Study guide
10.4 Questions, Negatives and There Is/Are
Cambridge A2 Key KET
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1 Introduction & Exam Overview
1.1 What Is Cambridge A2 Key (KET)? 1.2 Exam Format: Three Papers 1.3 Who Takes A2 Key and How It Is Delivered 1.4 Study Hours and Preparation Path
2 Scoring, Grades & Results
2.1 The Cambridge English Scale 2.2 Grades A, B, C and Certificates 2.3 How Your Overall Score Is Calculated
3 Reading Parts 1–3: Understanding Texts
3.1 Reading Overview (Parts 1–5) 3.2 Reading Part 1: Short Texts and Main Message 3.3 Reading Part 2: Multiple Matching 3.4 Reading Part 3: Longer Text Detail and Gist
4 Reading Parts 4–5: Vocabulary and Grammar Cloze
4.1 Reading Part 4: Multiple-Choice Cloze 4.2 Collocations and Phrasal Verbs for Part 4 4.3 Reading Part 5: Open Cloze 4.4 Grammar Words for Open Cloze
5 Writing Part 6: Guided Message
5.1 Writing Overview (Parts 6–7) 5.2 Part 6 Guided Writing Task 5.3 Model Emails and Content-Point Checklists
6 Writing Part 7 & Assessment Criteria
6.1 Part 7 Picture Story 6.2 Narrative Language and Connectors 6.3 Writing Assessment: Content, Organisation, Language
7 Listening Parts 1–3
7.1 Listening Paper Overview 7.2 Listening Part 1: Short Dialogues and Pictures 7.3 Listening Part 2: Gap Fill Notes 7.4 Listening Part 3: Conversation Multiple Choice
8 Listening Parts 4–5 & Detail Skills
8.1 Listening Part 4: Gist and Main Message 8.2 Listening Part 5: Matching 8.3 Numbers, Times, Prices and Spelling
9 Speaking Test
9.1 Speaking Test Format 9.2 Speaking Part 1: Interview 9.3 Speaking Part 2: Discussion 9.4 Speaking Assessment Criteria
10 A2 Grammar Essentials
10.1 Present and Past Tenses 10.2 Future Forms, Modals and Obligation 10.3 Comparatives, Superlatives, Adverbs and Word Order 10.4 Questions, Negatives and There Is/Are
11 A2 Vocabulary Topics
11.1 People, Home and Daily Routines 11.2 Free Time, Hobbies, Travel and Transport 11.3 Food, Shopping, Money and Health 11.4 Places in Town, Services and Simple Technology
12 Functional Language for Exam Tasks
12.1 Requests, Offers, Invitations and Suggestions 12.2 Opinions, Agreeing, Disagreeing and Preferences 12.3 Describing People, Places and Events; Simple Narration
13 Exam Day and Test Strategy
13.1 Digital vs Paper-Based and the 2026 Change 13.2 What Happens on Exam Day 13.3 Full Practice Tests and Timing Plans
14 Results and Next Steps
14.1 Interpreting Your Statement of Results 14.2 From A2 Key to B1 Preliminary
10.4 Questions, Negatives and There Is/Are
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
Yes/No questions invert the auxiliary or use do/does/did + base form; Wh- questions put the question word first, then the same auxiliary pattern
Short answers reuse the auxiliary: Yes, I do / No, she doesn't / Yes, they did / No, he wasn't
Negatives use not with be, auxiliaries, and modals, or don't/doesn't/didn't + base with other verbs
There is/are and there was/were introduce existence; agreement depends on the following noun (there is a book / there are two books)
Use some in many positive sentences and any in questions and negatives for countable plurals and uncountables—at A2 this is a high-frequency open cloze and writing pattern
Last updated: July 2026
10.4 Questions, Negatives and There Is/Are
Quick Answer: Build Yes/No and Wh- questions with be inversion or do/does/did + base . Answer shortly with the same auxiliary ( Yes, I do / No, she didn't ). Make negatives with not or don't/doesn't/didn't . Use there is/are (present) and there was/were (past) for existence, and prefer some in positives vs any in many questions and negatives.
If tenses and modals are the engine, questions and negatives are the steering system. Cambridge A2 Key Speaking is built on questions. Writing Part 6 often requires you to ask the reader something. Open cloze frequently hides do/does/did/not/there/any . This section makes those patterns automatic.
- Yes/No Questions
- With be
Invert am/is/are/was/were :
Statement Question
She is ready. Is she ready?
They were at home. Were they at home?
I am late. Am I late?
With have to / going to / continuous / modals
Move the first auxiliary/modal:
Statement Question
She can swim. Can she swim?
They will come. Will they come?
He is working. Is he working?
You are going to stay. Are you going to stay?
She has to leave. Does she have to leave?
With other verbs: do / does / did
Time / subject Auxiliary Example
Present: I/you/we/they do Do you like coffee?
Present: he/she/it does Does he live here?
Past (all subjects) did Did they enjoy the film?
After do/does/did , the main verb is always the base form:
✅ Does she work? ❌ Does she works?
✅ Did you go? ❌ Did you went?
Wh- Questions
Common question words: who, what, where, when, why, how, which, whose, how much, how many, how often, how long, what time .
Pattern:
Wh- word + auxiliary/modal/be + subject + (base verb) …?
Target Question
Thing What do you want?
Person (object) Who did you meet?
Place Where does she live?
Time When did the class start?
Reason Why are you late?
Manner How do you go to school?
Frequency How often do you exercise?
Quantity How many tickets do we need?
Clock time What time does the train leave?
Who as subject (light A2 awareness)
If who is the subject, you may not need do :
Who called you? (someone called)
Compare object: Who did you call?
For productive safety at A2, master the auxiliary pattern first; recognise subject questions in Reading/Listening.
Short Answers
English prefers short answers that repeat the auxiliary , not only Yes/No .
Question Yes No
Do you like tea? Yes, I do. No, I don't.
Does she drive? Yes, she does. No, she doesn't.
Did they arrive? Yes, they did. No, they didn't.
Are you ready? Yes, I am. No, I'm not.
Was he tired? Yes, he was. No, he wasn't.
Can you help? Yes, I can. No, I can't.
Will you come? Yes, I will. No, I won't.
Is there a bus? Yes, there is. No, there isn't.
Speaking tip: short answers sound natural, then add one detail:
Do you like sport? → Yes, I do. I play football on Fridays.
Trap: ❌ Yes, I like. as a full short-answer system substitute when the question used do —prefer Yes, I do (+ detail).
- Negatives
- With be , modals, will , continuous, going to
Add not (often contracted):
Affirmative Negative
She is happy. She isn't happy.
They were ready. They weren't ready.
I can swim. I can't swim.
He will go. He won't go.
We are working. We aren't working.
I am going to stay. I'm not going to stay.
With other verbs: don't / doesn't / didn't
Subject / time Negative
I/you/we/they present don't + base → I don't eat meat.
he/she/it present doesn't + base → She doesn't eat meat.
Past all subjects didn't + base → They didn't eat meat.
Form traps
- Wrong Right
- She doesn't eats She doesn't eat
- I didn't went I didn't go
- He not like tea He doesn't like tea
- I no have money I don't have money
- Double negative (avoid)
❌ I don't know nothing.
- ✅ I don't know anything. / I know nothing. (choose one negative system)
- There Is / Are / Was / Were
Use there is/are to say that something exists or is present in a place—not it has for pure existence at A2 ( There is a park near my house not It has a park near my house as the default existence form).
Form agreement
Time Singular / uncountable Plural
Present There is a book. / There is some water. There are two books.
Past There was a problem. There were many people.
Negative present There isn't a lift. / There aren't any chairs. same row idea
Question present Is there a café? Are there any shops?
Question past Was there a show? Were there many cars?
Agreement rule: look at the noun after there :
There is a cat.
There are three cats.
With a list starting singular: There is a pen and a book on the desk (common elementary pattern) / many teachers also accept careful rephrasing— There are a pen and a book is less natural; keep it simple with separate clauses if unsure.
Exam links
Writing Part 7: There was a big dog in the garden. There were two children near the tree.
Speaking: Is there a cinema in your town? Are there any parks near your home?
Open cloze: There ___ many students in the room → are ; There ___ a message for you yesterday → was .
Some and Any (Questions and Negatives)
At A2, use this reliable default:
Sentence type Common choice Example
Positive some I have some questions. / There is some milk.
Negative any I don't have any questions. / There isn't any milk.
Questions any (default) Do you have any brothers? / Is there any sugar?
Offers / requests (friendly) some often possible Would you like some tea? / Can I have some water?
- Countable vs uncountable reminders
- Countable plural: some apples / any apples / many apples
- Uncountable: some water / any water / much water (much/many details can stay light; focus some/any first)
- Error traps
- Wrong / weak Better default
- I don't have some money I don't have any money
Do you have some idea? (often) Do you have any ideas?
There isn't some chairs There aren't any chairs
Is there some books? Are there any books?
Open cloze favourites: any , some , there , is/are , a/an .
Building Exam-Ready Questions for Writing Part 6
When a bullet says ask , produce a real question with correct auxiliary:
Bullet idea Strong question
Ask the time What time does the film start?
Ask if they can come Can you come on Saturday?
Ask what to bring What should I bring? / Do I need to bring anything?
Ask where to meet Where should we meet? / Where do you want to meet?
Ask about food Would you like pizza or pasta?
A statement without ? usually fails an “ask” content point (see Writing chapters).
Speaking Part 1 Expansion After Short Answers
Train a two-step habit:
- Short answer with auxiliary
- One extra sentence (present/past/future as needed)
Examples:
Do you study English at school? → Yes, I do. I have English three times a week.
Did you go out last weekend? → No, I didn't. I stayed at home and watched a film.
Is there a sports centre near your house? → Yes, there is. I sometimes go swimming there.
Integrated Error Trap Table
- Area Wrong Right
- Missing auxiliary You like coffee? (very informal speech only) Do you like coffee? (exam default)
Wrong do/does Do she work? Does she work?
Past question form Did she worked? Did she work?
- Negative form He don't know He doesn't know
- there agreement There is two buses There are two buses
Existence with have only In my town has a castle In my town there is a castle / My town has a castle (different pattern—don't mix)
some in negative I don't need some help I don't need any help
Short answer mismatch Do you swim? Yes, I am. Yes, I do.
- Open Cloze Mini-Set
- ___ you want to come with us? → Do
- She ___ not like loud music. → does
- ___ there any milk in the fridge? → Is
- I didn't buy ___ bread. → any
- There ___ a big storm last night. → was
- Why ___ he leave early yesterday? → did
- Practice Plan
Transform drill: turn 10 statements into Yes/No and Wh- questions.
Short-answer tennis: partner asks only Yes/No; answer with auxiliary + one detail.
There is/are photo description: describe a room with five there is/are sentences, then past version there was/were .
Some/any rewrite: convert positives to negatives and questions.
Part 6 ask bank: write 12 ready-made exam questions for time, place, permission, preference, and quantity.
Chapter Close: Grammar Essentials Map
- Section Core toolkit
- 10.1 Present simple/continuous, past simple, state verbs, time expressions
- 10.2 going to/will , can/could , obligation/prohibition/advice, would like
- 10.3 Comparatives/superlatives, adverbs, SVO, adjective order
- 10.4 Questions, short answers, negatives, there is/are , some/any
You do not need rare grammar to score well at A2 Key. You need reliable control of high-frequency forms under exam pressure—especially in open cloze , Writing Language , and Speaking interaction. Use the tables as weekly checklists: if you can produce each pattern quickly and accurately, your grammar is exam-ready.