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  • Hello and welcome to today's Grammar Gameshow!

  • I'm your host, Will!

  • Ah, make something up yourself!

  • And of course, let's not forget Leslie,

  • our all-knowing voice in the sky.

  • Hello, everyone!

  • Tonight, we're going to ask you three questions about

  • Questions!

  • Those investigative interrogatives that

  • satisfy the curious and kill the cat.

  • OK! Now, let's meet our contestants!

  • Hello, all. My name's Liz!

  • And contestant number two?

  • Hello, everyone. I'm Clarence!

  • Nice to see you again Liz.

  • This is your fifth

  • Hold it right there, Will. This is a sting.

  • Agent Clarence Articulates

  • from the Bureau of Invisible Know-it-all Grammarians

  • Held Invisibly Somewhere in a Box in the Sky.

  • Not

  • B.O.I.N.G.H.I.S.I.A.B.I.T.S.!

  • Yes, well, we are working on the acronym.

  • Now, I've heard some rumours about you and your

  • Grammar Gameshow.

  • Have you got an unlicenced Leslie?

  • Rumours?

  • How?

  • We've had an informant working on the inside

  • for the last few weeks.

  • Liz!

  • You snake in the grass. How could you?

  • Sorry, Will. They give better gifts.

  • Leslie Licence please.

  • We have some questions for you.

  • Questions, eh?

  • I can't imagine why.

  • Leslie's very well cared for.

  • He's happy here.

  • Aren't you Leslie?

  • Well, I what I'd really appreciate is

  • We must get that cable fixed!

  • Licence, please.

  • Quid pro quo, Agent Clarence.

  • We are in the middle of a quiz game.

  • You play my game,

  • and I'll play yours.

  • Quid

  • pro

  • quo.

  • Well, it looks like I have no choice but to proceed.

  • Well, OK! Let's get going,

  • and don't forget,

  • you can play along at home too.

  • Our first round is a reverse round.

  • I'm going to give you the answer,

  • and you'll tell me the question.

  • The category is standard object question grammar.

  • Ready?

  • Answer one:

  • Put the auxiliary verb in front of the subject.

  • What is the question?

  • How do we form most object questions?

  • Correct!

  • Answer two.

  • Yes/no and question word.

  • What's the question?

  • What are the two types of object questions?

  • Correct!

  • Answer three:

  • What, who, where, when, why, how, which.

  • What's the question?

  • What kinds of words start a question-word question?

  • Correct!

  • Answer four:

  • They use an auxiliary verb only, but

  • short answers are possible.

  • What's the question?

  • What makes yes/no questions different from

  • question-word questions?

  • Correct!

  • Leslie?

  • Well done!

  • The most common type of question

  • is the object question.

  • In this type,

  • the normal word order of a sentence is changed.

  • The auxiliary verb is moved in front of the subject.

  • They come in two types.

  • Yes / no questions, such as: Am I about to be set free?

  • And question-word questions, for example:

  • What will happen to the show if I leave?

  • You win this round.

  • Well done, Agent Clarence and co.

  • You may ask one question.

  • What are you feeding him, you monster?

  • Oh, nothing but the best I assure you.

  • He's fibbing. It's nothing but bread and water!

  • Bread and water?

  • That's Les-lunacy!

  • Sorry! We must get on!

  • Round two is about subject questions.

  • Question one.

  • What is the difference between subject

  • and object questions?

  • Replace the noun or pronoun with a question word

  • and use statement word order.

  • Leslie?

  • Strange answer Liz,

  • but that is one way to make a subject question

  • from a sentence.

  • However, it doesn't answer Will, so no points.

  • Subject questions are used when the question word

  • represents the subject noun of the answer.

  • For example: What happened? Nothing happened.

  • With these questions, we do not invert the auxiliary verb and subject

  • like we do with object questions.

  • We use the verb like we would in a normal sentence

  • and if the verb is changed to show a tense,

  • that change remains.

  • Excellent. Let's have an example.

  • Look at these sentences and tell me which one is wrong.

  • Who broke the window?

  • What has happened to the house?

  • What will become of us?

  • Who does know?

  • It's C because it has an auxiliary verb!

  • Incorrect. That's a future simple subject question

  • and perfectly right.

  • D is wrong because an auxiliary verb is not needed.

  • Leslie?

  • Sorry, Agent Clarence.

  • It's not always wrong.

  • To add emphasis to subject questions,

  • we stress the auxiliary.

  • With certain tenses,

  • such as the present simple,

  • we can reintroduce the auxiliary verb

  • so that it can be stressed.

  • Sorry, Agent Clarence.

  • No right answer, no question for you.

  • On to our last round.

  • And this is a true-or-false round.

  • The category is reported questions.

  • Here we go.

  • This type of question does not switch

  • the auxiliary verb and subject.

  • True!

  • Correct!

  • Now try this:

  • Reported yes/no questions are introduced

  • using 'if' or 'whether'.

  • True!

  • Correct!

  • Reported questions are written as sentences

  • with no question mark.

  • True!

  • Correct!

  • One more:

  • Reported questions are often introduced

  • with the verb 'ask'.

  • For example: He asked me...

  • True!

  • Correct!

  • Leslie?

  • Reported questions do not switch the auxiliary verb

  • and subject like object questions do.

  • They are written as sentences

  • and may be introduced by the verb 'ask',

  • such as: 'They asked me...'.

  • Finally, if the reported question has a yes or no answer,

  • we need to use 'if' or 'whether' in its construction.

  • And that brings us to the end of today's

  • Grammar Gameshow.

  • I've played your games long enough.

  • Now, Leslie Licence, please!

  • If you show me quickly, I might be more Les-lenient.

  • Of course! But first,

  • don't you want to ask Leslie what he wants to do?

  • Leslie?

  • If I left, who would answer the questions?

  • Who would keep Will company?

  • He's mean, but he's my friend.

  • But he's horribly trapped!

  • A trapped Leslie is just the way of the world.

  • But without a Leslie licence, life would be chaos!

  • Now, show me the Leslie Licence

  • or I'll have to Les-litigate.

  • Just this way Agent Clarence.

  • It's down here

  • in the basement!

  • And Liz,

  • birds of a feather flock together.

  • See where your curiosity has got you now,

  • Agent Clarence.

  • Release the cats!

  • It looks like we'll need another two more contestants.

  • Say goodbye, Leslie.

  • Donadagohvi, Leslie

  • See you next time, old friend.

Hello and welcome to today's Grammar Gameshow!

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