Question Tags Explained

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Question Tags Explained
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• 1.  They are short questions added to sentences,
  asking for Agreement or  confirmation.
• 2.  We always use the auxiliaries to make
  question tags. If there is no auxiliary in  the
  sentence, we add "do, does, or did", depending on
  the tense.
• 3.  There are two kinds of question tags
• Affirmative statements (Negative interr tags)
  eg  Peter helped you, didnt he?
• Negative statements (Affirmative interr tags)
  eg That isnt Tom, is it ? There wasnt enough
  time, was there?

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N.B.

• The subject of the tag is always a pronoun.
• Negative verbs in the tags are usually
  contracted. (didnt you?  did you not?)
• Irregular tag
• Im late, arent I ?
• Lets go, shall we ?
• Edward lives here, doesnt he ?
• You found your passport, didnt you ?
• Marys coming tomorrow, isnt she ?
• Marys just come home, hasnt she ?
• Maryd written before you phoned, hadnt she ?
• Maryd come if you asked her, wouldnt she ?
• Maryd rather not tell the truth, would she ?
• Maryd better not tell the truth, had she ?

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• 4. Statements containing words such as
• neither, no, none, no one, nobody, nothing
• scarcely, barely, hardly, hardly ever, rarely,
  and seldom
• are treated as Negative statements and followed
  by an ordinary interrogative
• (h) No salt is allowed, is it ?
• Nothing was said, was it ?
• (j) Peter hardly ever studies, does he ?

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• 5.  When the subject of the sentence is
  anyone,  no one, anybody, nobody, none, neither,
  everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, we use
  the pronoun They as subject of the tag.
• (k) I dont think anyone will come, will they?
• (l) No one would object, would they?
• (m) Neither of them complained, did they?
• (n) Everyone warned you, didnt they?
• (o) Someone had recognized him, hadnt they?

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Quiz

• Leonard Cohen is a great singer, ___ ___?
• isnt he
• It isn't very warm today, ___ ___?
• is it
• I didn't bring enough money, ___ ___?
• did I
• The children won't want to go to bed early, ___?
  
• will they
• You have already seen Lord of the Rings, ___ ___?
• havent you
• We can't keep our canary in the hotel room, ___
  ___?
• can we
• England would like to win another World Cup , ___
  ___?
• wouldnt they

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Quiz 2

• You don't smoke, ___?
• do you
• You haven't got a car, ___?
• have you
• You haven't been to London, ___?
• have you
• You aren't thirty-five, ___?
• are you
• Tom is getting something for Sue, ___?
• isnt he
• There's some milk in the refrigerator, ___?
• isnt there
• Susan can bring some food, ___?
• cant she

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Quiz 3

• I'm early, ___?
• arent I
• Your neighbors went on vacation, ___?
• didnt they
• You wanted that,_____ ?
• didnt you
• He will be coming _____ ?
• wont he
• You may think you know the answer but you
  don't____ ?
• do you
• Lets take a break, ____?
• shall we

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Quiz 4

• You dont like football, ____?
• do you
• Oh, shut up, ____?
• will you
• Dont be too upset about it, ____?
• will you
• Say something to me in Greek, ___?
• will/would you
• Help me with these bags, ____?
• will/would you

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Quiz 5

• Nobody's got to leave early, .........?
• have they
• You have to arrive before half past eight,
  ..........?
• dont you
• I'm in trouble, .........?
• arent I
• You'd rather not tell me, .......?
• wouldnt you
• That's the guy who was on TV the other night,
  .......?
• isnt it
• That's the guy that won the pools, ........?
• isnt it
• He'd better try harder, .......?
• hadnt he
• Everybody looked so miserable, ........?
• didnt they

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Quiz 6

• They never work, ___?
• do they
• Nobody understands, _____?
• do they
• Everybody was laughing at him, ____?
• werent they
• Nobody's perfect, _____?
• are they
• She'd 10 francs in her pocket, ____?
• hadnt she

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