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17

Present Tense - Short Answers

English Grammar Rules

Short Answers with Do and Does

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers, to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions

Short Answer

(Affirmative)

Short Answer

(Negative)

Do I need a ticket?

Yes, you do.

No, you don't.

Do you need a dictionary?

Yes, I do.

No, I don't.

Do you both speak English?

Yes, we do.

No, we don't.

Do they need help?

Yes, they do.

No, they don't.

Does he like chocolate?

Yes, he does.

No, he doesn't.

Does she want to come?

Yes, she does.

No, she doesn't.

Does it have four legs?

Yes, it does.

No, it doesn't.

Short Answers with To Be

In questions that use Is or Are it is possible to give short answers as follows:

Sample Questions

Short Answer

(Affirmative)

Short Answer

(Negative)

Am I early?

Yes, you are.

No, you aren't.

Are you busy now?

Yes, I am.

No, I'm not.

Are you both surprised?

Yes, we are.

No, we aren't.

Are they hungry?

Yes, they are.

No, they aren't.

Is he late again?

Yes, he is.

No, he isn't.

Is she a good student?

Yes, she is.

No, she isn't.

Is it ready?

Yes, it is.

No, it isn't.

In most cases, it is possible to give a short answer or a long answer to a question in English. In casual conversation, short

answers are much more common than long answers. Long answers are for more formal conversations or if you want

to give more information in your response.

Examples

Do you like seafood?

- Yes, I do

- No, I don't.

Can you speak German?

- Yes, I can

- No, I can't.

Is there a hotel in this street?

- Yes, there is

- No, there isn't.

Are they coming to the movies?

- Yes, they are

- No, they aren't.

If you look at the examples above you will notice that the answer uses the

first verb in the question (even if it is an auxiliary verb). This is a common characteristic of short answers in

English. Contrast that to long answers to each of those questions:

Do you like seafood?

- Yes, I like seafood.

- No, I don't like seafood.

Can you speak German?

- Yes, I can speak German.

- No, I can't speak German.

Is there a hotel in this street?

- Yes, there is a hotel at the end of this street.

- No, there isn't a hotel in this street.

Are they coming to the movies?

- Yes, they are coming to the movies.

- No, they are not coming to the movies.

You will notice that long answers often sound repetitive. A long

answer to one of these questions would be considered very formal in

English, and in most cases, unnecessary.

Remember, when you are accepting or refusing something to say 'yes, please'

or 'no, thank you'. It is much more common to give short answers to questions like these:

Would you like a beer?

Yes, please.

Do you need any help?

No, thank you.

17

Present Tense - Short Answers

English Grammar Rules

Short Answers with Do and Does

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers, to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions

Short Answer

(Affirmative)

Short Answer

(Negative)

Do I need a ticket?

Yes, you do.

No, you don't.

Do you need a dictionary?

Yes, I do.

No, I don't.

Do you both speak English?

Yes, we do.

No, we don't.

Do they need help?

Yes, they do.

No, they don't.

Does he like chocolate?

Yes, he does.

No, he doesn't.

Does she want to come?

Yes, she does.

No, she doesn't.

Does it have four legs?

Yes, it does.

No, it doesn't.

Short Answers with To Be

In questions that use Is or Are it is possible to give short answers as follows:

Sample Questions

Short Answer

(Affirmative)

Short Answer

(Negative)

Am I early?

Yes, you are.

No, you aren't.

Are you busy now?

Yes, I am.

No, I'm not.

Are you both surprised?

Yes, we are.

No, we aren't.

Are they hungry?

Yes, they are.

No, they aren't.

Is he late again?

Yes, he is.

No, he isn't.

Is she a good student?

Yes, she is.

No, she isn't.

Is it ready?

Yes, it is.

No, it isn't.

In most cases, it is possible to give a short answer or a long answer to a question in English. In casual conversation, short

answers are much more common than long answers. Long answers are for more formal conversations or if you want

to give more information in your response.

Examples

Do you like seafood?

- Yes, I do

- No, I don't.

Can you speak German?

- Yes, I can

- No, I can't.

Is there a hotel in this street?

- Yes, there is

- No, there isn't.

Are they coming to the movies?

- Yes, they are

- No, they aren't.

If you look at the examples above you will notice that the answer uses the

first verb in the question (even if it is an auxiliary verb). This is a common characteristic of short answers in

English. Contrast that to long answers to each of those questions:

Do you like seafood?

- Yes, I like seafood.

- No, I don't like seafood.

Can you speak German?

- Yes, I can speak German.

- No, I can't speak German.

Is there a hotel in this street?

- Yes, there is a hotel at the end of this street.

- No, there isn't a hotel in this street.

Are they coming to the movies?

- Yes, they are coming to the movies.

- No, they are not coming to the movies.

You will notice that long answers often sound repetitive. A long

answer to one of these questions would be considered very formal in

English, and in most cases, unnecessary.

Remember, when you are accepting or refusing something to say 'yes, please'

or 'no, thank you'. It is much more common to give short answers to questions like these:

Would you like a beer?

Yes, please.

Do you need any help?

No, thank you.

17

Present Tense - Short Answers

English Grammar Rules

Short Answers with Do and Does

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers, to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions

Short Answer

(Affirmative)

Short Answer

(Negative)

Do I need a ticket?

Yes, you do.

No, you don't.

Do you need a dictionary?

Yes, I do.

No, I don't.

Do you both speak English?

Yes, we do.

No, we don't.

Do they need help?

Yes, they do.

No, they don't.

Does he like chocolate?

Yes, he does.

No, he doesn't.

Does she want to come?

Yes, she does.

No, she doesn't.

Does it have four legs?

Yes, it does.

No, it doesn't.

Short Answers with To Be

In questions that use Is or Are it is possible to give short answers as follows:

Sample Questions

Short Answer

(Affirmative)

Short Answer

(Negative)

Am I early?

Yes, you are.

No, you aren't.

Are you busy now?

Yes, I am.

No, I'm not.

Are you both surprised?

Yes, we are.

No, we aren't.

Are they hungry?

Yes, they are.

No, they aren't.

Is he late again?

Yes, he is.

No, he isn't.

Is she a good student?

Yes, she is.

No, she isn't.

Is it ready?

Yes, it is.

No, it isn't.

In most cases, it is possible to give a short answer or a long answer to a question in English. In casual conversation, short

answers are much more common than long answers. Long answers are for more formal conversations or if you want

to give more information in your response.

Examples

Do you like seafood?

- Yes, I do

- No, I don't.

Can you speak German?

- Yes, I can

- No, I can't.

Is there a hotel in this street?

- Yes, there is

- No, there isn't.

Are they coming to the movies?

- Yes, they are

- No, they aren't.

If you look at the examples above you will notice that the answer uses the

first verb in the question (even if it is an auxiliary verb). This is a common characteristic of short answers in

English. Contrast that to long answers to each of those questions:

Do you like seafood?

- Yes, I like seafood.

- No, I don't like seafood.

Can you speak German?

- Yes, I can speak German.

- No, I can't speak German.

Is there a hotel in this street?

- Yes, there is a hotel at the end of this street.

- No, there isn't a hotel in this street.

Are they coming to the movies?

- Yes, they are coming to the movies.

- No, they are not coming to the movies.

You will notice that long answers often sound repetitive. A long

answer to one of these questions would be considered very formal in

English, and in most cases, unnecessary.

Remember, when you are accepting or refusing something to say 'yes, please'

or 'no, thank you'. It is much more common to give short answers to questions like these:

Would you like a beer?

Yes, please.

Do you need any help?

No, thank you.

There is - There are

English Grammar Notes

We use there is and there are to say that something exists.

Positive Sentences

We use there is for singular and there are for plural.

There is one table in the classroom.

There are three chairs in the classroom.

There is a spider in the bath.

There are many people at the bus stop.

Contractions

The contraction of there is is there's.

There's a good song on the radio.

There's only one chocolate left in the box.

You cannot contract there are.

There are nine cats on the roof.

There are only five weeks until Christmas.

Negative Form

The negative is formed by putting not after is or are:

There is not a horse in the field.

There are not eight children in the school.

There is not a tree in the garden.

There are not two elephants in the zoo.

The Negative contractions are:

There's not = There isn't

There are not = There aren't

There Are with ANY

When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists we use there aren't any.

There aren't any people at the party.

There aren't any trees in my street.

We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:

There isn't any water in the swimming pool.

There isn't any sugar in my coffee.

Questions

To form a question we place is / are in front of there.

Again we use any with plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns.

We also use there is / are in short answers.

Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.

Are there any dogs in the park? - Yes, there are.

Is there a security guard in the shop? - Yes, there is.

Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? - No, there aren't.

Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is.

How Many with Are There

If we want to find out the number of objects that exist we use How many in the following form:

How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).

How many dogs are there in the park?

How many students are there in your class?

How many countries are there in South America?

How many Star Wars films are there?

A common mistake not only for students learning English but also for native speakers is the difference between There, Their and They're in written English.

This happens because both words sound the same when they are spoken.

Words that sound the same but have different meanings (and sometimes spelling) are called homophones. Therefore they're, their and there are Homophones.

Which words would make the following sentence correct?

They’re/Their/There playing they’re/their/there video games over they’re/their/there.

The answer appears at the end of the post so let’s learn the rules meanwhile.

What is the difference between There, Their and They're?

THERE

There is the opposite of Here. It means “in that place” not here.

A: Where is my book? – B: It’s over there.

I will look for a hotel to stay when I arrive there.

There is/There are = to show that something exists.

There is a book on the table

There are many countries in Europe.

THEIR Their is a possessive adjective which is used before a noun. It shows possession, that something belongs to them.

Their house is big.

All of their friends were crazy.

The children put their books in their school bags.

THEY’RE

They’re is a contraction of they are.

e.g. They’re happy = They are happy

They’re is usually before an adjective or a verb ending in ING.

They’re very interested in the project.

I personally think they’re crazy!

They’re singing loudly.

Example sentence...

So now you know the difference let’s try the original question:

They’re/Their/There playing they’re/their/there video games over they’re/their/there

Why?

They’re playing (they’re is used before a verb ending in -ing making it the progressive tense)

Their video games (their is a possessive used before a noun to show possession)

Over there (there because it means not here, in that place)

Here is a chart we have created to show you more about the difference:

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