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[Critical Thinking Practice; Basic]

Background: One particular kind of question in English is called a “Yes/No question”. These questions can typically be answered with either Yes, No, or Maybe. The standard strategy for forming Yes/No questions is to change the order of the words at the beginning of the sentence from the equivalent statement:

1 Grizelda hasn’t eaten anything. Statement

2 Hasn’t Grizelda eaten anything? Yes/No question

With this background about Yes/No and declarative sentences in mind, consider the fol- lowing hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Yes/No questions are formed by moving the second word in the equivalent statement to the front.

Now look at the following sentences:

c) Bilbo will eat chocolate-covered sausage. Statement

d) Will Bilbo eat chocolate-covered sausage? Yes/No question

Question 1: Are sentences (c) and (d) consistent with hypothesis 1? (Pay careful attention to the wording of the hypothesis!)

Now consider the next two sentences

e) The old hobbit will eat the chocolate-covered sausage. Statement

f) Will the old hobbit eat the chocolate-covered sausage? Yes/No question

Question 2: Are sentences (e) and (f) consistent with hypothesis 1?

Question 3: Instead of (f), what sentence does hypothesis 1 actually predict to be the grammatical Yes/No question equivalent to (e)?

Question 4: Try to come up with a hypothesis that accounts for the grammaticality of (e). (Hint #1: words such as will are called auxiliaries. Hint #2: use as much of the language in hypothesis 1 as you can, making only minimal changes.)