A tag question is a grammatical structure. It refers to a declarative statement or an imperative that are modified to become a question by adding an interrogative fragment.

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Use

Tag questions:

  • can be considered as an indicator of politeness, emphasis, or irony;
  • they may suggest confidence or lack of confidence;
  • they may be confrontational or tentative;
  • in legal settings, tag questions can be found in leading question.

* We use tags in spoken English but not in formal written English, often following sentences in speech and informal writing. They are not really questions but are a way of asking the other person to make a comment and so keep the conversation open, being used to check whether something is true, or to ask for agreement.

You haven’t seen Joe, have you?     

This tea isn’t very nice, is it?

* Making a tag is very mechanical. To make a tag, use the first auxiliary. If there is no auxiliary, use do, does or did. With a positive sentence, make a negative tag and with a negative sentence, make a positive tag; we do not normally put tags after questions. Negative tags are usually contracted – we say for example isn’t it? (NOT USUALLY is it not?). The contracted tag for am I not? is aren’t I?. We use non-negative tags after words with a negative sense like never, no, nobody, hardly, scarcely, little.

(+) Nice day, isn’t it?(-)       ! BUT NOT Is it cold, isn’t it? !

(-) It isn’t warm, is it?(+)     She never smiles, does she?

(+) I’m late, aren’t I?(-)       It’s hardly rained all summer, has it?

* We use they to refer to nobody/no one, somebody/someone, everybody/everyone and anybody/anyone.

Nobody phoned, did they?

Someone’s left the lights on, haven’t they?

* We use it in questions tags to refer to nothing.

Nothing can happen, can it?

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Notice these:

  • There isn’t an ATM here, is there?
  • Let’s have a cup of coffee, shall we?

To reply, use the same auxiliary:

  • It’s beautiful, isn’t it? ~ Yes, it is. I think it’s fabulous.
  • It isn’t very good, is it? ~ No, it isn’t. In fact, it’s terrible.

! If a tag is a real question, it has a rising intonation: the music of the voice goes up.

  If the tag only asks for agreement, it has a falling intonation: the voice goes down.

Common mistakes:

You are the zookeeper. Yes?You’re the zookeeper. Aren’t you?

You come from Canada. No?

You come from Canada. Don’t you?

You’re the boss. Are you?

You’re the boss. Aren’t you?

Simon is from Singapore. Isn’t it?

Simon is from Singapore. Isn’t he?

(Incorrect)(Correct)

(Incorrect)

(Correct)

(Incorrect–in most situations)

(Correct)

(Incorrect)

(Correct)

Let’s practise :)

  1. 1.      Right () or wrong (χ)?

a)      You’re Scottish, aren’t you?

b)      Are you ready, are you?

c)      It’s been raining, hasn’t it?

d)     I’m in time for breakfast, aren’t I?

2.      Complete the following sentences with the appropriate question tags:

a)      I’m cooking tonight, …………………………..?

b)      Your brothers are not being kind to you today, ………………………………?

c)      They weren’t ready, ………………………..?

d)     Cathy’s still got curly hair, ……………………………………..?

e)      Everybody’s here, aren’t ……………………?

f)       You’re never happy, ……………………………..?

g)      There’s no milk, ……………………………..?

h)      Nobody likes her, do ……………………………..?

Autor: Ana-Maria Hănţoiu, trainer A_BEST de limba engleză