Question Tags (or Tag Questions)
In English, when we speak, (or when
we write informally), we often add, (or ‘tag’), a small question at the end of the sentence. We
use the question tag, because we want to check that the information is true;
or we want to ask the other person if he/she agrees with us.
In French, they ask: “N’est-ce pas?”: In Italian: “È vero?”;
in German: “Nicht wahr?”; etc.
In English, we ask the question by using Question Tags, FORMED from the original verb.
a)
The
question tag can be positive:
“It’s not very warm, is it?”
b)
Or,
the question tag can be negative:
“It’s
very warm, isn’t it?”
We put positive
question tags after negative statements.
ê We put negative question tags after positive
statements.
ê ê We don’t put tags after questions.
Statement Tag
|
Statement Tag
|
Question Tag
|
- +
|
+ -
|
? + -
|
“He’s not very old, is he?”
|
“He’s very old, isn’t he?”
|
“Is
he old?” isn’t he
|
Ø The verbs we use are the THREE PRIMARY AUXILIARY VERBS ‘To BE;
‘To HAVE’, ‘To DO’.(in all of their Tenses).
Ø Other verbs we use are the NINE MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS ‘CAN’… ‘COULD’: ‘MAY’…‘MIGHT’: ‘SHALL’…‘SHOULD’: ‘WILL’…‘WOULD’: and …‘MUST’.
For example,
if the sentence has the verb ‘to be’, (am, are, is; was, were, will be: etc.)
this is used as the question tag: “I
am happy,
aren’t I?” “You aren’t sad, are you?”
“He is a teacher,
isn’t he?” “She wasn’t in France, was she?” “It was a radio, wasn’t it?” “We
weren’t lost,
were we?” “They were taxi
drivers, weren’t they?” “You will be happy, won’t you?”
All PRIMARY
AUXILIARY and MODAL
AUXILIARY VERBS are used in the same way.
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1. “I have passed
the exam, haven’t I?”
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- “She does look nice, doesn’t
she?”
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- “Peter can’t speak German, can
he?”
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- “Ann wouldn’t speak
to Mary, would she?”
If the
sentence has NO auxiliary verb, WE
USE THE AUXILIARY VERB, “TO DO”.
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- “You like apples, don’t you?” is
the same as (“You do like apples, don’t you?”)
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- “She ate a lot of food, didn’t
she?” = (“She did eat a lot of food, didn’t
she?”)
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