Short Answers

Exercises on Short Answers

Saying ‘Yes, I do. / No, I don’t’ in English is more polite than just saying ‘Yes. / No.’ That’s why short answers are very commonly used.

To form the short answer, you use the first word from the question. (This is either an auxiliary verb or a form of ‘be’.)

Use the long form (he does) in affirmative answers (yes).

Use the short form (he doesn’t) in negative answers (no).

Question	Affirmative	Negative
Do we know him?	Yes, we do.	No, we don’t.
Can she see me?	Yes, she can.	No, she can’t.
Have they read the book?	Yes, they have.	No, they haven’t.
Is he hungry?	Yes, he is.	No, he isn’t.

Mind: If ‘you’ is the subject of the question, ‘you’ must be replaced by ‘I’ or ‘we’.

Question	Affirmative	Negative
Do you know him?	Yes, I / we do.	No, I / we don’t.

If the question starts with ‘are you’, ‘are’ must sometimes be replaced by ‘am’.

Question	Affirmative	Negative
Are you hungry?	Yes, I am.	No, I’m not.
But: →	Yes, we are.	No, we aren’t.

Exercises on Short Answers

• Exercise on Short Answers
• Exercise on the text “New York”
• Exercise on the text “Hadrian’s Wall”