Asking whether someone wants to
Do you want to fix the lamp?
Left column: the order of the concepts, as chips — the slots you fill (who, action, thing, when) and the fixed words the language adds (a modal, a negator, a question marker). Click a slot, here or in the bar above, to choose what goes in it. Right column: the sentence those concepts make, the other orders the language allows, and the other ways to say it — each with what it changes. The rows are the languages switched on at the top of the page.
Try:
| Language | The order of the concepts | The sentence, other orders, other ways to say it |
|---|---|---|
| EnglishEnglish | Do questionwant to modal Same helper for a question: 'do' moves to the front and takes the -s (Does he…?), and the rest stays put. No particle, no tag — the auxiliary IS the question mark. | Do you want to fix the lamp tomorrow? Other ways to say it Would you like to fix the lamp tomorrow? polite 'Would you like to…' — the polite invitation. It asks about a wish rather than a will, so it is easier to say no to. Do you fancy fixing the lamp tomorrow? casual British and friendly: 'Do you fancy cooking?' — an offer, not an enquiry. |
| FrançaisFrench | Est-ce que questionveux modal Three ways to ask, by register: est-ce que in front (neutral), inversion (careful), or intonation alone (spoken). The words after the opener never move. Before il and elle, que becomes qu’. | demain Après-demain = the day after tomorrow. Est-ce que vous voulez réparer la lampe demain ? or: Voulez-vous réparer la lampe demain ? — written or careful French: the verb and pronoun swap and hyphenate or: Vous voulez réparer la lampe demain ? — in speech: the statement with a rise Other ways to say it Est-ce que vous voudriez réparer la lampe demain ? polite “would you want” the conditional — 'would you like to' — the polite invitation: easier to say no to. Vous avez envie de réparer la lampe demain ? casual “you have desire of” vous avez envie de…? — 'do you feel like…?'. Friendly, and it asks about a mood rather than a decision. |
| EspañolSpanish | quiere modal A question is the statement with rising intonation, written between ¿ and ?. The verb may move in front of the subject (¿Quiere usted…?) — optional, where English needs its helper do. | mañana Also 'morning' (la mañana): mañana por la mañana = tomorrow morning. Pasado mañana = the day after tomorrow. ¿Quiere usted arreglar la lámpara mañana? or: ¿Usted quiere arreglar la lámpara mañana? — the statement word for word, with a rise: very common in speech ('¿Usted quiere…?') Other ways to say it ¿Le gustaría arreglar la lámpara mañana? polite “would it please you to” ¿le gustaría…? — the polite invitation: it asks about a wish, not a will, so it is easy to say no to. |
Hover a word to see which concept it fills. The verb is always in its dictionary form: every pattern here is built on a modal, which carries the person and the tense, so any verb stays grammatical in every language. Where the modal is an ending (Korean, Japanese, Hindi's 'can'), the stem is computed. What this cannot show is agreement beyond the modal — adjectives, plural objects — which the grammar chapters cover.
For the same idea said at three levels of politeness, see Compare.