QUESTION TAGS

Question tags are short statement placed at the end of a sentence to change to an interrogative
statement. They are not always real questions. They are used to check that the listener agrees with what
the speaker has said. A question tag is made up of the statement, a comma, and the
question clause. The question tag is usually built by combining an auxiliary verb and a
pronoun.
Rule:
The general rule of question tag is if the main statement is positive, the question tag will be negative,
vice versa.
Examples:
1.The fans booed one of the players, didn’t they?
2.Mikel Obi is one of the valuable players in his club, isn’t he?
3.Davido didn’t sing with D’banj, did he?
4.Nathaniel Bassey sings only with worship singers, doesn’t he?
5.He hasn’t done much in the industry, has he?
N/B: if the auxiliary verb be or have or a modal verb is part of the verb phrase in the
sentence, then it is used as the verb in the sentence tag.

Secondly, where there is no auxiliary verb in the main sentence, and the main verb
is in simple or present tense, use ‘do’ form of verb to form the question tag.
Examples:

1.The House of Representative members never visit their constituencies, do they?

2.The teacher hardly beats his students, does he?
3.He left, didn’t he?
4.It seems that things are changing this season, doesn’t it?
5.I never heard of your case, did I?
Other important points:
When ‘I am’ is used as the subject and the verb in the main sentence, use aren’t I as you
tag.
I am getting it, aren’t I?
I am the boss here, aren’t I?

If you create a question tag out of a statement that contains broad negative (never, seldom,
hardly, scarcely, rarely), the tag is normally positive.
1. The royal family hardly go to the market, do they?
2. Akpan seldom joins his mate for practice, does he?
3. We scarcely eat bitter leaf soup when Daddy is around, do we?
4. The school principal rarely discusses her problem with our community
leader, does she?
 CLASSWORK
For each of the following, make a suitable question tag.
1. Ben saw Ade this morning, ___________
2. Naomi has left for London, ___________
3. The preacher is going to church, _________
4. My father was not a soldier, __________
5. The women were praying in the hall, _______
6. Tolu likes flower, ___________
7. A mosquito bit Dayo, __________
8. We shall be there tomorrow, __________
9. The children eat beans everyday, _________
10.The children do not eat beans everyday, _________