Key Stage 2 languages · Speaking

KS2 languages: asking and answering questions for parents

Questions drive every conversation. In Key Stage 2 languages, children first learn to understand and answer simple questions, then to ask their own: who, what, where, how many, and yes or no questions. The skill sits at the heart of speaking, because a child has to listen carefully to a question before they can answer it.

Asking and answering questions, explained

The curriculum asks children to ask and answer questions, and also to listen attentively and respond. The two go together. In every lesson a child hears questions from the teacher and from a partner, and must work out what is being asked before choosing a reply. Teachers usually start with answering, using yes or no, either-or and picture questions, because understanding comes before producing. Asking questions comes next and is harder, as the child has to choose the right words and the right tune for the voice.

Children meet a small group of question words and use them again and again. In French these include “qui” (who), “où” (where), “quand” (when), “comment” (how) and “combien” (how many), and in Spanish “quién”, “dónde”, “cuándo”, “cómo” and “cuántos”. Spanish writes an upside-down question mark at the start of a question as well as the usual one at the end (¿Dónde vives?), and its question words carry an accent. Teachers often teach these as phrases for the topic, such as “Quel âge as-tu ?” (how old are you?) or “¿Cómo te llamas?” (what is your name?), rather than as isolated words.

A question that expects yes or no can be formed in a way that is simpler than in English. English uses “do” (“Do you have a brother?”), but French and Spanish do not. In French the simplest way is to say a statement with a rising voice (“Tu as un frère ?”), and many schools also teach “Est-ce que tu as un frère ?”. In Spanish the question can use exactly the same words as the statement, marked by the rising voice and the question marks (“¿Tienes un hermano?”). The tune of the voice is doing the work, which is why pronunciation and listening matter so much here.

Answering well is more than saying yes or no. Teachers encourage children to reply in a short sentence, using the verb from the question but changing the person: “¿Tienes un hermano?” (do you have a brother?) is answered “Sí, tengo un hermano” (yes, I have a brother). That switch from “you” to “I” is one of the most common stumbling blocks at this age. Many schools also teach a simple negative, such as “Non, je n’ai pas de frère” or “No, no tengo hermanos”, though some leave this for later.

Words your child will hear

Question word: A word that begins a question, such as “où” (where) or “cuándo” (when).
Intonation: The rise and fall of your voice. In many questions the voice goes up at the end.
Yes/no question: A question that can be answered with yes or no.
Full sentence: An answer with a subject and verb, such as “J’ai un chat”, not just “Oui”.
Verb: A word that shows an action or state, such as “have”, “live” or “like”.
Person: Who is doing the verb: I, you, he or she, we, they.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 2, pupils should be taught to:

Engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*
Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: asking and answering about pets

In a Spanish lesson a class is surveying each other about pets. How does one child ask a question, answer it and keep the conversation going?

Choose the question and spot the key words. “¿Tienes una mascota?” means “Do you have a pet?”. “Tienes” is “you have” and “mascota” is “pet”. There is no word for “do”, and the voice rises at the end.
Predict the possible answers. The partner can say yes or no, or name an animal the class has practised, such as “perro”, “gato”, “conejo” or “pez”. Thinking ahead makes it much easier to follow what is said.
Answer in a sentence and change the person. The question used “tienes” (you have), so the answer uses “tengo” (I have): “Sí, tengo un conejo”. This is where many children get stuck, and repeating the pair together helps.
Add detail with another question word. The first child asks “¿Cómo se llama?” (what is it called?) and the partner replies “Se llama Nube”.
Return the question. The partner finishes with “¿Y tú?” and the first child answers, using a negative if needed: “No, no tengo mascotas.”

A: ¿Tienes una mascota? B: Sí, tengo un conejo. A: ¿Cómo se llama? B: Se llama Nube. ¿Y tú? A: No, no tengo mascotas.

Common mistakes and how to help

Repeating the question’s verb unchanged in the answer

A child hears “tienes” or “tu as” in the question and copies it, saying “Sí, tienes un hermano”, because they have not yet learned that the verb changes with the person.

What helps: Practise switching pairs aloud: “you have, I have” (tu as, j’ai; tienes, tengo). Use a gesture, pointing to the other person and then to yourself, to show the change.

Looking for a word for “do” in the question

English needs “do” for most questions, so children search for the equivalent and either leave a gap or use an English word.

What helps: Explain that the language does not need it. Ask a few questions without one, and show how the voice rising at the end turns a statement into a question.

Using a flat voice for a yes or no question

Without a question word, the only difference between a statement and a question is the tune of the voice. Children reading from a script often forget it.

What helps: Say the same words twice, once as a statement and once as a question, and ask your child to tell which is which. A hand rising at the end of the question can help.

Mixing up question words that look alike

Pairs such as the French “comment” (how) and “combien” (how many), or the Spanish “cuándo” (when) and “cuánto” (how much), start with the same sounds and are easy to confuse when spoken quickly.

What helps: Link each to a picture or an action, and practise them in short, real questions: “Combien de frères as-tu ?” and “¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?”.

How to help at home

Question of the day. Agree on one question in the language at breakfast or in the car, such as “How old are you?” or “Where do you live?”. Everyone answers in a full sentence and asks it back.
Guess who or what. Think of an animal your child knows the word for and let them ask yes or no questions to find it. You answer only “yes” or “no” in the language, so it is a good chance to practise both asking and listening.
Tune spotting. Say simple sentences in the language and make some of them questions just by changing your voice. Your child puts up a thumb for a statement and a hand for a question.
Switch the person. Take turns to ask “Do you have…?” questions. The answerer must always start with “I have” in the language, which gets the change of verb into everyday habits.
Class survey at home. Ask your child to survey the family on a topic they have studied, such as pets, favourite colour or brothers and sisters, and to tally the answers on a piece of paper. They practise asking, listening and responding in one task.