Brief Presentation on Question Tag

8/3/2019 Brief Presentation on Question Tag

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BRIEF PRESENTATION ONQUESTION TAG

- By study group including Aashutosh Pyakurel, Ashwinee Kumar Khadka and AbhishekShrestha


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Introduction

Question tag is a short yes/no question added to astatement during conversation to confirm ifsomething is true, it is mainly used for two functions;

to confirm if something is true ,or to get some oneinvolved in conversation or to encourage him tospeak.


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The Structure of question tag

Auxiliary verb + Sub + question mark

Example:

Allu Arjun is from India, Isnt he?


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Points to be remembered

Only nine pronouns are used as subject of a tag,they are I, we, you, he, she, it, they, their and one.

Example;

Sita looks smart, doesnt she?

There is a rat in the hole, isnt it?


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If the subject of a sentence is singular pronoun isused as the subject of the tag.

Example

I am tired, arent I?

He is innocent, isnt he?


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If subject of a sentence is a noun, change the nouninto suitable pronoun.

Example;

Ram Charan Speaks English, doesnt he?

The boys are clever, arent they?


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Only tag question are added to statement, theynever come with interrogative and exclamation.

Example;

Dont play here, will you?

You arent tired, are you?


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We should always use contracted form of negativeauxiliaries and use the same auxiliaries of the

statement as the auxiliary of the tag.

Long form Short form

Is not Isnt

Has not Hasnt

Does not Doesnt


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Auxiliary verb in question tag

Always contracted form of auxiliary is used in thetag.

Example;

You can do it, cant you?

Kajal didnt invite surya, did she?


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Always use first auxiliary verb to form tag question.

Example;

He has been crying, isnt he?


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If there is no auxiliary verb in a sentence, we use do

verbs (dont/didnt/doesnt) to form tag question.

Example;

Teena likes cooking, doesnt she?

She lost her book, didnt she?


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Singular auxiliary verb (is, was, does, has) changeinto plural (are, were, do, have) if subject of the

statement are among somebody, nobody, no one,someone

Example;

Somebody helps me, dont they?Nobody has met him, have they?


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Rules of question tag

If a sentence is in affirmative, the tag is in negativeinterrogative.

Example;

He can do this, cant he?

Hari took his exam, didnt he?


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If a statement is negative, the tag is in affirmativeinterrogative.

Example;

He isnt a driver, is he?

They arent teachers, are they?


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If a statement is formed with an auxiliary verb, sameauxiliary verb is repeated in tag.

Example;

He has done the work, hasnt he?

They are coming, arent they?


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If the statement is formed with only main verb, wehave to use do, does or did in the TAG according to

tense of the verb.

Example;

Ravi eats rice, doesnt he?

We played volley ball yesterday, didnt we?


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If the tag is in imperative (with command verb) form,the tag is in simple future, affirmative, interrogative.

Example;

Stop the noise, will you?

Dont Smoke, will you?


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In the case of lets the tag is often shall we.

Example;

Lets play chess, shall we?

Lets go for a walk, shall we?


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Singular auxiliary verbs are changed into plural ifthey come with somebody / nobody / someone /

everyone, etc..

Example;

Somebody are there, arent they?

Everyone were singing, werent they?


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Some verbs which have the same present, past, pastparticiple form take auxiliary verb as follows;

Singular sub.(He/she/it) + (put/shut/cut/..) +..+didnt he?

Plural sub.(we/you/they) + (put/shut/cut/..) +..+dont we? (Present time adverbial)

Plural sub.(we/you/they) + (put/shut/cut/..) +..+didnt you? (Past time adverbial)

Example;

They cut it today, dont they?

She shut the door, didnt she?


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If the words (never, nobody, hardly known, barely,scarcely, etc.)are in the sentence, then the question

tag should be affirmative.

Example;

He can hardly come, can he?

She could barely break it, could she?


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Question Tag With Imperative

Positive imperative; Polite language, invitation;

Example:

Take a seat, wont you?

Quiet, less polite and less friendly, orders;

Example:

Help me, can you?

Do it now, will you?

Offers or suggestion, after using lets, shall should be

used.

Example;

Lets go, shall we?


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Negative imperative;

Will is only option possible for negative

imperatives.

Example;

Dont forget, will you?

Dont smoke, will you?


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Important points In the present tense, if the subject is 'I', the auxiliary

changes to 'are' or 'aren't'.

I'm sitting next to you, aren't I?

With 'let's', the tag question is 'shall we'.

Let's go to the beach, shall we?

With an imperative, the tag question is 'will you'. Close the window, will you?


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We use a positive tag question after a sentencecontaining a negative word such as never, hardly,nobody.

Nobody lives in this house, do they?

You've never liked me, have you?

When the subject is nothing, we use 'it' in the tagquestion.

Nothing bad happened, did it?

When the subject is nobody, somebody, everybody, noone, someone, or every one, we use 'they in the tagquestion.

Nobody asked for me, did they?


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If the main verb in the sentence is 'have' (not anauxiliary verb), it is more common to use 'do in thequestion tag.

You have a Ferrari, don't you?

With used to, we use 'didn't' in the tag question.

You used to work here, didn't you?

We can use positive question tags after positivesentences to express a reaction such as surprise orinterest.

You're moving to Brazil, are you?
http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/used-tohttp://www.eslbase.com/grammar/used-to


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Examples Of Question Tag

Henever goes out with his dog, doeshe?

Wehave a car, haven'twe?

Wehave a car, don'twe?

Open the window, willyou?

Open the window, wouldyou?

Don't open your books, willyou?

Open the window, won'tyou?

Let's take the next bus, shallwe?

We must be at home at 8 pm, mustn'twe?

Brief Presentation on Question Tag

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