Short Answers in English
Why do use short answers in English?
We do not use only Yes or No to answer a question as this is not polite. We use short answers. Here are some examples:
Yes/No question | Short answer | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Is | she | English? | Yes, No, | she she | is. isn’t. * | |
Are | the men | working? | Yes, No, | they they | are. aren’t. * | |
Can | he | play | football? | Yes, No, | he he | can. can‘t. * |
Have | we | got | any oranges? | Yes, No, | we we | have. haven’t. * |
Has | she | got | a boyfriend? | Yes, No, | she she | has. hasn’t. * |
Do | you | have | a job? | Yes, No, | I I | do. don’t. * |
Does | she | like | reading? | Yes, No, | she she | does. doesn’t. * |
Did | they | arrive | yesterday? | Yes, No, | they they | did. didn’t. * |
Are | they | watching | at the moment? | Yes, No, | they they | are. aren’t. * |
Have | you | ever been | to Germany? | Yes, No, | we we | have. haven’t. * |
Has | he | been working | here for long? | Yes, No, | he he | has. hasn’t. * |
Are | they | going to get | married? | Yes, No, | they they | are. aren’t. * |
Will | we | be | late? | Yes, No, | we we | will. won’t. * |
* Use long forms instead of contracted forms to emphasize your answer.
Are you French? – No, I am not.
Explanations
- Word Order in English questions (Summary)
- Questions in the Passive
- Questions in the Past Simple
- Questions in the Present Simple
- Questions with Questions Words and the verb BE
- Questions with CAN
- Questions with HAVE and HAVE GOT
- Questions with WHO and WHAT – Subject – Object
- Short Answers in English
- Yes/No questions and short answers and the verb BE