How are your parents? - How your parents are?

[freijorn]

Good day, is there any difference between these clauses and their corresponding clauses? Are corresponding ones gramatically correct? Do they have the same meaning? Thanks a lot ^^

How are your parents? - How your parents are?
Why is it so expensive? - Why it is so expensive?
Isn’t she at home? - Is she not at home?
How much are they? - How much they are?
Where are you going? - Where you are going?

 

[emsr2d2]

Good day. This is very formal. Stick with "Hello."

Is there any difference between these clauses and their corresponding clauses? Are the corresponding ones grammatically correct? Do they have the same meaning? Thanks a lot.

^^ I don't know what these little marks are supposed to mean. Don't use them.

How are your parents?
How your parents are? :cross:
Why is it so expensive?
Why it is so expensive? :cross:
Isn’t she at home?
Is she not at home?
How much are they?
How much they are? :cross:
Where are you going?
Where you are going? :cross:

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Please note my corrections and comments above. As you can see, four of the five "questions" you posted are grammatically incorrect. The word order used in the first version of each one is correct.
The "Isn't she at home?/Is she not at home?" differs because it has a different structure from all the others, which are "Wh-/How" questions.

Also, please note that I have changed your thread title so that it is unique and relevant to the thread. Thread titles should include some/all of the words/phrases that you are actually asking us about.

 

[freijorn]

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Please note my corrections and comments above. As you can see, four of the five "questions" you posted are grammatically incorrect. The word order used in the first version of each one is correct.
The "Isn't she at home?/Is she not at home?" differs because it has a different structure from all the others, which are "Wh-/How" questions.

Also, please note that I have changed your thread title so that it is unique and relevant to the thread. Thread titles should include some/all of the words/phrases that you are actually asking us about.

Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. I’m an Elt student and I just have started to work on my grammar.

If it's possible could you explain "Isn’t she at home? - Is she not at home?" example? Can the auxiliary verb's negative appendix which is "not" swap it's place? Does it affect the meaning?

Also, I have seen long clauses in books and internet sites such as "how much they are buying out of their own", "how much they are willing to pay", "if you ask people why it is so expensive", "why it is so expensive to paint a house", and "how your parents are feeling". Should I assume these as grammatically incorrect too? Thank you so much.

 

[SoothingDave]

Context matters. It always matters.

I think you are missing the main point: that we invert verb and subject when asking questions.

"How are you?"

We do not invert when making a statement or command.

"Tell me how you are."

Note, that last one is NOT a question.

Just because a question word, like "why" is included does not automatically make it a question.

"Here is why it is so expensive to paint a house." - statement

"Why is it so expensive to paint a house?" - question

 

[tedmc]

There is also the indirect question where the verb comes after the subject:

Can you tell me why it is so expensive to paint a house?

 

[TheParser]

If it's possible could you explain "Isn’t she at home? - Is she not at home?" example? Can the auxiliary verb's negative appendix which is "not" swap it's place? Does it affect the meaning?

NOT A TEACHER

I think that you may be interested in what a respected grammar says: sometimes one does not use a contraction (such as "isn't") in formal speech or writing or when one wants to be emphatic.

1. "Have I not asked you again and again to be here on time?" (The speaker is angry. "Haven't I asked" would be less emphatic.)

2. "Are there not more than enough weapons of destruction on earth?" This is a rhetorical question. It does not require an answer. ("Aren't there" would be less emphatic.)

Source of the two sentences: L.G. Alexander, Longman English Grammar (1988), page 255.

 

[freijorn]

Context matters. It always matters.

I think you are missing the main point: that we invert verb and subject when asking questions.

"How are you?"

We do not invert when making a statement or command.

"Tell me how you are."

Note, that last one is NOT a question.

Just because a question word, like "why" is included does not automatically make it a question.

"Here is why it is so expensive to paint a house." - statement

"Why is it so expensive to paint a house?" - question

Thank you so so much. It's clear for me now.

Also I have delved into the contracted and uncontracted questions and worked on them. But I still have some confusion in my mind.
If it's possible could you tell me are these sentences gramatically correct?

-Would it not be nice?
-Has she not got a new car?
-Has she not any friends to help her?
-Does she not have any friends to help her?
-Doesn't she have any friends to help her?
-Have you not written to her?

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you so so much. It's clear for me now. (Put emojis after the closing punctuation.)

Also, I have delved into the contracted and uncontracted questions and worked on them but I [STRIKE]still have some confusion in my mind[/STRIKE] am still a little confused.
If [STRIKE]it's[/STRIKE] possible, could you tell me if [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] these sentences are grammatically correct?

-Would it not be nice? Grammatically possible but unlikely. I'd say "Wouldn't it be nice?"
-Has she not got a new car? :tick:
-Has she not got any friends to help her? :tick: but "Hasn't she got any ..." is more natural.
-Does she not have any friends to help her? :tick:
-Doesn't she have any friends to help her? :tick:
-Have you not written to her? :tick: but "Haven't you written to her?" is more natural.

Thank you.

emsr2d2

 

[freijorn]

emsr2d2

Thank you so much my teacher. "Has she not got any friends to help her?" in this sentence without the "got" would it be gramatically impossible? I wonder because I found this sentence at a grammar site.

 

[Tarheel]

I prefer:

Doesn't she have any friends to help her?

 

[5jj]

"Has she not got any friends to help her?" in this sentence without the "got" would it be grammatically impossible?

Has she not any friends? is possible, but you are likely to hear it only from some elderly speakers of BrE.

 

[emsr2d2]

Has she not any friends? is possible, but you are likely to hear it only from some elderly speakers of BrE.

Absolutely. When I read that sentence, I thought of my late grandfather, who was born in 1921. He would have used that construction but the later generations of my family wouldn't.

 

[freijorn]

Thank you so so much. Now I got the point. I’m so happy that you taught me this topic.

One last thing that I would like to ask.

1-“Can you tell me why it is so expensive to paint a house?”
2-”Can you tell me why is it so expensive to paint a house?“

I think first sentence asks about a statement and second one asks about a question.
Are both sentences grammatically correct right?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you so so much. Now I got the point. I’m so happy that you taught me this. [STRIKE]topic.[/STRIKE]

There is one last thing that I would like to ask.

1-“Can you tell me why it is so expensive to paint a house?” :tick:
2-”Can you tell me why is it so expensive to paint a house?“ :cross:

I think the first sentence asks about a statement and the second one asks about a question.
Are both sentences grammatically correct? [STRIKE]right?[/STRIKE]

Note my corrections above. Sentence 2 is not correct. When you start with "Can you tell me why ...", you continue with the word order that would be used in a statement rather than a question. The statement would be "It is so expensive to paint a house" so that's the word order we use after "Can you tell me why".