Editing Question (section)

== Semantic classification ==
The main semantic classification of questions is according to the set of logically possible answers that they admit. An open question, such as "What is your name?", allows indefinitely many possible answers. A closed question admits a finite number of possible answers. Closed questions may be further subdivided into yes–no questions (such as "Are you hungry?") and alternative questions (such as "Do you want jam or marmalade?").

The distinction between these classes tends to be grammaticalized. In English, open and closed [[Interrogative word|interrogatives]] are distinct clause types characteristically associated with open and closed questions, respectively.

=== Yes–no questions ===
{{main|Yes–no question}}

A ''yes–no question'' (also called a ''polar question'',<ref name="CGEL"/> or ''general question''<ref name="Chisholm">William Chisholm, Louis T. Milic, John A.C. Greppin. Interrogativity. – John Benjamins Publishing, 1982.</ref>) asks whether some statement is true. They can, in principle be answered by a [[yes and no|"yes" or "no"]] (or similar words or expressions in other languages). Examples include "Do you take sugar?", "Should they be believed?" and "Am I the loneliest person in the world?"

=== Alternative questions ===
An ''alternative question''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnAlternativeQuestion.htm |title=What is an alternative question?|publisher=SIL International |work=Glossary of linguistic terms |editor1-last=Loos |editor1-first=Eugene E. |editor2-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Susan |editor3-last=Day |editor3-first=Dwight H. Jr. |editor4-last=Jordan |editor4-first=Paul C. |editor5-last=Wingate |editor5-first=J. Douglas }}</ref> presents two or more discrete choices as possible answers in an assumption that only one of them is true. For example:

:Are you supporting England, Ireland or Wales?

The canonical expected answer to such a question would be either "England", "Ireland", or "Wales". Such an alternative question [[presupposes]] that the addressee supports one of these three teams. The addressee may [[cancellation (linguistics)|cancel]] this presupposition with an answer like "None of them".

In English, alternative questions are not syntactically distinguished from yes–no questions. Depending on context, the same question may have either interpretation:
*Do these muffins have butter or margarine? [I'm on a low fat diet.]
*Do these muffins have butter or margarine? [I saw that the recipe said you could use either.]
In speech, these are distinguishable by [[intonation (linguistics)|intonation]], i.e., the question is interpreted as an alternative question when uttered with a rising contour on "butter" and a falling contour on "margarine".

=== Open questions<span id="wh"></span> ===
An ''open question'' (also called a ''variable question'',<ref name="CGEL"/> ''non-polar question'', or ''special question''<ref name="Chisholm" />) admits indefinitely many possible answers. For example:

:Where should we go for lunch?

In English, these are typically embodied in a closed interrogative clause, which uses an [[interrogative word]] such as ''when'', ''who'', or ''what''. These are also called ''wh''-words, and for this reason open questions may also be called ''wh''-questions.