Another method of asking questions In English Involves ihe use of auxiliary verb*. Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, such as am, is, are, was, were, do, does, did, has, have, had, are often used in yes/no questions, questions which seek the answer yes or no, or an equivalent of one of these | She says that you advised her to leave Tom and she now regrets it. That s absolute nonsense She decided to leave him other own accord. I just agreed with her. how do you mean You say how do you mean in informal contexts when you want someone to explain something they have said We won t be seeing Bill around here again that s for sure. How do you mean He got drunk last night and told the boss exactly what he thought of him. The boss sacked him immediately What s your current marital status How do you mean Are you married 7 was married but I m divorced now. Bill s plans for the old barn are dead in the water. How do you mean He s applied for planning permission from the council but it s been refused. how ever. You can make a question sound more emphatic by using how ever. instead of how especially when you are surprised or angry How ever did Jim get the money to buy Sue s business He borrowed it from his mother. Apparently she s quite a wealthy woman. We ve both lost our jobs. How ever will we pay the bills Don t worry We ve got some savings and I m sure we ll soon find other jobs 7 wish I had your confidence How ever did the jury find him innocent I m sure he was the one who killed our daughter. I m sorry. Apparently the jury didn t think there was enough evidence to convict him. 66 How to ask questions how . is that You say how. is that in informal contexts when you want to emphasize to what a great degree something or someone has a particular quality Bob has lent Frank money How stupid is that Frank will never pay it back. Probably Bob doesn t know that. Sue s got a job as a fashion model and she s only 16. How cool is that It s great although I hear that her parents are worried about the time she ll have to take off school. That s typical of parents Sally s going to the local university and she s going to go on living with her parents. How sad is that 7 think she s doing It because her parents don t have much money. Her father s an invalid. You can also use how
