A few weeks ago, I talked about using "Do you know..." and "Could you tell me..." to make your questions sound softer (柔らかく聞こえるために）. That pattern is just for "wh" questions (who, what, where, why, when, how). Today, I'd like to talk about "yes/no" questions.
Imagine you want to know if someone is coming to a party. One way is to say, "Is Bob coming to the party?" (ボブさんはパーティーに参加する予定ですか。) But a more polite way is to ask, "Do you know if Bob is coming to the party?" （ボブさんはパーティに参加する予定か知っていますか。）
Last time, we studied how to use the answer to make the question（答えを使って質問を作る方法）. Today is the same. Here are some examples:
1. Q. Does Mark like Japanese food?
A. Yes, Mark likes Japanese food.
→Do you know if Mark likes Japanese food?
2. Q. Is Mr. Suzuki in the office today?
A. Yes, Mr. Suzuki is in the office today.
→Could you tell me if Mr. Suzuki is in the office today?
Here are some practice sentences. Use "Do you know..." or "Could you tell me..." to make them softer.
1. Is there a post office near here?
2. Can Chris speak Japanese?
3. Is smoking prohibited (禁止）here?
4. Has Susan ever been to China?
5. Is Mr. James available (都合がよい）on Thursday?
6. Is it possible to make a reservation online?
7. Will Fred be able to attend (さんかする）the meeting?
8. Does Ms. Wilson have experience with sales?
If you write the answers in the comments, I will check them for you.
Imagine you want to know if someone is coming to a party. One way is to say, "Is Bob coming to the party?" (ボブさんはパーティーに参加する予定ですか。) But a more polite way is to ask, "Do you know if Bob is coming to the party?" （ボブさんはパーティに参加する予定か知っていますか。）
Last time, we studied how to use the answer to make the question（答えを使って質問を作る方法）. Today is the same. Here are some examples:
1. Q. Does Mark like Japanese food?
A. Yes, Mark likes Japanese food.
→Do you know if Mark likes Japanese food?
2. Q. Is Mr. Suzuki in the office today?
A. Yes, Mr. Suzuki is in the office today.
→Could you tell me if Mr. Suzuki is in the office today?
Here are some practice sentences. Use "Do you know..." or "Could you tell me..." to make them softer.
1. Is there a post office near here?
2. Can Chris speak Japanese?
3. Is smoking prohibited (禁止）here?
4. Has Susan ever been to China?
5. Is Mr. James available (都合がよい）on Thursday?
6. Is it possible to make a reservation online?
7. Will Fred be able to attend (さんかする）the meeting?
8. Does Ms. Wilson have experience with sales?
If you write the answers in the comments, I will check them for you.