Sentence Structure – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Getting to know a foreigner sitting next to you on a plane
Choose the best answer (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence.
1 Hello! Nice to meet you. Where ______ from?
(a) you come
(b) do you come
(c) are you come
2 ______ travel to London often for work?
(a) Do you
(b) Does you
(c) Are you
3 I am a software engineer. What ______ for a living?
(a) you do
(b) do you
(c) do you do
4 Why ______ to London today? Is it for business or a holiday?
(a) do you travel
(b) you travel
(c) are you travel
5 I am visiting my sister. ______ family in the UK?
(a) Are you have
(b) Do you have
(c) Have you
6 Oh, your brother lives in Manchester! Where exactly ______?
(a) does he lives
(b) do he live
(c) does he live
7 That’s interesting. How often ______ your family there?
(a) do you visit
(b) are you visit
(c) you do visit
8 The food on planes is usually quite bad. ______ airline food?
(a) You like
(b) Are you like
(c) Do you like
9 You mentioned you work in marketing. What kind of products ______?
(a) do your company sell
(b) does your company sell
(c) your company sells
10 I forgot to check the schedule. What time ______ usually land?
(a) does this flight
(b) do this flight
(c) this flight does
11 Your English is very good! How many languages ______?
(a) speak you
(b) you speak
(c) do you speak
12 ______ the window seat? We can swap if you want to see the view.
(a) Do you prefer
(b) Prefer you
(c) Are you prefer
13 Your wife is not traveling with you today. ______ she like flying?
(a) Isn’t
(b) Doesn’t
(c) Don’t
14 You said you work in a big city. Which city ______?
(a) you work in
(b) in do you work
(c) do you work in
15 I am from Vietnam. Where ______ from?
(a) do you
(b) are you
(c) do you be
16 I live in Hanoi, the capital. Which part of England ______ from?
(a) are you come
(b) come you
(c) do you come
17 When you arrive at the airport, who ______ usually meet?
(a) do you
(b) are you
(c) you do
18 I’ve never been to London. How long ______ to fly from there to Vietnam?
(a) does it takes
(b) does it take
(c) it takes
19 Sorry, I don’t know that English word. What ______?
(a) means it
(b) does it means
(c) does it mean
20 ______ anything to declare at customs when we arrive?
(a) Do we have
(b) Are we have
(c) Have we
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. We need the auxiliary “do” before the subject “you” (Where do you come). (a) is a common mistake (translating word-for-word from Vietnamese without an auxiliary verb). (c) is a structural error (mixing the “to be” verb “are” with the action verb “come”).
2 a
Explanation: (a) is correct. “Do you” is the correct way to ask a Yes/No question with the action verb “travel”. (c) is a common mistake (using “Are” with a base verb). (b) is a structural error (“Does” is for he/she/it).
3 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. The first “do” is the auxiliary verb, and the second “do” is the main action verb. (a) is a common mistake (missing the auxiliary). (b) is a structural error (missing the main verb).
4 a
Explanation: (a) is correct (Wh- word + do + you + verb). (b) is a common mistake (missing the auxiliary “do”). (c) is a structural error (“are” cannot be used with the base verb “travel”).
5 b
Explanation: (b) is correct (“Do you have”). (c) is a common mistake (in modern English, we usually use “Do you have” rather than just “Have you” for possession). (a) is a structural error.
6 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. For “he”, we use “does” + base verb “live”. (a) is a common mistake (adding “-s” to the main verb when “does” is already there). (b) is a structural error (using “do” for “he”).
7 a
Explanation: (a) is correct (How often + do + you + visit). (c) is a common mistake (wrong word order: Subject + do + Verb). (b) is a structural error.
8 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. Asking about a preference requires “Do you”. (a) is a common mistake (statement word order instead of question). (b) is a structural error (mixing “Are” with the action verb “like”).
9 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. “Your company” is singular (it), so we use “does” + base verb “sell”. (c) is a common mistake (missing the auxiliary “does”). (a) is a structural error (using “do” for a singular subject).
10 a
Explanation: (a) is correct. “This flight” is singular (it), so it takes “does”. (c) is a common mistake (putting the auxiliary after the subject). (b) is a structural error.
11 c
Explanation: (c) is correct (Wh- phrase + do + you + speak). (b) is a common mistake. (a) is a structural error (inverting the main verb directly, which is incorrect in modern English).
12 a
Explanation: (a) is correct (“Do you prefer”). (b) is a common mistake. (c) is a structural error.
13 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. To ask a negative question about “she”, we use “Doesn’t”. (a) is a structural error (using “Isn’t” with the action verb “like”). (c) is a structural error (using “Don’t” for “she”).
14 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. In English, the preposition (in) often goes at the end of the question (Which city do you work in?). (a) is a common mistake. (b) is a structural error (unnatural word order).
15 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. Because there is no action verb in the sentence, we use the “to be” verb (Where are you from?). (a) is a common mistake (using “do” without an action verb). (c) is a structural error.
16 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. Because we use the action verb “come”, we must use the auxiliary “do” (Where do you come from?). (a) is a common mistake (mixing “are” and “come”). (b) is a structural error.
17 a
Explanation: (a) is correct (Who do you meet?). (c) is a common mistake (wrong word order). (b) is a structural error.
18 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. “It” requires “does”, followed by the base verb “take”. (a) is a common mistake (keeping the “-s” on “takes” even though “does” is used). (c) is a structural error (missing the auxiliary).
19 c
Explanation: (c) is correct (What does it mean?). (a) is a common mistake (no auxiliary). (b) is a structural error (double “s”: does it means).
20 a
Explanation: (a) is correct (“Do we have”). (b) is a structural error (mixing “Are” and “have”). (c) is a common mistake.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 The Golden Rule for Questions: In English, you cannot just raise your voice at the end of a sentence to make a question like in Vietnamese (e.g., You like coffee? ❌). You must use an auxiliary verb before the subject.
2 Wh- Question Structure: Memorize this formula:
[Wh- Word] + Do/Does + Subject + Base Verb?
- Example: Where (Wh-) + do (Aux) + you (S) + live (V)?
3 Do vs. Does:
- Use Do for I, you, we, they (e.g., Do you travel?).
- Use Does for he, she, it (e.g., Does the flight land soon?).
4 Action Verb vs. To Be: * If the sentence has an action verb (live, work, come, speak), use Do/Does. (Where do you come from?)
- If there is no action verb and you are asking about a state/location, use Am/Is/Are. (Where are you from?) NEVER mix them together (Where are you come from? ❌).