past simple

Statement

When constructing a statement in the past tense of the Simple group, there is a small feature: the suffix "ed" is added to the verb.

I deliberately omitted the school example because it uses an irregular verb. Most verbs form the simple past tense by adding the suffix "ed" to the stem (cook - cooked), but there are about 470 verbs, according to the Oxford dictionary, that form the past tense according to their canons. Our verb “go” also falls into their number, which will change the form to “went”: “I went to school”.

Negation

The negative in the simple past tense is constructed similarly to the Present Simple, with the only difference being that the form of the auxiliary verb "do" acquires the past "did".

Question

The question is also built by analogy with Present Simple. We only change the form of the auxiliary verb to the past.

So we studied the construction of sentences in the entire Simple group. The main thing is to remember the schemes for all three types (statement, denial and question), do not forget about how the word forms of verbs in the 3rd person singular change and memorize the main irregular verbs in order to achieve automatism in speech.

Building sentences in the Continuous group

In the Continuous group, there is always an auxiliary verb “to be”, a change in the form of which will tell us when the action is happening: yesterday, now or tomorrow. In this group, there is also always a participle I, similar to the real participle in Russian. The participle itself is built by adding the suffix "ing" to the verb (go - going).

Statement

We will not deviate from the structure and consider the formation of time in the Present Continuous.

The forms of the verb "to be" video change depending on the person, and here the matter is not limited to changes only in the 3rd person singular. Forms are easy to remember.

In the past tense, the auxiliary verb changes its form to "was" or were" depending on the person and number.

The scheme for constructing a sentence in the Past Continuous will be as follows:

The future tense in this group is formed without any changes, just put the future tense verb “will” before the auxiliary “to be”:

Denial and question

The construction of the negation and the question occurs according to the general scheme for constructing sentences: when negating, we put “not” after the auxiliary verb, and when we ask, we put the auxiliary verb in the first place.

To build the past form, you need to change the form of the auxiliary verb to "had".

To build the future form, we additionally put “will”.

Denial and question

Negation and the question are built in the classical way: the particle not after had (when negating), had in the first place (when asked).

Denial and question

These sentences are given only for the sake of an example, in practice you will hardly find yourself in a situation where you will need to express yourself in Perfect Continuous. It will be much easier and faster to build a phrase from the Simple and Continuous groups.

Simplified table of formation of all types of sentences in all tenses

For those who are new to tenses, this article may seem a little chaotic, so as a result, I offer you a ready-made table with the formation of sentences in all tenses, so that it is easier for you to see the whole picture. You can use it as a cheat sheet in the initial stages of studying temporary structures. The table is taken from the Peekaboo resource.

Word order in an English question is very easy to remember. Almost all questions have the same structure. All you have to do is always remember one simple question that you can use like a formula:

How do you do?

It shows that in the first place is question word (if it exists), on the second - auxiliary or modal verb , then goes subject , main verb and the rest of the sentence (if any). However, there are a few more nuances that we will consider in this article.

Question word - question word

Question words may not be present in a sentence, for example in Yes/No questions("yes/no" questions). However, if they are needed by meaning, then they come first.

Where do you live?(Where do you live?)
How old are you?(How old are you?)
When are you going to arrive in London?(When will you arrive in London?)
What will you do on Monday?(What are you going to do on Monday?)
Why am I so stupid?(Why am I so dumb?)
Which job does Lena look for?(What job is Lena looking for?)

Auxiliary or modal verb in questions

In interrogative (interrogative) sentences, as in negative ones, the English predicate always consists of at least two elements: an auxiliary and a main verb. In questions, there is only one exception to this rule, and it concerns the verb to be(to be). It does not require an additional auxiliary verb
Examples:

In other cases, even if in an affirmative sentence the predicate is expressed by one verb (for example, in and), then an auxiliary verb is added to the question do, does or did. Examples of interrogative sentences for different tenses of the verb:

Word order in an English question to the subject (subject question)

This is a special case where we don't add auxiliary verbs do, does, did. Let's take the following sentence as an example:

Somebody paid the bill.(Someone paid the bill)

You can ask a question to supplement the bill — What did somebody pay?(What did someone pay for?), here you need to add an auxiliary verb.

If we want to know who paid the bill, then this will be a question for the subject, and it will be formed as follows: Who paid the bill?(Who paid the bill?) - without an auxiliary verb.

Examples of questions to the subject:

What happened?(What happened?)
Who lives in the flat?(Who lives in the apartment?)
What fell on the floor?(What fell on the floor?)
Who cooked that cake?(Who made that cake?)

Word order in an English question with a preposition

Very often in questions starting with Who, What, Which, Where, there is a preposition, it also has a special place in the question, namely, it is placed at the end of the sentence:

What are you thinking about?(What are you thinking about?)
Where are your parents from?(Where are your parents from?)
Who do you want to speak to?(Who do you want to talk to?)
Which hotel did she stay at?(Which hotel is she staying at?)
What speed are you going at?(How fast are you going?)

In English, there are also questions with a "tail" - disjunctive questions, such as: It's nice weather today, isn't it?(Good weather today, isn't it?).
Read more about separation issues in the article.

Questions in our speech occupy no less place than statements. Knowing the construction of such constructions in a foreign language is especially necessary, because they allow you to clarify important points, eliminate misunderstandings, and also just make new acquaintances or find out how to get to any attraction. Today our tasks are to figure out what interrogative sentences are in English. , and learn how to make them yourself.

For beginners, it may seem difficult that the English language contains several at once and has special rules for constructing each of them. Yes, here you cannot beat the statement with a different intonation, and get a ready-made question. Yes, you will have to memorize certain combinations and understand the cases of their use. But in fact, all this grammar is perhaps the simplest thing in the rules for the English language. We will analyze each subtype of questions separately, and later we will reduce them to a common basis.

Questions of a general type (General)

The simplest and most frequently used type of construction in speech, which is notable for the fact that it does not require a detailed answer for itself. The statement for such questions looks like this: Yes, I did/do/will do" or " No, I didn't/do/will do».

The compilation of a general interrogative construction depends on which predicate is used in the original sentence. If, the sentence contains a verb tobe in any form, then you just need to change the word order in the English sentence, bringing the predicate itself to the first place. At the same time, depending on which person the question is asked, the form of the pronoun changes. The predicate of the answer is tobe.

In more common cases, when the predicate is expressed by any other verb, to turn the statement into an interrogative sentence, it is enough to use the helper verb do . This word is put first, and then they simply retell the original expression, without changing the original word order! Please note that the auxiliary word appears in the answer as a predicate.

Grammar notes : according to generally accepted rules, in English, animals are classified as inanimate objects, so you need to use the pronoun it. But, there are exceptions to all rules, so in conversations about beloved pets, the British use the pronouns she or he. Such a division is informally accepted: if the sex of the animal is unknown, use it; if it is known, use he/she, respectively.

Verb do used to formulate a question in the present or past tense ( did), while the word itself does not carry any semantic load, but acts only as a kind of intermediary. It is important to note that with the subject in the 3rd person, this assistant takes over the ending es, that's why re with a predicate lettersdo not need to use!

If the question is posed to a sentence containing a modal verb, the use of auxiliary constructions is not required.

Do not be afraid of two predicates, these are just designations for the same auxiliary do, will and the main verb. To facilitate the understanding of such constructions for beginners in learning a foreign language, let's look at specific examples.

It can be seen from the examples that grammatically this is a compound predicate, but for simplicity we marked it in the diagram in two parts.

In principle, it is quite easy to deal with questions of this type, we only note the situation of their use with constructions to be.

Grammar notes: the interrogative word what can be used with an animated person when talking about his occupation. Compare.

In the interrogative sentence c whose, which, whatkindof, after these words there may not be a predicate, but a subject or object.

Selective Questions (Alternative)

Using such combinations, we can offer the interlocutor in English a choice of two different options. Such questions are built with the help of a short preposition or(or) and can refer to any member of the sentence. Their structure consists of two phrases connected by the indicated preposition. Consider the given examples and their translations.

A little practice, and the formation of such structures is not difficult.

Disjunctive questions

This subtype of interrogative sentences in English is a bit similar to the previous one, but has a different shade of meaning and is built according to its syntactic construction. Such questions are rather clarifications, confirmations of actions and are translated into Russian by the expressions “ is not it? is it true? it is so?". In order to make this construction, you do not have to change the word order. On the contrary, in the original sentence, in its ending, an additional turn is formed " tobe/do/will+ pronoun».

It is not difficult to make such a proposal, it is only necessary to pay attention to one nuance. If the original phrase contains a negative, then the additional construction will be in the affirmative form. The same rule is true for the reverse situation.

Grammar notes: if the affirmative sentence contains a pronoun I, then in the complementary construction the form of the verb will be aren't't. If the sentence has a negative context, the addition is expressed in the words Iam. The use of the phrase in this construction Iamnot practically never occurs.

In order not to go beyond political correctness, you should remember the use of this combination with collective pronouns.

At the end of the section, it is worth mentioning another type of questions, which are called direct questions. They are set with the help of interrogative words, and refer exclusively to the subject. To create such a construction, it is necessary to replace the subject with who or what.

Interrogative sentences in English - summary table

Let's summarize our knowledge and see how varieties of English interrogative sentences are formed in different tenses. This table will be a useful cheat sheet for working out designs in practice.

Of course, you have questions: English sometimes sets tasks. For example, how to write questions in English? What are the types of questions? How to ask a question with the correct intonation so that native speakers do not have to guess whether this is a question or not?

So, 5 types of questions in English:

General questions, or yes/no questions
Special questions, or WH questions
Alternative questions
Separating questions, or tag questions
Questions to the subject

Let's take a closer look at all types of questions with examples.

General issues- these are questions that can be answered either yes or no (you can still answer “I don’t know”, but this is not about us).

Do you like opera? - No, I don't.
Do you love opera? - No I do not like.
Are you a football player? - Yes, I am.
Are you a football player? - Yes.

General questions always begin with a verb. It can be one of the auxiliary verbs (be, do, have), it can be the verb to be (to be, to be) in its direct meaning, or maybe modal.

How to ask a YES/NO question with the verb to be

The formation of questions in English becomes possible due to a change in the structure of the sentence. If you know the most elementary sentence structure in English (subject-predicate-object) - you can ask such a question. Just swap the subject and verb.

See how the place of the verb to be changes in the question:

Note that nothing changes in the Russian translation - we are used to denoting a question with intonation, and inversions- changing the order of words in a sentence - we do not have, or is rare.

How to ask such a question in English using the verb to do

In addition to to be, any other verb can be in the sentence:

The fish swims in the ocean - Fish swimming in the ocean My friends play football - My friends play football I sing opera - I sing opera

And then you need to use the helper verb DO

Does the fish swim in the ocean?
Do my friends play football?
Do I sing opera?

There is no word with such a function in Russian. We simply say: Do fish swim in the ocean? It is worth replacing the question mark with a period, as the meaning changes radically. Comfortable? May be. But treat the helper do condescendingly. He tries his best. See how he took away from the verb swim ending -s? This is to make it immediately clear to you and me that we are talking about a single fish. And in general, it's like a beacon: you hear do at the beginning of a sentence - wait for a general question.

So we put the verb do at the beginning of the sentence before the subject, and the general question is ready. You just need to choose the correct form according to the date and time.

If the semantic verb is also do (to do), then the auxiliary will still be do. You get two do words in one phrase:

Does she do her homework? - Does she do her homework?

Once again, note that the auxiliary verb do has changed in accordance with the feminine gender - it has become does, while the semantic one remained in its initial form.

How to ask questions in English with modal verbs

I have the opportunity to buy a goat. But I have no desire.
(from the film "Prisoner of the Caucasus")

Modal verbs are verbs that express our desires and possibilities. These are the verbs can, may, must, should and others. We ask questions with them using inversion, i.e. Swap subject and verb.

+
You can buy a goat.
You can buy a goat.

?
Can you buy a goat?
Can you buy a goat?

Also, modal verbs are very often used when asking a direct question is not very polite.

could you pass me the salt? - Could you pass me the salt?
Would you do me a favor? - Could you do me a favor?
May I come in? - May I come in?
Should I wait here? - Do I need to wait?

How to answer a general question?

As you know, sometimes you can get an answer to a question, and here it is important not to get confused and understand it. Most often, at first it will be the usual short answer, and after it the details may already follow.

Yes, I do, or:
No, I don't.

Or:
Yes, it is
Yes, I can

Which verb will be used in the answer depends on the question. If the question contained an auxiliary do, then the answer will also contain do. If you were asked:

Did you go to the supermarket yesterday? - Did you go to the supermarket yesterday?

Need an answer
- Yes, I did, or
- No I didn't
As a last resort,
- I don't remember
- I don't remember

But don't make this mistake:
- Did you go to the supermarket yesterday?
Do not answer
- No, I wasn't.

It is necessary that your verbs coincide with the interlocutor, then you will have complete linguistic harmony and understanding.

Why all these short answers? So faster and more convenient. Instead of saying "Yes, I went to the supermarket", you can just say "I did". And it doesn't sound harsh even if you don't say anything else, although of course it is often followed by a more detailed story.

Special questions, or WH questions

As can be seen from the English name, special questions are those that begin with the letters wh.

For example,
Where - where?
Who - who?
What - what?
Which - which?
When - when?
Why - why?
How - how?

and questions that include "how":
how often - how often?
How far - how far?
How old - to ask about age
And so on.

So WH questions include wh questions + H ow

Where is my darling? - Where My lovely?

Those of you who already know how to ask general questions will be surprised to learn how easy it is to form a special question in English.

Consider its structure with an example:

why do you like swimming? - Why do you like to swim?

If we remove the question word why, it will turn out

Do you like swimming?

This is a common general question that requires a yes or no answer. We added why, and it turned out to be a special question.

Let's practice a little. Make the following general questions special by adding any question words to them.

1. Does she go tho the supermarket?
2. Can I buy a goat?
3. Should I wait here?
4. Do your friends play football?
5. Does she do her homework?
6. Are you waiting for me?

You probably end up with something like this:

1. When does she go tho the supermarket?
2. Where can I buy a goat?
3. why should I wait here?
4. how often do your friends play football?
5. When does she do her homework?
6. Where are you waiting for me?

Question to the subject

In many British textbooks, this type of question is not singled out separately and is classified as a group of special questions. Yes, subject questions also begin with question words that begin with Wh.

But many people consider exactly five types of questions in English, because the question to the subject has a very simple structure, which, of course, cannot but rejoice.

When we ask a question to the subject, the auxiliary verb is not needed. You don't need an inversion either. Look at an example:

Bulgakov wrote "Master and Margarita" - Bulgakov wrote "Master and Margarita".

Subject - Bulgakov. He is the protagonist in this sentence, he wrote the novel. Suppose we do not know this known fact and want to ask a question to the subject:
Who wrote The Master and Margarita?

To do this, instead of the subject, insert who. It turns out,

Who wrote "Master and Margarita"?

Everything, nothing more needs to be done, the question is ready. You can not remember the rules, but simply translate word for word, because in Russian this structure looks the same:

Who reads books?
Who reads books?

Which city is the largest?
Which city is the biggest?

By the way, why in the example “Who reads books?” does the verb end in s? The fact is that when asking the question “Who?”, We always mean the third person singular, even if there are actually many actors.

In Russian we do the same:
Who is reading?(reads - a verb with the ending of the 3rd person, singular).

We do the same in the present perfect:

Alternative questions

These are any questions in which an alternative is given and there is a divisive union. The choice can be between objects, actions, qualities, etc. In terms of structure, these are two common questions separated by the union or(or). The second part is most often incomplete:

Are you married or single? - Are you married or not?
Do you work or study? - Do you work or study?
Do you like classical music or jazz? - Do you like classical music or jazz?

Russian also has such a construction, therefore, how to ask questions in English in a choice situation is quite clear.

Separator questions or tag questions

This type of questions is also called "tail questions" - literally "tail questions". So they were called because such a question is short and is an appendage to the main, longer sentence.

They are especially useful when we are unsure of something and want to clarify, confirm our thoughts, find out if we understood correctly. And also, in order to involve the interlocutor in a dialogue.

There are two parts to tag questions:

1. The first, main part is what you thought, but want to clarify. You voice your thought. It can be both in the affirmative and in the negative form.
2. Then, as if doubting your words, you ask if this is so, if you thought correctly. The second part is the question itself in short form. It consists of the verbs be, do, have, or a modal verb, and a subject, most often expressed by a pronoun.

If the first part is affirmative, the question should be negative. And vice versa, if there was a negation in the main part, it will no longer be in the “tail”.

Symmetry reigns in everything here - if the verb to be was used in the first part, we will see it in the tail part:

You are Masha's sister, aren't you? - You're Machine's sister, right?

If at the beginning there was a modal verb, say, can, it will also be at the end:

You can't swim, can you? - You can't swim, can you?

When there is no auxiliary or modal verb, or the verb to be in the first part, in the second we use do, does or did

Masha went to Moscow last week, didn't she? Masha went to Moscow last week, didn't she?
His little brother ate all the sweets, didn't he? - His little brother ate all the candy, didn't he?

If there is I am in the first part of the sentence, then in the question this is transformed into aren't I?

I am right, aren't I? - I'm right, aren't I?

Below is a table that once again demonstrates the rule: if the first part contains a statement (+), there will be a negative (-) in the question, and vice versa.

Most often in English you can hear exactly the negation in the interrogative part.

The interrogative "tail" is pronounced with an increase in intonation. But it happens that the intonation in this place goes, on the contrary, down. With such intonation, a question-statement is obtained. The speaker is sure that he is right, he seems to be saying “agree with me”, “share my opinion”.

Compare intonation in "confident" and "unsure" tag questions:

It also happens that in both parts of such sentences there is an affirmative construction, and this is not a mistake. This can be done when you have just heard information and repeat it to show your interest, surprise, concern, or some other reaction.

So you are keen on drawing, are you? - So you like to draw, don't you?

Short questions in oral speech

We have covered all the main types of questions, but do not think that English ends there. Colloquial speech has its own laws and rules, and, most often, they are aimed at reducing and simplifying. Who likes bulky designs? The pace of life is accelerating and therefore, for example, instead of

- Are you ready?
- Are you ready?
- Ready?

More examples of short questions and their long counterparts:

See it? - Have you seen it?
Got it? - Have you got it?
Going to school? - Are you going to school?
Any questions? - Have you got any questions?

When the context is well known to the speakers, for example, because your interlocutors are friends or colleagues, the full question will seem even strange.

Both the auxiliary verb and the pronoun are often dropped.
But:
An auxiliary verb and a pronoun cannot be dropped if this pronoun is - I:

Have I said it before? - Did I already say that?
"Said it before?"- wrong option.

Now you know how to ask a question in English if you are talking with friends, loved ones, are in a relaxed atmosphere. Also, these forms of questions are very often heard in films.

A little about intonation in questions

Intonation is that melodic pattern that always appears in speech. We don't speak on the same note, do we? Especially when we ask questions. It is often very important to get an answer, so questions in all languages ​​are specially intoned. Very often this is an increase in intonation that occurs towards the end of a sentence. However, English questions can be asked with three different intonations, depending on the type of question.

Falling intonation.

Typical for special questions.

Rising intonation.

Typical for general questions.

Mixed intonation (fall-rise intonation)

Such intonation is expressed schematically as follows: . It is especially useful to use it when you need to request some information or politely invite the interlocutor to join the meal or some business (usually pleasant).

But whatever the intonation, questions in English are not based on tone of voice, but on certain grammatical structures. Watch how the sentence is built, where its parts are, whether there is an inversion or an auxiliary verb.

Often, language learners are willing to answer the teacher's questions, they can name all kinds of questions in English, but there is a problem with asking questions themselves. If you are studying with a teacher, sometimes take the lead in the conversation. Ask something about the teacher, his family, his experience. Be a journalist doing an interview.

Be curious and let it reflect on your level of English!

In Russian, the word order in questions remains unchanged. The speaker uses only intonation to find out what interests him. For this reason, there are many problems about how to make an interrogative sentence in English, because there the arrangement of words differs from the declarative statement.

Types of interrogative sentences

In accordance with the intentions of the speaker, English questions are divided into 2 types.

• General are necessary to obtain a positive or negative response from the interlocutor regarding the requested information. At the beginning of these statements, the helper verb is required. The intonation is ascending.

Scheme: Auxiliary verb + subject + predicate + object + circumstance?

Have your parents visited Germany? – Were your parents in Germany? (Sentence in Present Perfect (Present Completed): have is an auxiliary verb that is part of the construction, your parents is the subject, visited is the predicate, Germany is the object)

Did John buy a new house last year? Did John buy a new house last year? (Question in Past Simple (Past Simple): did - auxiliary verb, John - subject, buy - predicate, new - definition, house - addition, last year - circumstance)

• Special ones differ from general ones by the presence at the beginning of the phrase of words that specify what kind of data is important for the speaker: what (what? what?), who (who?), when (when?), where (where?), how (how?) , why (why?), which (which?), etc. The intonation towards the end of the utterance is descending.

Scheme: Interrogative word + auxiliary verb + predicate + object + circumstance?

In English, there is such a thing as questions to the main member of the sentence - the subject. These phrases start with who or what. The construction of such statements differs in that there is no need to use an auxiliary verb. Who and what act as subjects.

Who went shopping yesterday? Who did the shopping yesterday?
What has fallen on the floor? - What fell on the floor?

Examples of interrogative sentences in English

For students of grade 5 and older, it is easier to understand the structure of the main types of questions with the help of specific examples of sentences in the most frequently used tenses.

TOP 4 articleswho read along with this

• Present Simple (Real Simple):

Are you busy at the weekend? - Are you busy on weekends?
Does your mum cook breakfast? – Does your mother cook breakfast?
What do your friends do after school? What do your friends do after school?

• Past Simple (Simple Past):

• Future Simple (Future Simple):

Will you go to a summer camp? Are you going to summer camp?
What will you do in June? What are you going to do in June?

• Present Continuous (Present Continuous):

Is he sleeping? - He's sleeping?
What is your sister doing now? What is your sister doing now?

• Past Continuous (Past Continuous):

Was Sarah reading this novel at 5? Sarah was reading this novel at 5?
What was she reading at 5? What was she reading at 5 o'clock?

• Present Perfect (Real Complete):