English questions for children (A1, ages 7–10): “Where are you from?”, “Does she like…?” and “Can I…?”

Three questions, three jobs

Children often learn these questions in different weeks, so each feels easy alone. A review mixes them. A quick test: a question word such as “Where” asks for information; “Does” or “Can” at the start asks for “Yes” or “No”, and the answer repeats that word.

• Information: “Where are you from?” “I’m from Brazil.”
• Another person: “Does she like taking photos?” “Yes, she does.” or “No, she doesn’t.”
• Permission: “Can I use your camera?” “Yes, you can.” or “Sorry, you can’t.”

Countries: “Where are you from?”

The answer is “I’m from” plus a country: “I’m from Spain.” About someone else, the verb changes: “Where is he from?” “He’s from Egypt.” Country names start with a capital letter, and two in this group take “the”: the UK and the USA.

• No “the”: Egypt, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Australia, Brazil
• With “the”: the UK, the USA
• About others: “She’s from Thailand.” “They’re from Australia.”

Other people’s hobbies: “Does she like…?”

To ask about one other person, start with “Does”, then the person, then “like” and a verb with -ing: “Does he like playing chess?” The -s is already in “does”, so “like” has no -s. The short answer changes the name to he or she and repeats “does”: “Does Mina like fishing?” “No, she doesn’t.”

• play chess → playing chess
• play the guitar → playing the guitar
• take photos → taking photos
• read comics → reading comics
• do gymnastics → doing gymnastics
• fish → fishing, skateboard → skateboarding

Asking to use things: “Can I use your…?”

Liking photos does not give anyone the right to take a camera: “Can I…?” asks the owner, who decides. Add “please” to sound polite: “Can I use your computer, please?” The owner answers about the asker: “Yes, you can.”

Machines also need “turn on” and “turn off”: “Can I turn on the TV?” With “it”, say “Can I turn it off?”

• Things to ask about: computer, TV, camera, MP3 player, DVD player, CD player, stickers
• “Can I turn off the computer?” “No, you can’t. I’m using it.”

Listen: the three questions in one conversation

In the recording, two children ask all three questions: where one is from, whether a friend called Mina likes taking photos, and whether one can use the other’s camera. Listen once, then pause after each question so your child answers first. Then take a role each, swap, and change a country, hobby or object.

A home game: clue cards

Clues make your child choose the topic alone. Each player secretly picks a person or object and gives two clues; the others guess. Pretend people allow any country or hobby. When an object is guessed, the winner asks to use it.

• Person: “Clue one: she’s from Spain. Clue two: she likes playing the guitar. Who is she?”
• Object: “Clue one: you take photos with it. Clue two: it’s small. What is it?” “It’s a camera!”
• Finish: “Can I use your camera?” “Yes, you can.”

Spelling sounds to read aloud

This review also revisits three spelling patterns. Blend the sounds, say the word, then use it in a phrase: “a star in the sky”.

• Two consonants at the start: crayon, draw, drink, spoon, snake, play, space
• A silent “e” at the end changes the vowel: kite, bike, rope, stone, June, cube
• “ar” as in car: car, park, shark, star, scarf

Common mistakes and quick fixes

These are normal when three topics meet. Repeat the sentence correctly and keep playing.

• “Yes.” to “Where are you from?”: the question wants a place: “I’m from Russia.”
• “Does she likes taking photos?”: “Does she like taking photos?”
• “Yes, she likes.”: the short answer repeats “does”: “Yes, she does.”
• “Yes, I can.” after “Can I…?”: the owner answers about the asker: “Yes, you can.”

What comes next

Next, children describe what people are doing now: “What is she doing?” “She’s swimming.” Compare “I like swimming.” (a hobby) with “I’m swimming.” (happening now). Then they write a short postcard about a day out.