Cara membuat kalimat tanya dalam Bahasa Inggris
Dalam speaking,
kita hampir selalu menggunakan kalimat tanya. Hal ini karena si pembicara ingin
mengetahui informasi tertentu dari lawan bicara. Seperti halnya
dalam bahasa Indonesia, tipe pertanyaan dalam bahasa Inggris ada 2 yaitu
pertanyaan yang hanya membutuhkan jawaban yes/no dan pertanyaan yang
membutuhkan explanation (information questions). Tulisan ini membahas cara
membuat yes/no questions, question tag, information questions, dan embedded
questions.
Sebelum kita membahas kedua tipe tersebut, ada 4 simple rules yang perlu
diingat ketika membuat questions, antara lain:
• Tenses. Apa yang ditanyakan harus sesuai dengan waktu kejadian/aktivitas.
Sebagai contoh, there was a party at school last night. I didn’t go because I
was sick. Therefore, I don’t know who came to the party, how many people came,
how the party was, etc. Sekarang saya ingin tahu tentang pesta sekolah itu dengan
bertanya kepada teman kelas saya:
o Did you go to the party?
o How many people came?
o How was the party? etc. Jadi, karena kejadian/aktivitas dinyatakan dengan
past tense, maka kalimat tanya juga harus dinyatakan dalam past tense.
INCORRECT jika:
o Do you go to the party?
o How many people come?
o How is the party? etc.
• Untuk yes/no questions, lakukan inversi atau tempatkan auxiliary/be/kata
bantu sebelum subject kalimat.
• Untuk information questions, tempatkan kata tanya sebelum auxiliary/be/kata
bantu. Tetapi, jika yang ditanyakan adalah subject kalimat, inversi
auxiliary/be/kata bantu tidak diperlukan. Yang diperlukan hanyalah mengganti
subject kalimat dengan kata tanya.
• Embedded question selalu dalam bentuk affirmative (kalimat positif) atau kalimat
negatif, tetapi tidak pernah dalam bentuk kalimat tanya. Kesalahan pada umumnya
terjadi karena dilakukannya inversi auxiliary/be/kata bantu ke depan subject
kalimat.
Sekarang, let’s start from yes/no questions.
A. Yes/No questions
Yes/no questions dapat kita bagi menjadi positive dan negative yes/no
questions.
1. Positive yes/no questions.
Pola-pola kalimat tanya yang telah diberikan pada pembahasan tiap tenses secara
umum dapat diringkas menjadi:
Auxiliary
Be
Do/does/did + subject + verb . . .
Contoh:
1. Have you finished doing your homework?
2. Will you go to watch a movie with me tonight?
3. Is she pretty?
4. Does he always go to school on foot?
5. Did you visit your parents during holiday?
Note: Kesalahan biasanya terjadi pada kalimat yang menggunakan simple present
tense dan past tense. Kesalahan ini umumnya karena lupa mengubah verb1+(s/es)
dan verb2 menjadi verb1.
• INCORRECT: Does she often practices her English?
• CORRECT : Does she often practice her English? Yes, she does.
• INCORRECT: Did you loved her?
• CORRECT : Did you love her? Yes, I did.
Untuk tensis yang lainnya biasanya jarang tejadi kesalahan karena bentuk
verb-nya tidak berubah. Silakan baca kembali pola yes/no question untuk 16
Tensis dalam Bahasa Inggris. Atau click link tensis yang ingin anda review di
bagian comment tulisan ini.
2. Negative yes/no questions
Pola yang sangat formal untuk negative yes/no questions adalah NOT diletakkan
setelah subject.
Auxiliary
Be
Do/does/did + subject + NOT + verb . . .
Tapi, pola di atas sangat jarang digunakan dibandingkan dengan pola berikut:
Auxiliary
Be
Do/does/did NOT + subject + verb . . .
Note: NOT pada umumnya dikontraksi dengan auxiliary/be/do/does/did (i.e. can’t,
won’t, isn’t, don’t, hasn’t, etc).
Kapan kita menggunakan negatif yes/no questions? Negative yes/no questions
umumnya digunakan:
a. Jika si pembicara sudah tahu apa yang ditanyakan, tapi belum 100% yakin.
Contoh:
1. Isn’t the earth that travels around the sun? (Bukankah bumi yang mengitari
matahari?). Di sini si penanya ingin memastikan bahwa bumilah yang mengitari
bumi dan bukan sebaliknya.
2. Aren’t you making spaghetti? (Bukankah kamu sedang masak spaghetti?)
3. Didn’t you fail this course last semester? (Bukankah kamu tidak lulus mata
kuliah ini semester lalu?).
4. Wasn’t he playing chess with you when I went to his house last night?
5. Hasn’t she seen the Ayat-Ayat Cinta? (Bukankah dia sudah nonton film
Ayat-Ayat Cinta?).
6. Aren’t they going to see a movie tonight? etc.
b. Ketika si pembicara surprise, shock, jengkel, atau marah.
Contoh:
1. Aren’t you supposed to be at school now? Misalnya, karena YOU di rumah pada
saat jam sekolah.
2. Doesn’t your class start at 7 o’clock? Misalnya, sudah hampir jam 7 tapi YOU
masih belum mandi/siap ke sekolah.
3. What happened? Didn’t you study? Siapa suruh tidak belajar. Gurunya jengkel
tuh.
B. Question tag
Dalam question tag, si pembicara membuat pernyataan tapi dia tidak yakin
sepenuhnya terhadap apa yang dia bicarakan.
Berikut adalah rules dalam membuat question tag:
• Auxiliary/be pada question tag harus sama dengan auxiliary/be pada main
clause (pokok kalimat). Jika di main clause tidak ada auxiliary/be, gunakan
kata bantu do, does, atau did.
• Jika main clause-nya negatif, maka question tag-nya positif. Sebaliknya, jika
main clause-nya positif, maka question tag-nya negatif. Note: kadang-kadang
main clause bermakna negatif walaupun tidak menggunakan NOT. Dalam hal ini,
question tagnya adalah positif. (Lihat contoh: 8, 9). Misalnya,
o jika subject-nya nobody, no one, nothing, etc
o jika verb-nya dislike, disagree, etc
o jika adverb-nya never, hardly, etc
o jika adjective-nya unhappy, immobile, irregular, etc.
• Jangan rubah tensisnya. Misalnya, jika main clause dalam past tense, maka
question tag juga harus dalam past tense.
• Subject dari question tag selalu dalam bentuk subject pronoun (i.e. I, she,
he, it, you, they, dan we). Subject pronoun ini harus sesuai dengan subject
dari main clause yang digantikannya.
• Perhatikan perubahan subject main clause ke subject question tag berikut:
Main clause Question tag
There there
It
This/that
Everything/nothing it
These/those
Everyone/ no one
everybody/nobody they
• Jika question tag-nya negatif, ada 2 pola yang bisa digunakan, yaitu dengan
mengkontraksi NOT menjadi n’t kemudian menggabungkannya dengan
auxiliary/be/kata bantu di depannya.
[(Auxiliary/be/do/does/did)+n't ]+ subject?
Atau gunakan pola berikut:
(Auxiliary/be/do/does/did) + subject + not?
• Khusus untuk be am, question tag-nya adalah am I not (formal) atau aren’t I
(in speaking) jika negatif, atau am I jika positif. Lihat contoh: 14 & 15.
• Jika main clause menggunakan verb have/has atau need, in American English,
question tag-nya mengggunakan kata bantu do/does atau did. (Lihat contoh 9
& 10).
Contoh:
1. They didn’t study last night, did they?
2. She hasn’t met the new student, has she?
3. You are not allergic to pollens, are you? (Kamu tidak alergi terhadap tepung
sari bunga, bukan?).
4. You will open that door for me, won’t you?
5. It’s holiday tomorrow, isn’t it?
6. There were a lot of people coming to the party last night, weren’t there?
7. No one called me, did they? (Tidak ada orang yang nelpon saya, bukan?)
8. Your friends never learn English seriously, do they? (Teman-temanmu tidak
pernah belajar bahasa Inggris dengan serius, bukan?).
9. We need some extra money, don’t we?
10. She has a dimple on her left cheek, does she not? (Dia punya lesung pipi di
pipi kirinya, bukan?). Perhatikan penempatan not!
11. In cartoon, Tom and Jerry always fight, do they not?
12. Apples and grapes are her favorites, are they not?
13. I am included, am I not?
14. I am not ugly, am I?
15. Everybody looks happy with our decision, don’t they?
C. Information questions
Information questions adalah kalimat tanya yang membutuhkan jawaban berupa
explanation (penjelasan). Kata tanya yang digunakan dapat berupa single word:
what, where, why, who, whom, whose, which atau how; atau berupa phrase: whose +
noun (noun-nya siapa), how long (berapa lama/berapa panjang), how many (berapa
banyak), how much (berapa banyak), how often, what time, what kind
(tipe/jenis/macam apa), which one (yang manakah), etc.
Ada 2 pola information questions, yaitu:
a. Jika yang ditanyakan adalah subject kalimat. Inversi
auxiliary/be/do/does/did tidak diperlukan. Yang diperlukan hanyalah mengganti
subject kalimat dengan kata tanya. Kata tanya yang dapat digunakan dalam pola
ini adalah what, who, dan kata tanya berupa phrase (i.e. whose+noun, how
many+noun, how much+noun, etc.) .
Who
What
Kata tanya berupa phrase + verb + (object) + (modifier)
Contoh:
1. Someone cleaned the house. Who cleaned the house? INCORRECT jika: Who did
clean the house?
2. Somebody has been killed. Who has been killed?
3. Jeny is smiling at her boyfriend’s photo. Who is smiling at her boyfriend’s
photo?
4. John just did the homework a few minutes ago. Who just did the homework a
few minutes ago? Di kalimat ini, DID bukan kata bantu, melainkan verb2 dari DO.
5. Something happened this morning. What happened this morning? INCORRECT jika:
What did happen this morning?
6. The increased gas price makes people unhappy. What makes people unhappy?
INCORRECT jika: What does make people unhappy?
7. Daniel’s book has been stolen. Whose book has been stolen? (Bukunya siapa
telah dicuri?).
8. Rembrandt’s painting received a one-million dollars offer. Whose painting
received a one-million dollars offer? (offer = tawaran harga).
9. More than two hundred people came to the party. How many people came to the
party?
10. There are two cars parked in front of your house. Which one is yours? (Yang
manakah mobilmu?). The red one is mine.
b. Jika yang ditanyakan adalah selain subject kalimat. Polanya adalah kata
tanya + yes/no questions.
KATA TANYA + Auxiliary
Be
Do/does/did + subject + verb . . .
Contoh:
1. Jessica has known Andika since she was 7 years old. Whom has Jessica known
since she was 7 years old? Note: Walaupun who lebih sering digunakan dalam
speaking, tetapi dalam writing/ujian, gunakanlah selalu whom jika orang yang
ditanyakan posisinya object kalimat.
2. My brother just bought a new computer yesterday. What did your brother just
buy yesterday?
3. John is leaving for Jakarta tomorrow morning. When is John leaving for
Jakarta?
4. Nining lives on jalan Sudirman. Where does she live?
5. You look so happy. Why do you look so happy?
6. How is she? (Bagaimana kabar/keadaan dia?)
7. I saw Marita’s car heading north on my way here. Whose car did you see?
(Mobil siapa yang kamu lihat?). (heading north =menuju/ke arah utara)
8. Maria and Mario have been seeing each other for 5 years. How long have they
been seeing each other? (Berapa lama mereka telah pacaran?).
9. I like this cell phone. How much does it cost? (Berapa harganya?). Note:
Gunakan how much jika yang ditanyakan adalah uncountable noun.
10. How much money do you want to borrow from me? Jika konteksnya sudah jelas,
kalimatnya cukup dengan: How much do you want to borrow from me?
11. Budi has a lot of non-fiction books. How many non-fiction books does Budi
have? Note: Gunakan how many jika yang ditanyakan adalan countable noun.
12. To keep her body slim, Jacqueline goes to the gym three times a week. How
often does she go to the gym to keep her body slim?
13. What time will your plane take off? (Jam berapa pesawat kamu akan tingal
landas?)
14. What kind of music do you like the most? (Musik jenis apa yang paling kamu
sukai?)
15. When will you give me a chance to love you? (chance = opportunity =
kesempatan)
D. Embedded Questions
Embedded question adalah pertanyaan yang sudah tersirat dalam sebuah kalimat,
Subject + verb + KATA TANYA + subject + verb.
atau pertanyaan yang sudah tersirat dalam sebuah kalimat tanya yang lain:
Auxiliary
Be
Do/does/did + subject + verb + KATA TANYA + subject + verb.
Note: Walaupun bermakna pertanyaan, pola embedded question TIDAK PERNAH dalam
bentuk tanya.
Contoh:
1. Some students still don’t know when they should submit their assignment.
INCORRECT jika: Some students still don’t know when should they submit their
assignment. Incorrect karena auxilliary should diletakkan sebelum subject
kalimat.
2. Nobody can predict when the Lapindo disaster will end. INCORRECT jika:
Nobody can predict when will the Lapindo disaster end.
3. I just want to know what kind of music you like the most. INCORRECT jika: I
just want to know what kind of music do you like the most.
4. Has Jessica ever told you whom she has known since she was 7 years old?
INCORRECT jika: Has Jessica ever told you whom has she known since she was 7
years old?
5. Do you want to know what my brother just bought yesterday? INCORRECT jika:
Do you want to know what did my brother just buy yesterday?
6. Do you know when John is leaving for Jakarta?
7. Could you tell me where I can find this address?
8. I don’t know for how long that guy has been standing there.
9. I am not sure who will be elected president?
10. Do you have any idea how tall Dany is? He is perfect for a basketball
player.
11. Ms. Andini’s first son has studied at the university already but Ms. Andini
still looks very young. Do you know how old she actually is?
ANSWER:
WAS
digunakan jika subjectnya I, he, she, it (dan juga noun yang dapat digantikan
dengan he, she atau it), sedangkan WERE
digunakan jika subjectnya you, they, we (serta noun yang dapat digantikan
dengan they atau we). Kedua be ini
dapat digunakan dalam:
Contoh:
1. I was very happy when I met her.
2. Amir and Budi were absent yesterday.
3. Amir was sick while Budi was overslept.
4. Were you mad at me?
5. He was not with her last night
2.
Simple past tense, kalau kalimatnya menggunakan semi modal auxiliary seperti be
able to, be capable of, be get used to, be supposed to, dst.
Contoh:
1. He was able to solve the problem.
2. They were capable of defeating their
fear.
3. I was getting used to the cold
weather when the first winter arrived.
4. My little brother was supposed to study for the exam
but he watched TV instead.
Contoh:
1. She was crying when I saw her.
2. We were studying when Amir came.
3. They were playing football at 4 p.m.
yesterday.
4. I saw Budi’s car. It was heading north.
Contoh:
1. I was going to meet him yesterday but
I didn’t because of rain.
2. They were going to come to my house this
morning, but for some reasons they didn’t come.
3. He was going to marry her but he
didn’t because his parents rejected her.
Contoh:
1. She told me that she was going to be studying at 8 last
night.
2. Amir said that he was going to be watching the Barcelona vs
Arsenal game at 3 this morning.
3. They told me that they were going to be playing football at
3 p.m. yesterday.
Selain
itu, was dan were juga
digunakan pada kalimat pasif yang menggunakan ke empat tensis di atas.
Polanya
sbb:
S + WAS/WERE + VERB3 …
Contoh:
1. The study was conducted from January to
December last year.
2. The chairs were moved
to the storage room this morning.
3. He was kissed
by his girlfriend.
4. She was given
another opportunity.
5. We were invited
by Budi.
6. Were you invited by Budi?
7. No, I wasn’t invited by Budi.
Polanya
sbb:
S + WAS/WERE + BEING + VERB3 …
Contoh:
1. The laptop was still being fixed when I got
there.
2. They were being interrogated by the
school principal.
3. She was being kept in the room by the
kidnappers when the police found her.
Polanya
sbb:
S + WAS/WERE GOING TO BE + VERB3
…
Contoh:
1. My friend told me that you were going to be given a nice
present.
2. The reporter said that the
psychopath was going to be executed soon.
Polanya
sbb:
S + WAS/WERE GOING TO BE + BEING
+ VERB3 …
Contoh:
1. The tables were going to be being moved at
noon.
2. Maria said that my favorite
song was going to be being sung when I arrived.