Assertive To Interrogative Sentences For CLAT 2023

Every day, we use tens of thousands of words to convey our thoughts, feelings, and actions, and each word will have a specific purpose depending on its context.

You must have heard about assertive and interrogative sentences too. But what exactly are they, and how are they defined?

An assertive sentence claims a declaration, whereas an interrogative sentence asks a question.

Suppose you are asked to transform an assertive sentence into an interrogative sentence and vice-versa; how would you do it? 

The article will give you a complete insight into how to convert assertive to interrogative sentences in CLAT 2023 exam.

Before learning the rules, let us understand the difference between assertive and interrogative sentences.

Difference between Assertive and Interrogative Sentences

An assertive sentence is used to make simple statements, which may be positive or negative. 

When it comes to interrogative sentences, they are used to give a command, requests, advice, proposals, or suggestions.

Let us understand the primary difference between these two types of sentences that will help enhance your preparation for the CLAT 2023 Entrance Exam.

Assertive Sentence

• An Assertive sentence expresses a statement of a fact.
• A statement always ends with a full stop (.)
• Assertive sentences can be either affirmative/positive or negative. 

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Examples:

• There was a diary on the desk.’
• He likes to play chess (affirmative).
• The girl drank a glass of juice.
• The Sandwich was not tasty (this is a negative sentence).

Interrogative Sentence

An Interrogative sentence asks a question. In general, any question you ask is an interrogative sentence.

A question always ends with an interrogation mark (?). There are three types of questions:

• Yes/No Question
• Question-word Questions
• Choice Questions

Examples: 

• Is it raining? (This is a yes/no question) (Ans: No)
• Why are you bored? (This is Question-word Question) (Ans: I have seen this movie before)
• Do you like ice cream or pasta? (This is Choice Question) (Ans: Ice-Cream)

Rules to Change Assertive Sentences to Interrogative Sentences for CLAT 2023

Now,  as we have understood the primary difference between these two types of sentences, let us see how to change an assertive sentence to an interrogative sentence.

Also, Following a few CLAT English Preparation Tips will help you easily interchange assertive and interrogative sentences.

Here are some of the rules that you need to follow while changing these sentences.

Rule 1:

If a sentence is in the affirmative, it has to be changed into a negative interrogative. If it is negative, then change it into bare interrogative.

Example: 

• She is not a good person. (assertive)
• Is she a good person? (interrogative)

Rule 2:

If there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence, you have to change it by using do/does/did/don't/doesn't/didn't/dodon't.

Example: 

• He plays chess. (assertive)
• Does he play chess? (interrogative)

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Rule 3:

If there is never in the sentence, you have to replace it with ever in an interrogative sentence.

Example: 

• I never drink coffee. (assertive)
• Do I ever drink coffee? (interrogative)

Rule 4:

Nobody or no one or none must be replaced by who.

Example: 

• Nobody could count stars in the sky. (assertive)
• Who could ever count stars in the sky? (interrogative)

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Are you in a position to change Assertive Sentences to Interrogative Sentences? If yes, Answer these three questions.  

• There was nothing to do.
• We can not study attentively.
• He reads a book.

How to convert an Assertive Sentence to an Interrogative Sentence for CLAT 2023?

You can follow two simple steps to change the assertive sentence to an interrogative sentence without changing its meaning. 

Step 1: If the sentence is affirmative or positive, convert it to negative. If negative, then convert it to a positive sentence. 

Step 2: Move the helping verb to the first position in the sentence. 

Let us understand with an example:

Changing Assertive to Interrogative Sentences for CLAT 2023

To help you understand the difficulty level and the type of questions asked in the exam, we have provided a few examples of transforming assertive sentences into Interrogative sentences.

These questions are curated from the Previous Year's CLAT Question Papers.

Assertive	Interrogative
Man cannot die better than facing fearful odds.	How can man die better than facing fearful odds?
We bleed if you prick us.	If you prick us, do we bleed?
It does not matter if I fail.	What does it matter if I fail?

Read More: Important English Language Questions for CLAT and AILET

Changing Interrogative to Assertive sentences for CLAT 2023

In a few cases, when a question is affirmative, a negative answer is implied; and when a question is negative, an affirmative answer is implied.

Hence an Interrogative sentence is often changed to an Assertive sentence and vice versa. 

Examples:

Interrogative	Assertive
What is the use of this statue?	There is no use for this statue.
Can their glory ever fade?	Their glory can never fade.
Is he not a great fool?	He is a great fool