Negative questions; echo questions; questions with that-clauses

Negative questions
We usually make a negative yes/no or wh-question with an auxiliary verb (have, did, would, etc.) -n't to suggest, persuade, criticise, etc. :
□  Wouldn't it be better to go tomorrow?                    □ Why don't we go out for a meal?

In formal contexts, or when we want to give some special emphasis to the negative (perhaps to show that we are angry, very surprised, or to strongly persuade someone), we can use not after the subject in negative questions. This happens particularly in yes/no rather than wh-questions:

1. Did she not realise that she'd broken it? (less emphatically Didn't she realise that...?)
2. Can you not get there a bit earlier? (less emphatically Can't you...)

We sometimes use negative words other than -n't such as never, no, nobody, nothing, nowhere:
□  Why do you never help?    □ Have you nowhere to go? (or Do you have nowhere to go?) or less emphatically or more informally:
□  Why don't you ever help?  □ Haven't you got anywhere to go? (or Don't you have anywhere..
We can make a suggestion with Why not verb or Why don't/doesn't... (but not Why do not/does not...):

1. Why not decorate the house yourself? (or Why don't you decorate...?)
2. Why not give her what she wants?' (or Why don't we give her ...?)

Why didn't... isn't used to make a suggestion, but can show that we think an action was wrong. For example, depending on intonation and context, it can be used to criticise someone:

1. Why didn't you decorate the house yourself? (I think you should have done)
2. Why didn't you tell me that in the first place? (I'm annoyed that you didn't)

Negative question forms are used in exclamations giving opinions:
□  Haven't you grown.        □ Doesn't she look lovely!                        □ Didn't it snow a lot!
Exclamations like this are usually said with a falling intonation.

Echo questions
Echo questions are used when we haven't understood what has been said or to check that we heard correctly, perhaps because we found it very surprising. We might repeat, usually with a rising intonation, the whole of what was said:
□  'Jane's lost her job.' 'Jane's lost her job.’
or focus on part of what was said using a stressed wh-word or a phrase with how:

1. 'Tom's arriving at 6.30.' 'When's Tom arriving?/Tom's arriving when?'
2. 'We paid £3,000 for the painting.' 'How much did you pay?/You paid how much?

We can use what or 'do' what to focus on the verb or part of the sentence beginning with the verb:
□  'We paid £3,000 for the painting.' 'You what (or 'You did what)
□ I think she's having a sleep.' 'She's what?’ (or 'She's doing what?’)

Questions with that-clauses
A wh-question can refer to a following that-clause, particularly after verbs such as expect, hope, reckon, say, suggest, suppose, and think. We can leave out that in these questions:

1. When do you reckon (that) you'll finish the job?
2. Why did they suggest (that) we should buy new computers for the library?

However, when the wh-word is the subject, object or complement of the verb in the subordinate clause, we do not use that:

• What did you think was in the box? (not What did you think that was in the box?)
• Who do you suppose did it? (not Who do you suppose that did it?)