Question Tags With Details & Explanations in English Grammar
Read the sentences in the following dialogue:
- Read the sentences in the following dialogue:
- Hello, Sunil. You seem to be busy, don’t you?
- You aren’t seen in the playground, are you?
- I am really busy, aren’t I?
- This is time for planting trees, isn’t it?
I have decided to plant saplings on two acres of land.
That is a very nice idea. Please tell me how to plant trees, will you
In the dialogue above, the meaning of each sentence is made into a tag question and the speaker chumps in favor of his statement.
What are a question tags?
The word “Tag” means “to stick” and the word “Question” means “Question.” So (Conversation) a short question that is asked or added at the end of the sentence is called Tag Question.
(Tag questions are phrases in the form of short questions that are put at the end of a sentence. Tag questions are usually used in conversations. Through a Tag Question the speaker wants to have an answer in support of the statement.)
Example:
- Fish swim in water, don’t they?
- They live in Chittagong, don’t they?
Ans. Yes, they do.
(Note: If the principal sentence means yes, then the answer will be Yes, they do or No, they don’t.)
Question Tags Formulation Rules:
Rule 01: Leaving the main sentence unchanged + Leaving Comma (,) + Leaving Tag question + Leaving Note of interrogation (?)
Rule 02: Positive Statement with negative tag & Negative statement is associated with positive tag by putting positive verb with subject of positive sentence by keeping negative verb with subject of negative sentence and auxiliary verb + pronoun.
Examples:
- Hasan is truthful boy,isn’t he?
- She does not like tea,does she?
N.B: Mind it,Tag Question’s Subject always will be Pronoun.
By keeping the auxiliary verb of the subject of the principal sentence as the pronoun of the subject of the tag question with the operator.
The auxiliary verbs or operators of the principal sentence while forming the tag question are: am, is, are, was, were, will, shall, can, could, may, might, must, has, have, had, do, does, did , ought, dare, need.
TAG FORM:
am not = aren’t
is not = isn’t
are not = aren’t
was not = wasn’t
were not = weren’t
will not = won’t
shall not = shan’t
can not = can’t
could not = couldn’t
may not = mayn’t
might not = mightn’t
must not = mustn’t
has not = hasn’t
have not = haven’t
had not = hadn’t
do not = don’t
doesn’t = doesn’t
did not = didn’t
ought not = oughtn’t
dare not = daren’t
need not = needn’t
Rules for positive tags with auxiliary verbs
(i) Leaving the main sentence unchanged
(ii) + by leaving comma (,).
(iii) By keeping the simple verb of the main sentence +
(iv) without leaving +
(v) By putting back the subject of the connected sentence +
(vi) By leaving note of interrogation.
He is a liar, isn’t he?
Explanation: In the main sentence He is a liar + can be replaced with ‘is’ according to the rules + n’t can be used with what is not + question mark can be kept.
Example: He is a liar, isn’t he?
Rules for positive tags without auxiliary verbs:
(i) Keep the main sentence unchanged
(ii) Retention of comma (,).
(iii) If the main sentence is present-tense, put don’t/doesn’t according to subject and person and didn’t if it is past tense.
(iv) Restating the subject of the main sentence
(v) Keeping note of interrogation
Example:
- He reads a book, doesn’t he?
- We play football, don’t we?
- Rina sang well, didn’t she?
Rules of Negative Tags
(i) Keep the main sentence unchanged
(ii) Retention of comma (,).
(iii) Keeping the main auxiliary verb
(iv) Keeping the subject of the main sentence
(v) Keeping note of interrogation
Example:
- He has not done the work, has he?
- They will not go to school, will they?
- The boy doesn’t play, does he?
Note: If the subject of the main sentence is plural, then in all other cases except “we”, the main auxiliary verb according to the subject of the main sentence or do/does/I did will be used according to the “main tense” and “person” during the conversion of the tag.
Rules for Imperative sentence of Question Tags by verb
(i) Keep the main sentence unchanged
(ii) Retention of Comma
(iii) will you / could you + can you / can’t you / could you
(iv) Placing question marks
Note: won’t you is used if the main verb is placed in the past tense. Use will / would / can / can’t / could / you when asked to do something.
Example:
Open the door, won’t you?
(Here the sentence asks whether the listener is willing to open the door, so the tag is “”won’t you”.)
Open the door, will you / can you / can’t you, could you?
(Here the sentence says to open the audience door, so “won’t you” without sit as a tag kept as tag can you / can’t you / could you / would you.)
If the Imperative sentence starts with “Don’t” then Question tags should be done according to its rules:
(i) Keeping the main sentence unchanged
(ii) will you keep
(iii) Placing question marks
Example:
Don’t forget me, will you?
If the Imperative sentence starts with Let’s then Question tags should be done according to its rules:
(i) Keep the main sentence unchanged
(ii) Retention of Comma
(iii) shall we keep
(iv) Placing question marks
Example:
Let’s do the work, shall we?
If something is requested with let him/let her/let them, put will you in question tags.
Let them do their work, will you?
Exclamatory sentence with Be verb question tags rules
(i) First say the first sentence unchanged
(ii) Comma +
(iii) isn’t / aren’t Ball +
(iv) Say the subject (say its Pronoun form from the subject noun) +
(v) Say question mark.
How fine the flower is, isn’t it?
Exclamatory sentence with verb Question tags rules
(i) Say + first while the first sentence is unchanged
(ii) Comma force +
(iii) don’t / doesn’t / didn’t Ball +
(iv) subject force (subject noun to its pronoun form) +
(v) Say question mark.
How sweetly the bird sings, doesn’t it?
Conversion of positive statement with Subject ‘I’ into Question tags
Mind it,Say aren’t after such a positive statement.
Positive statement – Tag Question
I am happy. – I am happy, aren’t I?
Rules for converting positive statement with There’s subject into question tags
Positive statement – Question Tags
There were many problems. – There were many problems, weren’t there?
Negative statement – Question Tags
There were not many problems. – There were not many problems, were there?
If “need/needs” is used as a verb in a declarative sentence, don’t/doesn’t/didn’t replace need with the verb and person. And instead of “needn’t” replace “need”.
- She needs a pen, doesn’t she?
- You needed a blanket, didn’t you?
- You needn’t worry, need you?
If need works as a modal auxiliary in a sentence, put the modal auxiliary of need in the question tags.
You don’t need to go, do you?
If the subject of an Assertive sentence is nothing/anything/something/everything, then say it instead of it as the subject in the question tags.
- Nothing is certain, is it?
- Everything was lost, wasn’t it?
- Something is better than nothing, isn’t it?
If the subject in any sentence is everybody / somebody / anybody / every one / someone / anyone/nobody/none etc. then say they instead of them as subject in question tags.
- Everybody likes flowers, don’t they?
- Somebody came here, didn’t they?
- Anyone can do this, can’t they?
- Everyone has left the place, haven’t they?
- Someone will go there, won’t they?
- Anyone can answer, can’t they?
- Nobody phoned, did they?
- None can help you, can they?
If the subject of any sentence is all of us/some of us/everyone of us/most of us, then say we instead of them as the subject of the question tags.
- All of us attended the meeting, didn’t we?
- None of us can solve this problem, can we?
If the subject of any sentence is all of them/some of them/everyone of them/most of them, then say they instead of them as the subject of the tag question.
- All of them are very sincere, aren’t they?
- Most of them were absent, weren’t they?
If the subject of any sentence is all of you/some of you/none of you/most of you/everyone of you, replace them with you as the subject of the question tags.
- Some of you can speak well, can’t you?
- All of you were playing there, weren’t you?
If Assertive sentence has modal auxiliaries like can / could / may / might / must / ought / shall / should / will / would etc. then all these modal auxiliaries are used in question tags.
- It may rain today, mayn’t it?
- She can’t speak English, can she?
- You should see a doctor, shouldn’t you?
If there is only verb to have i.e. has/have/had in a sentence and no main verb then tag question has to be done in the prescribed way.
(i) She had a pen, didn’t she? (British style)
She had a pen, didn’t she? (American style)
(ii) You have a nice garden, haven’t you? (British)
You have a nice garden, don’t you? (American)
Sometimes the subject and verb are in a narrow state in the sentence. In that case, first write the full form of the narrow condition and make a tag question.
For example:
- I’d meet you, wouldn’t I?
- They’d gone to Chittagong, hadn’t they?
See More “Right Form Of Verbs”
Exercise for You
Complete the following sentences with question tags:
(a) You like honey, _______?
Ans. You like honey, don’t you?
(b) The fan is not working, _______?
Ans. The fan is not working, isn’t it?
(c) She is pretty _______?
Ans. She is pretty, isn’t she?
(d) He has a problem _______?
Ans. He has a problem, hasn’t he?
(e) They will go home, _______?
Ans. They will go home, won’t they?
(f) I am writing a letter, _______?
Ans. I am writing a letter, aren’t I?