Yes that’s fair – and in a classroom setting simpler is generally best! But yes, it’ll just depend on the specific question and context, for what is the simplest and clearest answer.

Phil

Hi Gloria,

Good question; that is one way of looking at it but I don’t think it would give the complete answer, as overall the passive voice follows the wider structure of the way we use ‘to be’ with states/conditions, where the verb that’s done to the object is treated as if it were a state/condition. For example “Were you pushed?” is passive, and “Were you tired?” questions a state, but I’d suggest they both follow the same essential form, and can effectively be seen as ‘to be’ demonstrating a certain condition for the subject, as even in the passive we’re considering the subject being affected, not doing an action themselves. If that makes sense? The point I’m trying to get to is that the use of ‘to be’ in this way is broader than the passive use, and not just limited to the passive voice, so I think it’s quite helpful to consider it in that wider view.

Phil

Hi Phil,
Thanks for your site and the information you provide. Wouldn’t it be easier to explain that ‘be born’ is using the passive voice?

A fellow English Teacher

Hi Dora,
I’m so sorry for the very slow reply, I missed this comment. This relates to when we use the verb “to be” in general; wherever we use the verb “to be” in a statement, we do not need to add “to do” in question form, as “to be” works in the place of an auxiliary verb.

It’s not a question I’ve dug into the why of before, but essentially it’s because “to do” is an auxiliary that highlights an action to complete a question, whereas “to be” relates to states/conditions, not actions – we do not “do being”, we just “are” (i.e. You do an action, You are in a state). Hence we don’t ask, “Do you be?”, we ask “Are you?” If that makes sense/helps!

This is also why we don’t need to add an auxiliary in the continuous tenses, as we can form the question with the “to be” in “am/are/is doing”.

Phil

Hi, Phil!
May I ask you?
In Past Simple we use DID as auxilary verb in questions, but in sentence “When were/Were you born in 2005?” we don`t use DID, just because we already have “to be” as auxilary. Well, why sometimes we don`t use “to do” as auxilary?

Typically we wouldn’t have a question mark as it’s not likely to be presented as an actual question. If it is a question, it might be rhetorical, leading directly into the answer (“Why choose us? Let me tell you…”), but more likely this would be used as a headline or title, where the rules are bent (as you can see more of here: https://englishlessonsbrighton.co.uk/8-grammar-rules-writing-newspaper-headlines/).

As a title, it would be intended less as a question than a statement of what is going to be answered. To clarify, I would expect it to lead into the answer in a manner that carries the meaning “Here is why you should choose us”, but this is abridged to “Why Choose Us”, explaining why it’s not really a question.

That said, it certainly wouldn’t be incorrect to frame such a title with a question mark, Why Choose Us?, which alternatively presents the title as pre-empting what the reader might be asking.

I hope this helps!

Phil

Please explain in both cases (yes and no)

Excellent information I like it very much bcos I am trying to make conversation more and more simple