Tag
Questions
A tag question starts out as a
statement and then becomes a question at the end. There are different
reasons for using tag questions, but usually it's because you have an idea of
what the answer might be.
Examples:
You want
to learn English, don't you?
We've had
some really good weather, haven't we?
She can
help you with your homework, can't she?
Notice the subject is repeated at
the end of the question, and the helping verb (auxiliary verb) is used to
reinforce the tense of the verb.
The first question is in the present
tense; therefore, use "do" as the helping verb. In this question, I
know you want to learn English:
You want
to learn English, don't you?
The second question is in the
present perfect; therefore, use "have" as the helping verb. Remember
that your choice of helping verb sometimes depends on the subject. In this
question, we both know that the weather has been great:
We've had
some really nice weather, haven't we?
How about a question in which
"he" is the subject and there's a contraction:
He's made
a lot of friends in school, hasn't he?
The third question uses a modal
verb, "can," so you simply make it negative before the subject. In
this question, I think the person can help you, but I might not be sure:
She can
help you with your homework, can't she?
Tag questions can start out in the
negative and then end in the affirmative:
It hasn't
been a very good day, has it?
They don't
like to eat different kinds of food, do they?
You
wouldn't do that, would you?
Here are
some more examples:
She's very beautiful, isn't she?
(We all agree that this is a beautiful
woman.)
|
The baby doesn't want to eat her
food, does she?
(It's obvious that this baby isn't
going to eat.)
|
She's done something really
interesting to her hair, hasn't she?
(Dying your hair purple is
interesting--although you may or may not like it. I like it, but you might
not like it. However, I want you to agree with me.)
|
