TAG QUESTIONS

TOPIC 6: TAG QUESTION’S USAGE

A question tag is a question added at the end of a sentence. Speakers use question tags chiefly to make sure their information is correct or to seek argument. They consist of a statement and a tag.

A negative tag is used with an affirmative statement whereas a positive tag is used with a negative statement.

Meaning that;

ü After positive statements, we use a negative tag

                            And

ü  After negative statements, we use a positive tag

Question tag in tenses:

1: simple present

With the Simple Present Tense we use do / does - don’t / doesn't?

Examples:

I/They like going to the movie theater, don’t they?
Ii/You don’t take sugar in tea, do you?
Iii/Rafael listens to music, doesn't he?
Iv/Alan works at a bank, doesn't he? 

2; present continuous

We use is/isn’t? –are/aren’t? In present continuous

Examples:

   Juma is not coming, is he?

   We are eating rice, aren’t we?

   She is young, isn’t she?

      Children are not cruel, are they?

3: present perfect

We use has/hasn’t-have/haven’t in present perfect.

Examples:

   It has drunk some water, hasn’t it?

   They have not seen us, have they?

   Joyce has not seen a nice book, has she?

   Pilots have received enough training, haven’t they?

4: simple past

We use did/didn’t  in simple past.

Examples:

   Amina came here yesterday, didn’t she?

   I did not see you last week, did I?

   You departed before time, didn’t you?

   We did not see your name there, did we?

5: past continuous.

We use was/wasn’t-were/weren’t

Examples:

   Juma was crying at the market, wasn’t he?

   They were not there, were they?

   It was not our chance to kill it, was it?

   You were a leader by then, weren’t you?

6: past perfect

We use had/hadn’t when forming question tag

Examples:

   She had no passport, has she?

   Children had visited their parents during the holiday, hadn’t they?

7. Simple future

We use will/won’t-shall/shan’t.

Examples:

   She will visit them next month, won’t she?

   I shall not feed my cow the day after tomorrow, shall I?

   Madam will not teach you later, will she?

   A dog will bark next Friday, won’t it?

   We shall see you tomorrow, shan’t we?

SPECIAL CASES IN TAG QUESTIONS;

Special cases include the way of forming tag questions beyond the rules given above. They include the following issues;

If the statement contains words such as no, no one, nothing, nobody, scarcely, hardly, hardly ever, never, neither, seldom, under no circumstances… etc, it is considered a negative statement and followed by an affirmative tag.

Julia hardly ever drinks coke, does she?
Nothing will cure his illness, will it?
He never acts like a gentleman, does he?
She is hardly the right person for the job, is she?
It is no good, is it?
 

If the subject of the statement is somebody, anybody, nobody, everybody, no one, and neither …. We use the pronoun “they” in question tag.

Somebody entered the garden, didn't they?
Everybody was upset, weren't they?
Nobody objects to the plan, do they?

Let’s has the tag "shall we?" 
Let’s go to the movie theater, shall we?
Let’s have a party, shall we?
Let’s drink tea, shall we?
Let’s go out for a walk, shall we? 

“Have to” is considered Simple Present and “had to” is considered Simple Past.

Your father has to wear glasses, doesn't he?
They don’t have to come early, do they?
We had to borrow some money to buy a new house, didn't we?
They didn't have to read the story book, did they?

 If the subject of the sentence is everything, nothing, something, anything the pronoun in the tag is "it".

Everything is ready, isn't it?
Nothing has the end, has it?
Anything is possible, isn't it?

 After positive imperatives, we use will you, won’t you, can you, can’t you, could you …etc .Yet for the negative imperatives we only use “will you? “ 

Open the door, will you / won’t you, can you, could you …etc
Don’t play with your nose, will you?


After “I am” the tag is "aren't".

I am your father, aren't I?
I am a bit late, aren't I?
I am a teacher, aren't I?

We use “will you” to imperatives and invitations

Eg:                                                                          

   Open the door, will you?

   Don’t smoke in this room, will you?

   Come to my party, will you?

   Have a coffee, will you?

   Don’t look at me like that, will you?

BY KAJANA SELEMAN M
0766495166
SEREMANKAJANA@GMAIL.COM