QUESTION TAGS

 QUESTION TAGS (Echo questions and tags)

A tag question is a type of question form which is added to a statement to invite the listener’s attention to the statement.   Ex: Mr. Sharma is a teacher, isn’t he?

 

There are three main patterns in Questions Tags: They are –

 

1.                    Positive Statement -> Negative Question tag

 

2.                    Negative Statement -> Positive Question tag

 

3.                    Positive Statement -> Positive Question tag

 

A Positive statement means a statement which does not include negative words like not, never, often, no, seldom etc. A Negative statement is that which includes any oneof the negative words.

 

1.                    Positive Statement -> Negative Question tag:

 

•  This kind of tag asks the hearer to agree that the statement in the main clause is true. It is sometimes obvious that the statement is true. Ex: in the conversation both speakers know that the weather is colder today. The tag (isn’t it) is not really request for information but an invitation to the hearer to continue the conversation. Ex: It is cold today, isn’t it?

 

•  When the statement is clearly true, then the speaker uses a falling intonation on the tag. Ex: It is cold today, isn’t it?(falling tone).

 

•  But when the speaker is not sure if the statement is true, then the tag is more like a real question, a request for information. The speaker’s voice rises on the tag. Ex: We are going the right way, aren’t we?(raising tone)

 

•  Sometimes a tag with a rising intonation can express surprise. Ex: They have a car, don’t they? Everyone has a car today. That is the speaker is surprised at the idea that someone might have no car.

 

•  Only the short form n’t is used in tag questions since they are used in conversation only.

 

•  The Subject of the tag is used according to the number, gender and person of the subject of the main clause. Ex: Sitha is in the class, isn’t she? The bags are on the table, aren’t they?

 

•  In the tag as in the case of other questions with yes-no response, the verb is shifted to the front. Ex: You are a nice boy, aren’t you?

 

•  The appropriate be form is used. Ex: I am going, aren’t I?(In case of ‘am’ in the statement, ‘aren’t’ is used in the tag, ‘ain’t’ is not used in standard English; ‘am I not’ is very formal, ‘am not I’ is never used). But, I am not going, am I?

 

•  In case of linking verbs other than ‘be’, the appropriate form of do is used in the questions tags. Ex: He became a collector, didn’t he? Coffee tastes bitter, doesn’t it?

 

2.            Negative Statement -> Positive Question tag:

 

•  This kind of tag is used for tentative questions or requests. Ex: You haven’theard the exam results, have you? No, sorry I haven’t. You couldn’t lend me ten rupees, could you? Yes, why not?

 

•  This is also used to express disapproval. Ex: You haven’t broken that clock, have you? No, I am not.

 

•  A negative statement can have a negative word other than not. Ex: We’ve had no information yet, have we?

 

•  Few, little hardly, scarcely, rarely, seldom, none, nobody, hardly, hardly any, no, never, neither are the negative words so the question tag will be in positive. Ex: Few people attended the meeting, did they? But note that if a is placed before few or little they are treated as positive.

 

•  If the subject of a sentence is one or body the question tag takes they as the subject: Ex: Somebody had come, hadn’t they?

 

•  If some of, many of, all of are as subjects the questions tag will be according to the pronoun used after some of, many of, all of . Ex: Some of you have gone, haven’t you? Some of us have seen Dr.Kalam, haven’t we?

 

3.            Positive Statement -> Positive Question tag:

 

•  This patter also asks the hearer to agree that the statement is true. It also suggests that the speaker has just learnt, realized or remembered the information. Ex: I shall have to light the fire soon ~ Oh, you have coal fires, do you?

 

•  Look at the pattern 1 & 3 in the following examples:

 

•  We can’t move this cupboard. It is heavy, isn’t it? (I already know that it is heavy).

 

•  We can’t move this cupboard. It is heavy, is it? (I have just learnt from your words that it is heavy).

 

Some more rules:

 

•  We can use the subject there in tag. Ex: There were lots of people at the carnival, weren’t there? But we do not use this, that, these or those in tags. We use it or they instead. Ex: That was lucky, wasn’t it? Those are nice, aren’t they?

 

•  After subject such as everyone, someone etc we use they in a tag. Ex: Anyone could just walk in here, couldn’t they?

 

•  In more formal English, not can come after the pronoun. Ex: Progress is being made, don’t you think?

 

ECHO QUESTIONS:

 

•  We can use an echo question when we do not understand what someone says to us, or we find it had to believe. Ex: I often eat frogs in the lunch ~What do you eat?; My father is the President of the USA ~ What! What! The second speaker is asking the first to repeat the important information.

•  These questions can usually be with or without inversion. They are spoken with a rising intonation on the question word. Ex: What do you eat? (rising)

 

•  We can use a yes/no question to check that we heard correctly. Ex: I often eat frogs in the lunch ~ You eat frogs?

 

ECHO QUESTION TAGS:

 

•  We can form echo tag like an ordinary question tag. But here it is different, A positive statement has a positive tag, and A negative statement has a negative tag. Ex: We’re moving house soon ~ Oh, are you?; The boss isn’t very well ~ Isn't She?

 

These tags express interest in what someone has just said. The voice is usually raised. If the voice falls, this means the speaker is not interested.

Question Tags According to Tense

Present simple ‘be’	Monika is from Spain, isn’t she? They aren’t funny, are they?
Present simple other verbs	You play the guitar, don’t you? Monty doesn’t like tennis, does he?
Present continuous	You are coming to my party, aren’t you? The bus isn’t coming, is it?
Past simple ‘be’	It was cold yesterday, wasn’t it? She wasn’t at home yesterday, was she?
Past simple other verbs	They went to the cinema, didn’t they? She didn’t study in the USA, did she?
Past continuous	We were waiting at the station, weren’t we? You weren’t sleeping, were you?
Present perfect	We have finished, haven’t we? You haven’t done your homework, have you?
Present perfect continuous	I have been answering, haven’t I? He hasn’t been running in this weather, has he?
Past perfect	He had forgotten his wallet, hadn’t he? We hadn’t been to Mumbai before, had we?
Past perfect continuous	We had been working, hadn’t we? You hadn’t been sleeping, had you?
Future simple	She will come at six, won’t she? You won’t tell him my secret, will you?
Future continuous	They will be arriving soon, won’t they? He won’t be studying tonight, will he?
Future perfect	They will have finished before nine, won’t they? She won’t have left work before six, will she?
Future perfect continuous	She will have been cooking all day, won’t she? He won’t have been travelling all day, will he?
Modals ‘can’	Andy can speak English, can’t he? I can never do it right, can I?
Modals ‘must’	We must go, mustn’t we? We mustn’t tell her, must we?
Modals ‘should’	He should try harder, shouldn’t he? He shouldn’t say things like that, should he?