tag questions

tag questions

1. Question tags are short questions that can follow sentences, especially in spoken English. We use question tags to ask if something is true or to ask people to agree with us.

2. Forms

   • Positive statement – question tag negative Negative statement – question tag positive
   • examples
     • With the verb to be
       • You are a teacher, aren’t you? She is beautiful, isn’t she?
     • NB the short form with I am is aren’t I
       • I’m late, aren’t I?
     • With the verb to have
       • You’ve got a dog, haven’t you? He hasn’t lost his key, has he?
     • With other verbs (do, don’t, did, didn’t etc.)
       • They don’t play football, do they? They went to the cinema yesterday, didn’t they?
     • With modal verbs
       • They can drive, can’t they? You won’t lie to me, will you?
     • Exception: Let’s is followed by shall we
       • Let’s go for a walk, shall we?

3. Rules of Question Tags

   • 1.The sentence and the question tag must be in the same tense 2. For negative question tag, use the Contracted form of 'helping verb' and 'not' .E.g didn't, hadn't, won't etc. 3.If the Sentence is positive, the question tag must be negative and vice versa.