yes/no question
High (in linguistics/teaching contexts); Medium-Low (everyday conversation)Formal, Technical, Academic
Definition
Meaning
A question that can be answered simply with 'yes' or 'no'.
In grammar and language teaching, a type of interrogative sentence formed without a wh-word, typically by inverting the subject and auxiliary verb.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily a term used in linguistics and language teaching, not a common collocation in everyday speech where people might say 'a question with a yes or no answer'.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant differences in meaning or usage. The term is standard in both linguistic traditions.
Connotations
Neutral, descriptive, technical.
Frequency
Equally used in academic and teaching contexts in both varieties.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
The teacher asked a yes/no question.A yes/no question requires a binary response.Forming a yes/no question involves subject-auxiliary inversion.Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “It's not a yes/no question. (Figuratively: The issue is complex and cannot be answered simply.)”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rare; might appear in training materials about effective questioning techniques.
Academic
Common in linguistics, language teaching, and research methodology.
Everyday
Uncommon; replaced by descriptive phrases like 'a question you can answer yes or no'.
Technical
Standard term in grammatical description and language pedagogy.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The examiner will often yes/no-question the candidate to check basic comprehension.
- She yes/no-questioned him about his whereabouts.
American English
- The detective began to yes/no-question the suspect relentlessly.
- You can't just yes/no-question your way through this complex issue.
adverb
British English
- He asked very yes/no-question-ly, leaving no room for elaboration.
- (Note: This adverbial form is highly marked and rare.)
American English
- She interviewed him yes/no-question-style, which felt abrupt.
- (Note: This adverbial form is highly marked and rare.)
adjective
British English
- The yes-no-question format is common in beginners' textbooks.
- We practised yes/no question intonation.
American English
- The test had a yes-no-question section.
- He used a yes/no question technique during the interview.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- Is this your bag?' is a yes/no question.
- 'Can you swim?' – Answer with 'yes' or 'no'.
- In English, you often make a yes/no question by putting the verb 'to be' at the beginning.
- The first exercise is to change these statements into yes/no questions.
- While yes/no questions are syntactically simpler, their pragmatic function in conversation can be quite complex.
- The survey relied heavily on yes/no questions, which limited the depth of the responses.
- The barrister's cross-examination was masterful, reducing the witness's narrative to a series of damning yes/no questions.
- Linguistic research into the acquisition of yes/no question intonation patterns reveals significant cross-linguistic variation.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
YES or NO are the only two direct answers it expects - just like a binary switch is ON or OFF.
Conceptual Metaphor
KNOWLEDGE IS A LOCK (A yes/no question is a key that only turns two ways: yes-locked or no-locked).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct calque 'да/нет вопрос'. The standard Russian linguistic term is 'общий вопрос' (general question).
- Do not confuse with 'alternative question' (альтернативный вопрос), which offers a choice between options, not just yes/no.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'yes/no question' in casual conversation instead of a simpler description.
- Incorrectly capitalising as 'Yes/No Question'.
- Forgetting the hyphens when used as a compound modifier: 'a yes-no question structure' (preferable: 'a yes/no question structure').
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is a key formal characteristic of a yes/no question in English?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a fixed lexical phrase or compound term, treated as a single unit in linguistic terminology, often hyphenated when used attributively (e.g., yes/no-question intonation).
Pragmatically, yes. Answers like 'maybe', 'I don't know', or 'it depends' are common, but the question is structurally designed for a binary choice.
A yes/no question is a direct interrogative (e.g., 'Are you coming?'). A tag question is a statement followed by a short question tag (e.g., 'You're coming, aren't you?'). Tag questions are often a subtype of yes/no questions.
It identifies a fundamental and frequently used grammatical structure. Mastering the formation and intonation of yes/no questions is often one of the first steps in learning English interrogation.