An English question almost always flips the order of a statement: the little helper verb (do, is, have, can) jumps in front of the subject. "You are tired" → "Are you tired?" Learn to flip the helper to the front and every question shape below is the same move wearing different clothes.
| Type | Shape | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Yes / No | Do / Does / Did + you + verb? | Do you grow vegetables at home? |
| Wh- (general) | Wh- + auxiliary + subject + verb? | Where do you live? |
| Have you ever? | Have you ever + V3? | Have you ever climbed a tree? |
| How many? | How many + noun + do you have? | How many siblings do you have? |
| Polite request | Could / Would you please...? | Could you please bring the book? |
When a friend says something, you rarely answer with a full sentence. If they say "I love cricket," you don't reply "I also love cricket" — you snap back "So do I." Think of your reply as a mirror held up to their sentence: it has to match the tense (reuse their helper verb) and the sign (So for a positive sentence, Neither for a negative one).
| Statement | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|
| I love cricket. | So do I. | I don't. |
| She is happy. | So is he. | He isn't. |
| I watched the match. | So did I. | I didn't. |
| I don't like maths. | Neither do I. | I do. |
| He isn't coming. | Neither is she. | She is. |
Stand in today and imagine a finish line further down the calendar. The future perfect lets you stand at that finish line and look back at something already done: "By December, I will have sat the O/L examination." December hasn't arrived, the exam hasn't happened — yet you speak as if it's already behind you. The build: will have + past participle (V3).
The trigger is the little word "by" pointing at a future moment — by December, by next year, by 6 p.m. If a sentence has no "by…", the future perfect is probably the wrong choice and a plain "will" is enough.
"Hello? / Good morning, [name] speaking." — "May I speak to ...?" / "Could I have extension 204?" — "Please hold." / "Just a moment." — "Would you like to leave a message?" — "I'll have him / her call you back." — "Thank you. Goodbye."
Dialogue (40–60 words): a telephone conversation copies a real call's shape — it opens with "Hello?" and a name (you can't see who's calling), then one question and answer, a polite request softened with "Could you…", and a short friendly sign-off. Don't cram in extra events; a tidy, believable little call wins the marks.
Interview article about a teacher (~100 words): name, subject, years at school, family background, one achievement, one aspiration — arranged as a little life story rather than a list of answers, opened with a headline and closed with a warm line.