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Tag Questions

This document discusses tag questions in English. Tag questions are statements followed by a short question at the end, called the question tag. They are used to seek confirmation of what was stated. The structure is typically a positive statement followed by a negative question tag (e.g. "You like coffee, don't you?") or a negative statement followed by a positive question tag (e.g. "You don't like me, do you?"). Intonation and the answer given can change the meaning and implication of the tag question.

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Ina Moroşanu
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258 views

Tag Questions

This document discusses tag questions in English. Tag questions are statements followed by a short question at the end, called the question tag. They are used to seek confirmation of what was stated. The structure is typically a positive statement followed by a negative question tag (e.g. "You like coffee, don't you?") or a negative statement followed by a positive question tag (e.g. "You don't like me, do you?"). Intonation and the answer given can change the meaning and implication of the tag question.

Uploaded by

Ina Moroşanu
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tag Questions

You speak English, don't you? A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. 0or e,ample, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing si1e or washing instructions is a tag.

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag". We use tag questions at the end of statements to as for confirmation. They mean something li e! "Am I right"" or "#o you agree"" They are $ery common in English. The basic structure is! % &ositi$e statement, 'now is white, )egati$e statement, *ou don(t li e me, negati$e tag" isn(t it" % positi$e tag" do you"

+oo at these e,amples with positi$e statements! positive statement [+] main $erb coming, finished, li e li e coffee, coffee, negative tag [-] personal pronoun .same as sub-ect/ you" we" you" you"
*ou .do/ li e... notes:

sub-ect

au,iliary

au,iliary

not

*ou We *ou *ou

are ha$e do

are ha$e do do

n(t n(t n(t n(t

They I We 3e *ou 5ohn

will can must should

help, come, go, try are was harder, English, there,

wo can must should are was

n(t (t n(t n(t n(t n(t

they" I" we" he" you" he"

won(t 2 will not

no au,iliary for main $erb be present 4 past

+oo at these e,amples with negati$e statements! negative statement [-] sub-ect It We *ou They They I We 3e *ou 5ohn 'ome special cases! I am right, aren(t I" *ou have to go, don(t you" aren(t I .not amn(t I/ you .do/ ha$e to go... au,iliary is ha$e do will wo can must should n(t main $erb raining, that, coffee, positive tag [+] au,iliary is ha$e do will us, it right, her, so fast, n(t English, will can must should are was personal pronoun .same as sub-ect/ it" we" you" they" they" I" we" he" you" he"

ne$er seen n(t not n(t li e help, report

ne$er do n(t n(t tell dri$e are was

not there,

I have been answering, haven(t I" Nothing came in the post, did it" Let s go, shall we" 3e d better do it, hadn(t he" 3ere are some mi,ed e,amples!

use first au,iliary treat statements with nothing, nobody etc li e negati$e statements let(s 2 let us he had better .no au,iliary/

6ut you don(t really lo$e her, do you" This will wor , won(t it" Well, I couldn(t help it, could I" 6ut you(ll tell me if she calls, won(t you" We(d ne$er ha$e nown, would we" The weather(s bad, isn(t it" *ou won(t be late, will you" )obody nows, do they"

)otice that we often use tag questions to as for information or help, starting with a negati$e statement. This is quite a friendly7polite way of ma ing a request. 0or e,ample, instead of saying "Where is the police station"" .not $ery polite/, or "#o you now where the police station is"" .slightly more polite/, we could say! "*ou wouldn(t now where the police station is, would you"" 3ere are some more e,amples!

*ou don(t now of any good -obs, do you" *ou couldn(t help me with my homewor , could you" *ou ha$en(t got 89: to lend me, ha$e you"

!ntonation
We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our $oice. With rising intonation, it sounds li e a real question. 6ut if our intonation falls, it sounds more li e a statement that doesn(t require a real answer! intonation *ou don(t now where my wallet is, do you" 7 rising real question

It(s a beatiful $iew,

isn(t it"

; falling

not a real question

"ns#ers to tag $uestions


A $uestion tag is the "mini-question" at the end. A tag $uestion is the whole sentence. 3ow do we answer a tag question" <ften, we -ust say *es or )o. 'ometimes we may repeat the tag and re$erse it ...., do they" *es, they do/. 6e $ery careful about answering tag questions. In some languages, an oposite system of answering is used, and non-nati$e English spea ers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion= Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. *our answer reflects the real facts, not .necessarily/ the question. 0or e,ample, e$eryone nows that snow is white. +oo at these questions, and the correct answers! tag question correct answer the answer is the same in both cases - because snow I' W3ITE= but notice the change of stress when the answerer does not agree with the questioner the answer is the same in both cases - because snow I' )<T 6+A>?=

'now is *es .it white, isn(t it" is/. 'now isn(t white, is it" Yes it is=

'now is No it blac , isn(t it" isn t= 'now isn(t blac , is it" )o .it isn(t/.

In some languages, people answer a question li e "'now isn(t blac , is it"" with "*es" .meaning "*es, I agree with you"/. This is the #rong ans#er in English= 3ere are some more e,amples, with correct answers!

The moon goes round the earth, doesn(t it" *es, it does. The earth is bigger than the moon, isn(t it" *es. The earth is bigger than the sun, isn(t it" No, it isn t= Asian people don(t li e rice, do they" Yes, they do=

Elephants li$e in Europe, don(t they" No, they don t= @en don(t ha$e babies, do they" )o. The English alphabet doesn(t ha$e A: letters, does it" No, it doesn t.

Question tags #ith imperatives


'ometimes we use question tags with imperati$es .in$itations, orders/, but the sentence remains an imperati$e and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for in$itations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders. imperati$e % question tag in$itation Ta e a seat, won(t you" 3elp me, can you" 3elp me, can(t you" order >lose the door, would you" #o it now, will you" #on(t forget, will you" notes: polite quite friendly quite friendly .some irritation"/ quite polite less polite with negati$e imperati$es only will is possible

%ame-#a& $uestion tags


Although the basic structure of tag questions is positi$e-negati$e or negati$e-positi$e, it is sometime possible to use a positi$e-positi$e or negati$e-negati$e structure. We use same-way question tags to e,press interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to ma e real questions.

'o you(re ha$ing a baby, are you" That(s wonderful= 'he wants to marry him, does she" 'ome chance= 'o you thin that(s amusing, do you" Thin again.

)egati$e-negati$e tag questions usually sound rather hostile!

'o you don(t li e my loo s, don(t you"

)ow chec your understanding B

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