Alternative question in English. Alternative question in English. Alternative Question

ALTERNATIVE QUESTION

- English question, alternative (question, dichotomic); German Alternativefrage. A question that offers a choice of one of two answer options.

Antinazi. Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2009

See what “ALTERNATIVE QUESTION” is in other dictionaries:

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Books

• Freedom from addiction. Acute conditions in children. Second chance of happiness. Alcoholism - joy or serious illness? Is a hyperactive child forever? Sex education for children. How to raise a healthy child. Dementia (number of volumes: 8), Kruglyak Lev. " Hyperactive child- is this forever? An alternative view of the problem." Not only parents and others suffer from bad behavior, aggressiveness, and absent-mindedness in children, but also...
• My own MBA. 100% self-education, Josh Kaufman. What is this book about? This is a book about believing in yourself. Suddenly? And yet, the author’s main idea is the value of your personality, and not the “crust” in your case. You can finish whatever...
• Set of 5 books. Alcoholism - joy, or a serious illness. Is a hyperactive child forever? How to raise a healthy child. Sex education for children. Acute conditions in children. (number of volumes: 5), Kruglyak Lev. "Alcoholism - joy, or a serious illness." The problem of alcoholism is dangerous not only because of the severe consequences of this disease, but, first of all, because it arises unnoticed - from harmless...

Alternative Question is one of the five main types of questions in English. In English it sounds like Alternative Question. Before studying this type, you should definitely take General Questions and Special Questions. Alternative questions almost exactly repeat their structure, with only a small addition. Let me remind you that you can briefly familiarize yourself with all five types in the article “Types of questions in English". Now, let's look at the features of the alternative question. Alternative Question in English

What are Alternative Questions and what are they for?

Very often we are forced to make a choice and offer it to others. As you already understood from the name, alternative questions in English perform exactly this function. That is, alternative questions are questions that offer a choice between two or more objects, qualities, persons, actions, etc.

In alternative questions there is always a conjunction “or” (or), which connects the proposed options. Another feature is the presence of the answer in the question itself. The respondent only needs to select one of the options provided. Unambiguous short answers “yes” and “no” in such questions are unacceptable in meaning. An alternative question can be asked to any member of the sentence. Consider the following examples:

• Do you like apples or pears? − Do you like apples or pears?
• Is she from USA or from Canada? − Is she from the USA or from Canada?
• Is this your room or mine? - Is this your room or mine?

Alternative questions have a well-established intonation coloring. In the first part of the question, before the conjunction or, the intonation rises, after the conjunction it decreases.
Alternate Question Scheme

Rules for the formation of Alternative Questions

This type of question, like others (with the exception of a special question about the subject and its definition), is characterized by the presence of inversion, that is, a change in the order of words in a sentence. The first place may be auxiliary or modal verb as in a general question, or a question word as in a special question. The main thing is the presence of the conjunction or, with the help of which a choice of different options is provided.

Now I will clearly demonstrate to you how an alternative question is built according to the principle general issues. We make up two general questions connected by the conjunction or (or):

• Are they swimming or are they jumping? — Do they swim or jump?
• Does he love Helen or does he love Britney? - Does he love Elena or Britney?

Now we cut off the second repeating part of the question and leave only the “alternative” from it. We get:

• Are they swimming or jumping? — Do they swim or jump?
• Does he love Helen or Britney? - Does he love Elena or Britney?

As you can see, an alternative question in English is built on the basis of general questions, but connects several alternative options, one of which serves as a possible answer. The second part of the alternative question can in some cases be replaced negative particle not. Examples:

• Will they help us or not? - Will you help me or not?
• Is he thinking about it or not? - Does he think about it or not?
• Did they believe us or not? - Did they believe us or not?

Answers to alternative questions in English are always complete. Brief answers of “yes” or “no” are logically unacceptable. Examples:

• Does he like the Queen or the King? — He likes the King. (Does he like the queen or the king? - He likes the king.)
• What are you going to do: go to the cinema or watch TV? - I'm going to go to the cinema. (What are you going to do: go to the cinema or watch TV? - I'm going to go to the cinema.)
• Is your book on the table or on the window? — It is on the table. (Is your book on the table or on the window? - It’s on the table.)

If an alternative question is asked to the subject, then the second part must also have an auxiliary or modal verb that will precede the second subject. The answer to an alternative question to the subject, as a rule, has a short form.

• Does your brother love me or do you? - My brother does. (Does your brother love me or do you? - My brother.)
• Must he or must his sister help me? — His sister must. (Should he or his sister help me? - His sister should.)
• Can your friend or can you dance break? - I can. (Can your friend or you breakdance? - I can.)

Alternative questions may consist of a specific question followed by homogeneous members offers. In this case, they begin with a question word. Examples:

• When will they read my application: tomorrow or today? - They"ll do it today. (When will they read my statement: tomorrow or today? - They will read it today.)
• Why do you buy that: because of me or her? - I buy it because of you. (Why are you buying this: because of me or because of her? - I'm buying this because of you.)
• How did we do our work: slow or fast? — You did it fast. (How did we do our job: slowly or quickly? - You did it quickly.)

The topic of Alternative Questions turned out to be not very difficult, due to the fact that you already know a lot. Take the time to create a couple of dozen alternative questions to reinforce the material. Good luck in learning English!

Watch the following video lessons on the topic: “Alternative questions in English.”

This is not only one of the many ways to construct a sentence in Russian. It is also a powerful psychological tool, widely used in practice in sales, mass media and simply when trying to convince someone of something, to achieve the desired reaction from the interlocutor. In order not only not to get hooked on alternative questions, but also to use them yourself, you must first understand what they are.

General definition

The name "alternative question" speaks for itself. As obvious as it may seem, this is a question that involves a choice between some two (or more) alternatives. That is, the speaker, as it were, allows the listener to choose from what he himself offers, without giving the opportunity to own version. Because of this, the listener involuntarily feels pressured and even chooses an option that he does not like, just because the alternative is worse.

How to ask an alternative question?

Here are a few principles and patterns that will allow you to ask the question correctly and achieve the desired reaction from your interlocutor:

1. First of all, the alternative question is not an ultimatum. You can’t put it like this: “Either you stop behaving this way, or I’m leaving”! A person naturally reacts to an ultimatum in one of two ways: either he looks for a way to get around it, or he acts out of spite to the person asking. An alternative question, unlike an ultimatum, does not plunge the respondent into stress, but, on the contrary, maintains a sense of comfort zone around him: “Would you prefer that I leave, or should we reconsider this pattern of behavior together?”
2. A question containing an alternative is always an extremely polite response. The slightest rudeness, and the interlocutor will feel the catch. Simply put, instead of “What do you want?” should ask: “Which of these options would you prefer?”, and instead of “You need to choose!” - “If I had to choose...”
3. If you use an alternative question when communicating with people you know, in an informal or not very formal setting, hardly anyone will be against it. However, if you try to abuse the opportunity to limit the listener's options by using this question as a weighty argument, you will most likely have to listen to the accusation of sophistry.

By following these three principles, you can use the alternative question more than successfully.

Application in the art of sales

Market - best place to find examples of an alternative question. Most often, buyers fall for, for example, the following “hooks”:

• Would you rather place your order now or over the phone? - ignoring the possible desire not to place an order at all.
• How will it be easier to draw up an agreement - on your own or with the help of our specialists? - without giving a choice not to draw up an agreement at all.
• You will buy the product now at a discount or check back later and pay full price? - having decided in advance for the person in charge that he will certainly buy the product.

Sometimes alternative questions help unsure clients, but more often they lead them away from a truly successful solution for them. However, buyers can turn this trick to their advantage if they are careful and attentive.

Application in psychology

For psychologists, alternative questions help much more than others. And if in the past, helping unsure clients was only a side goal, in psychology it becomes the main goal. For example:

• Would you rather talk about it yourself or answer my questions? - leaving no choice not to tell at all.
• Do you want to talk about it now or later? - excluding the possibility of not speaking at all.
• Would you like to continue the conversation on this topic now or return to it later? - without taking into account the possible desire to leave the topic forever.

Good afternoon, dear friends. Julia Marzan and the School of Effective Sales blog are with you. Let's continue the conversation about questions that are used in sales to obtain the client's consent to purchase. Today we will talk about alternative questions.

suggest several (usually two) possible client responses, each of which suits the seller. Such questions contain two sentences; refusal is not provided for.

Alternative questions can be successfully used on any For example, using alternative questions on a neutral topic, you can “talk” to your interlocutor, understand his areas of interest, unobtrusively identify needs, and direct the client’s thoughts to choosing alternatives.

Examples of alternative questions

• “Is it more interesting for you to go to Egypt or Turkey?”
• “Will you draw up the contract yourself or let our specialists do it?”
• “Is morning or evening delivery convenient for you?”
• "You choose washing machine top-loading or front-loading?
• “Would you be comfortable if we set up a meeting on Wednesday or Friday?”
• “Are you comfortable picking up the goods yourself or will you use a delivery service?”

By asking alternative questions, the salesperson can focus the client's attention on two or more options. This makes the decision easier and makes the selection process easier.

When are alternative questions used?

• when summing up intermediate and final results;
• when discussing plans for further work;
• to encourage indecisive clients to make a decision;
• in order to reassure the client and let him choose best option further actions.

When formulating alternative questions, it is very important to offer the client options that are truly acceptable to him. Otherwise, the client may mistake a seemingly harmless alternative question for manipulation.

The fact is that with the help of an alternative question, the client is programmed in a certain way for the choice procedure, becomes locked into this process and rarely realizes whether he needs to make a choice at all. Even fairly psychologically literate clients do not always realize the veiled manipulation at the time of sale.

For example, a girl tries on a blouse. Seller: “Which blouse do you like better: blue or red?” Client (not yet knowing whether she needs a blouse at all): “Red.”

Of course, if the client is completely uninterested in your product, no manipulation will help you. And if the client understands the difference between the products offered, then this is not manipulation at all, but only a way to slightly push the client towards.

There are five types in English interrogative sentences: dividing, general, special and alternative questions, as well as questions to the subject. All of these species are almost equally complex and occur with approximately the same frequency. The alternative question is neither the most difficult nor the easiest, but it certainly can rightfully be called indispensable. This is exactly what this article will be about.

General definition

An alternative question is a question that contains definite choice, which is offered to the responder. By asking such a question, the speaker seems to imply that the listener will have to make his own decision by choosing one of the options offered to him.

Characteristic distinctive feature such questions is the presence of the conjunction “or” - “or”. Grammatically, examples of alternative questions differ little from other types of questions: they also use auxiliary verb, placed at the beginning of a sentence and standing before the subject.

How to ask such a question?

Easier than it might seem at first glance. The best way to look at the use of alternative questions in English is through examples. For example, here is a fairly simple sentence:

• Yesterday my boyfriend bought a new blue car. - Yesterday my boyfriend bought a new car blue.

Here is a whole list of alternative questions that can be asked to this proposal:

As the examples show, all alternative questions contain several answer options, from which the speaker invites his interlocutor to choose. To formulate such a question, you need to imagine possible options and voice them to your interlocutor through the already mentioned earlier “or”.

It is logical that a question that requires multiple answers cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” The answer must be complete, most often a full sentence. For example, to this question:

• Did he arrive a week or two ago? - Did he arrive a week or two ago?

The following answer might be:

• He arrived two weeks ago. - He arrived two weeks ago.

Sometimes, to avoid tautology, the word "one" is used. For example, in response to this alternative question:

• Would you like to put on the black or the gray suit? - Would you prefer to wear a black or gray suit?

You can answer as follows:

• I think, I"ll better choose the black one. - I think that, most likely, I will choose black.

IN colloquial speech Short, one-word answers are also acceptable. For example, to such an everyday question as:

• Would you like some tea or coffee? - Would you like to drink some tea or coffee?

You can answer briefly:

• A cup of coffee, please. - I'd like a cup of coffee.

Factors such as: social status the interlocutor, the relationship with him, as well as the formality or informality of the situation in general.

Alternative questions with a question word

A question word may well be used when using this type of question. To understand how this works, it is better to use a simple sentence again, as an example of which you can ask ordinary alternative questions, which can then be easily converted into questions with a question word. Here's a simple proposal:

• We will go to Spain by car. - We will go to Spain by car.

Here's how you can pose an alternative question to it:

As the examples of questions with a question word show, alternative questions of this type look and are formed in the same way as special ones, with the only difference being that they use a colon and the conjunction “or”.

Questions to the subject

They have already been used as examples in this article, but have not been discussed separately. To ask a question to the subject, you need to formulate special question for the first subject, and then, separated by a comma, write down the similarity of the second half of the dividing question for the second subject. In theory this seems complicated, but in practice it looks quite concise and simple:

Where are these questions used?

Examples of alternative questions, of course, can be found not only on the pages of English textbooks. If this were so, there would be no point in studying them. In fact, these questions are used in almost all styles of oral and writing.

In addition, alternative questions are a tool of manipulation, a favorite technique of marketers and salespeople, perfectly trained to instill in customers the desire to buy something they never need in their lives. It works as follows: by providing the listener with answer options, the speaker limits the range of possible actions with them. For example:

• Alright, sir, would you prefer us to box it or you will do it buy yourself? - So, sir, would you rather we pack the goods, or would you do it yourself?

Perhaps the “sir” mentioned in this phrase had not yet decided to buy the product at all, but was only thinking about it, inadvertently mentioning that theoretically he might like it. So, when hearing an alternative question from a service worker, you should be very careful.