Summary of ―Wh-/How often‖ Questions

Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking 
46
A common problem with these questions is that many candidates begin their 
answer a direct ―Yes‖ or ―No‖ and then give one or more details to explain their answer. 
This is not wrong, but these answers are often too simple in grammar structure and 
lack the essential linking phrases.
A better answer is to answer BOTH ―Yes‖ and ―No‖. By doing this you will 
produce a response with better quality language structures. 
Look at the following example: 
―Is healthy eating important?‖ 
―Yes, healthy eating is important, because …‖ 
If you answer in this way, you are limiting your answer to a fairly basic structure. 
Now look at the next example: 
―Well in actual fact, If I think about it, I guess that in many ways it’s fairly 
important, especially when you consider that a healthy diet can help to prevent a variety of 
diseases and health problems such as diabetes and obesity. But you also have to 
understand that eating unhealthy food in moderation is not overly harmful. In fact 
unhealthy food is often tastier than healthy food so I guess it’s fine to eat a little junk food 
now and then. So all in all I guess my answer would have to be yes and no.‖ 
It is possible to use this type of structure for many, but not all, ―Yes/No‖ questions. 
Look at the list of questions at the beginning of this section and decide which ones 
you would be able to answer with this structure. 
The structure can be built in this way. First, use an opening phrase: 
Well in actual fact, if I think about it, I guess that in many ways … 
OK, well in reality, I suppose that to some extent … 
Alright, I guess that on the one hand … 
Well certainly in some ways … 
Now make your first statement (eg, It’s fairly important …). Develop the first 
statement using a linking structure: 
… especially when you consider that … 
… particularly if you think about the point that … 
…especially with regard to the point that… 
...and this is definitely the case with… 
Try using this structure to give a ―Yes‖ answer for the following questions: 
Is crime a problem in your country? 
Do people in your country often keep pets? 
Is it always good to be ambitious? 
Now you need to introduce your ―No‖ answer. First use a linking phrase: 

Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking 
47
But you also have to understand that … 
Even so, you could also say that … 
At the same time you could say that … 
After describing your ―No‖ answer, you can ―round-off‖ the answer with one of the 
following phrases: 
So all in all I guess my answer would have to be yes and no. 
So on the whole I suppose the answer has to be yes and no. 
So all things considered I guess the answer is both yes and no. 
So in the main, I suppose the answer is probably yes and no. 
Use the full structure to answer the following questions: 
Do many people work on farms in your country? 
Is food expensive in your country? 
Is public transport expensive in your country? 
Do you think that it is important to spend time alone? 
Some "Yes / No" questions in Part One cannot use this "Yes and No" style of 
response. Look at the following questions: 
Is watching TV a popular activity in your country? 
Can you play a musical instrument? 
Are friends important to you? 
With questions like this it may be difficult to answer both yes and no. It is probably 
much easier to give a "Yes" answer. Use the structures given to introduce your "Yes" idea 
and then develop this single idea with one or two reasons or details. 

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