QUESTION TAG
Question tag is a question that is often used to ask for more information or confirmations to what is said or to keep a conversation goes on or continue.
Question tags promote a keen understanding of the uses of the auxiliary verbs.
WHAT IS CONSISTED IN A QUESTION TAG?
Question tag is made up for Auxiliary and personal pronoun.
A question tag is therefore the short question that follows statement.
In writing, put a comma before the question tag, and put a question mark after the question tag.
Example
He is sick, isn’t he?
RULES IN FORMING QUESTION TAGS
Rules 1
If the statement is positive, the question tag should be negative
Examples:
i. You are my friend, aren’t you?
ii. She is a doctor, isn’t she?
iii. You study English, don’t you?
iv. You were at home, weren’t you?
v. Tommy was watching TV, want he?
vi. He has written five letters, hasn’t he?
Rule 2
If the statement is negative the question tag should be positive.
Examples:
i. You are not my enemy, are you?
ii. She does not read books, does she?
iii. He isn’t plying cricket, is he?
iv. He wasn’t reading a book, was he?
v. I won’t go to the market, will I?
vi. He can’t run a mile, can he?
Rule 3
If you’re asking a question that you expect “YES” answer, the question tag becomes negative.
a. You like trouble, don’t you?
Yes, I do.
b. You sent me email, didn’t you?
Yes, I sent.
Rule 4
If you expect “NO” answer, the question tag becomes “positive”
Examples:
i. You are aren’t Mrema, are you?
NO, Iam not.
ii. You are not happy, are you?
Rule 5
The tense of the question tag should correspond to that of the statement.
Examples:
i. You didn’t great your teacher, did you?
Rule 6
There should be a comma (,) before a question tag and a question mark after a tag.
Example:
She is beautiful, isn’t she?
Rule 7
If our voices go down in the tag, we express negative feelings like disapproval, disappointment just as confirmation.
Example:
I will get your wife back, won’t I?
Rule 8
“Need”, “AM” and “dare” when used positively in a statement are not repeated in a tag.
Examples
1. We need a rest, don’t we? And not *needn’t we?
2. Iam your enemy, aren’t I? and not *amn’t I?
Rule 9
We change a strong command into form of a request by adding an affirmative question tag in the future tense.
Examples:
i. Open the door, will you?
ii. Let us leave now, shall we?
iii. Pass me the salt, will you?
iv. Shut up, cant you?
v. Don’t forget, will you?
More examples:
a. She can ride a bicycle, can’t she?
b. He doesn’t like riding, does he?
c. He rode a bicycle yesterday, didn’t he?
Exercise:
Complete the sentence with the correct question tags.
1. Mr Juma is from Tabora,
2. The car isn’t in the garage,
3. They play cards every day,
4. He should write a letter,
5. He collects used stamps,
Prepared by Emily A Mwambola
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