Editor's Corner

Good day to you all!

In my last article, I brought up grammatical moods. I think it might’ve been more fun to lend you my mood ring and see what color it turned. Then, I could tell you if you were feeling happy, loving, peevish, stormy, or whatever the color equated to.

Instead, though, I’m going to continue on from the indicative mood to the interrogative mood. I think we’ve seen enough movies about wars and captives to know that interrogate means “to question.” And that’s how you can remember what this mood is all about: questions. More precisely, from the OSU Writing Center: The interrogative mood “is used to express a sense of uncertainty by asking a question. The question contains an auxiliary verb (helping verb) and then a main verb.”

Another hint? Question marks indicate an interrogative sentence. The verb tense can change, but again, watch for the question mark and helping verbs.

The interrogative mood can go a little deeper too. According to the site Worksheets Planet, there are four different types of questions. Here they are with examples for each type.

Yes or no questions: These sentences can be answered simply with yes or no.

• Does Bea like ice cream with sprinkles?
• Is your neighbor friendly?

Wh-questions: These sentences use wh- words (who, what, where, when, why, how, how many) to begin the sentence.

• What is your favorite color?
• Who is your favorite water polo player?
• Where did you go to college?
• Why did you bring your cobra to the picnic?
• When is Sheri quitting her job?
• How did you find out about Chuck’s birthmark?

Choice questions: These questions offer a choice of several options.

• Do you prefer the pink sweater or the blue one?
• Would you like coffee or tea?
• Do you want to leave at noon or 1:00 p.m.?

Tag questions: This type of question is made up of two parts, where the first part is a positive statement, and the second part is negative (or the contrary).

• You’re going to the fair, aren’t you?
• Jay is getting married, isn’t he?
• You bought your son a birthday present, didn’t you?

That’s it! More than you ever wanted to know about the interrogative mood. Now, would you like to buy a ring?

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

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