The yes-no question group, also known as simple or general questions, are question forms that ask for a yes, no, and sometimes maybe answer.

Question forms

Positive: "Am", "Are", "Can", "Could", "Do", "Does", "Have", "Is", "May", "Will", "Would"
Negative: "Ain't", "Aren't", "Can't", "Couldn't", "Don't", "Doesn't", "Haven't", "Isn't", "Won't", "Wouldn't"

Questions that express wants tend to be simple questions. Look for questions that start with "Want", or "Wanna".

Partial / Tag questions

Partial questions are sometimes difficult to determine if they qualify as a simple question. Try your best to determine if the form can be phrased as a yes-no question form; in any case partial questions should be tagged as questioning tone.

Tag questions are commonly simple in form, often being a variation of "Do you?", "Does this make sense?", or "Is that so?"

See also

• asking
• command
• question