QUESTION TAGS - ENGLISH GRAMMAR

 

 QUESTION TAGS

Question tags are the shortest form of questions at the end of statements. 

·        Question tags turn a statement into a question. They are often used for checking information that we think we know is true.

·        They are mainly used in speech when we want to confirm that something is true or not, or to encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.

·        Question tags are formed with the auxiliary or modal verb from the statement and the appropriate subject.

 

RULES FOR FORMING TAG QUESTIONS

·        If the main clause is positive, the question tag is negative.

·        If the main clause is negative, the question tag is positive.

 

EXAMPLES

A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag.

·        Jonny is from London, isn't he?

·        Rose Mary can speak English, can't she?

 

A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag.

·        They aren't arrogant, are they?

·        He shouldn't catch poor people, should he?

 

 

EXAMPLES OF POSITIVE SENTENCES, WITH NEGATIVE TAGS

 

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

·        They live in America, don't they?

·        She is Indian, isn't she?

·        He catches fish, doesn’t he?

·        Puppy loves cakes, doesn’t it?

·        She is English teacher, isn’t she?

 

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        We are going New York, aren't we?

·        Raj is playing chess, isn’t he?

·        Children are enjoying trip, aren’t they?

·        My heart is pumping fast, isn’t it?

·        She is laughing at her, isn’t she?

 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

·        They have been to Delhi, haven't they?

·        He has killed a boar, hasn’t he?

·        She has purchased a villa, hasn’t she?

·        Leaders have distributed gifts among children, haven’t they?

·        I have celebrated her birthday, haven’t I?

 

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        She has been dancing a lot recently, hasn't she?

·        Payal and Sonal have been preparing a cake, haven’t they?

·        He has been learning question tags since morning, hasn’t he?

·        Dog has been following a criminal for three hours, hasn’t it?

·        Father has been punishing his son for stealing money, hasn’t he?

 

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

·        He ate lot of cream, didn’t he?

·        It was hot yesterday, wasn't it?

·        He went to a mall last night, didn't he?

·        She decorated her house, didn’t she?

·        They published articles, didn’t they?

 

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        We were waiting at the airport, weren't we?

·        Anjali was dancing with Rahul, wasn’t she?

·        He was writing a novel, wasn’t he?

·        We were eating pizzas last night, weren’t we?

·        She was painting fence, wasn’t she?

 

PAST PERFECT TENSE

·        He had forgotten his car keys, hadn't he?

·        Ron had fought with his friend, hadn’t he?

·        Lisa had watered saplings, hadn’t she?

·        They had elected a leader, hadn’t they?

·        I had cleared my paper, hadn’t I?

 

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        We had been collecting stamps since childhood, hadn't we?

·        They had been riding bicycles for six hours, hadn’t they?

·        She had been wasting her life, hadn’t she?

·        I had been earning since last year, hadn’t I?

·        He had been choosing profession for three months, hadn’t he?

 

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

·        She will come at seven, won't she?

·        I shall be there by four, shan’t I?

·        He will complete his work, won’t he?

·        It will bite you soon, won’t it?

·        We shall buy a BMW, shan’t we?

 

FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        They will be departing soon, won't they?

·        Tom will be going Paris tomorrow, won’t he?

·        I shall be visiting Gol Gumbaz, shan’t I?

·        She will be selling fruits, won’t she?

·        He will be tilling his field, won’t he?

 

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

·        They will have arrived by nine, won't they?

·        He will have punched his opponent, won’t he?

·        I shall have completed assignment, shan’t I?

·        She will have jumped from a mountain, won’t she?

·        Mona will have loved vanilla ice cream, won’t she?

 

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        She will have been playing all day, won't she?

·        He will have been guarding border, won’t he?

·        Iron man will have been killing his enemies, won’t he?

·        We shall have been singing songs, shan’t we?

·        Peacock will have been dancing all day, won’t it?

 

MODALS

·        She can help me, can't she?

·        Jenny must stay at home, mustn't she?

·        He should obey his parents, shouldn’t he?

·        Marshal could forget everyone soon, couldn’t he?

·        You would have been killed there, wouldn’t you?

 

 

EXAMPLES OF NEGATIVE SENTENCES, WITH POSITIVE TAGS

 

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

·        She doesn't have any money, does she?

·        We aren't early, are we?

·        He doesn’t play games, does he?

·        She doesn’t come today, does she?

·        People don’t like officer, do they?

 

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        The car isn't coming, is it?

·        They are not wasting their time, are they?

·        She is not picking all coins, is she?

·        We are not going today, are we?

·        He is not writing examination, is he?

 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

·        She hasn't baked cake, has she?

·        He has not lifted him, has he?

·        Children have not bought lunch boxes, have they?

·        Student has not attended classes, has he?

·        It has not caught a rat, has it?

 

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        He hasn't been watering plants, has he?

·        She has not been painting a wall, has she?

·        I have not been learning a guitar, have I?

·        Crew has not been sailing in a ship, has it?

·        They have not been planning for a trip, have they?

 

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

·        They didn't go out last Monday, did they?

·        She wasn't at home last night, was she?

·        He did not like her, did he?

·        Uncle did not love aunt, did he?

·        They did not want money, did they?

 

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        You weren't riding a bike, were you?

·        He was not catching a bus, was he?

·        She was not using mobile, was she?

·        Child was not disturbing, was he?

·        They were not meeting her, were they?

 

PAST PERFECT TENSE

·        We hadn't been to Guinea before, had we?

·        They had not visited a museum ever, had they?

·        Antivirus had not killed corona, had it?

·        He had not prepared vaccination yet, had he?

·        She had not drunk coffee, had she?

 

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        You hadn't been watching a movie, had you?

·        They had not been closing a shop, had they?

·        She had not been polishing her nails, had she?

·        He had not been enjoying the last show, had he?

·        I had not been communicating him, had I?

 

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

·        They won't be early, will they?

·        Leader will not come today, will he?

·        Solider will not be late, will he?

·        She will not cook noodles, will she?

·        I shall not promise now, shall I?

 

FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        He won't be coming tonight, will he?

·        She will not be snatching her bag, will she?

·        They will not be laughing at her, will they?

·        It will not be chasing it, will it?

·        We shall not be matching him, shall we?

 

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

·        She won't have left work before ten, will she?

·        He will not have bunked class, will he?

·        They will not have managed situation, will they?

·        I shall not have come here, shall I?

·        We shall not have wasted our energy, shall we?

 

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

·        He won't have been visiting today, will he?

·        They will not have been boiling eggs, will they?

·        She will not have been diving in the ocean, will she?

·        I shall not have been distributing chocolates, shall I?

·        It will not have been closing today, will it?

 

MODALS

·        She can't speak French, can she?

·        They mustn't wait there, must they?

·        He should not spoil his name, should he?

·        I cannot buy it, can I?

·        Children should not misbehave, should they?

 

EXCEPTIONS

§  The adverbs never, seldom, hardly, rarely, etc., have a negative sense.

§  We treat statements with these words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally positive.

 

·        They have never seen that, have they?

·        She hardly ever speaks Tamil, does she?

·        We rarely eat in restaurants, do we?

·        Dogs seldom bite anyone, do they?

·        He scarcely wrote a letter, did he?

 

SOME VERBS / EXPRESSIONS HAVE DIFFERENT QUESTION TAGS.

 

STATEMENTS BEGIN WITH I’M

EXAMPLE

·        I am handsome, aren't I?

·        I’m genius, aren’t I?

·        I am champion, aren’t I?

·        I am smart, aren’t I?

STATEMENTS BEGIN WITH LET’S

We use “shall we” after sentences with let’s.

EXAMPLE

·        Let’s take the next taxi, shall we?

·        Let’s go cafe, shall we?

·        Let's go to the shore, shall we?

·        Let’s eat noodles, shall we?

·        Let’s shop now, shall we?

 

 

WITH IMPERATIVES

EXAMPLES

·        Open the door, will you?

·        Take an apple, will you?

·        Stop daydreaming, will you?

·        Don't stop dancing, will you?

·        Don’t waste your time, will you?

 

WITH THERE

When we use the there… structure, there is reflected in the tag.

 

EXAMPLE

·        There‘s nothing correct, is there?

·        There weren’t any difficulties when you talked to him, were there?

 

STATEMENTS WITH “NOBODY/NO ONE, SOMEBODY/SOMEONE, EVERYBODY/EVERYONE” AS THE SUBJECT.

We use the pronoun “they” in question tags after statements with nobody/no one, somebody/someone, everybody/everyone as the subject.

 

EXAMPLE

·        Somebody wanted to spend money, didn’t they?

·        No one ate food in the function, did they?

·        Someone had kidnapped her child, hadn’t they?

·        Nobody wasted money in mall, did they?

·        Everybody enjoyed party, didn’t they?

 

STATEMENTS WITH NOTHING/SOMETHING/EVERYTHING AS THE SUBJECT

When the subject is nothing/something, we use “it” in the tag question.

 

EXAMPLE:

·        Something happened at Roy’s home, didn’t it?

·        Everything is over toady, isn’t it?

·        Nothing will stop it, will it?

·        Something goes around here, doesn’t it?

·        Nothing stops him ever, does it?