TAG-QUESTIONS OR

QUESTION TAGS
 Statement Sentences with short questions at
the end with a question mark!
Tag-Questions

 A ‘tag-question’ or ‘question tag’ is not a true

question.
A tag question is used at the end of a Statement
Sentence to get the confirmation from the listener,
or just to express one’s doubt.
A question sentence, on the contrary, is used to get
the answer.
Tag-Questions

 You are my student. Statement Sentence positive

 You are not my student. Statement negative
 Are you my student? Question (interrogative)

 You are my student, aren’t you? Tag-question

Tag-Questions

 Whose books are these? – a true question

 These are your books, aren’t they?

-Tag-question – Positive
These are not your books, are they?
- Tag-question -- Negative
Tag-Questions
 Making a tag-question sentence:

 She is your friend

,
isn’t she
?
A positive tag-question sentence!
Tag-Questions

 There are five simple points we should follow

when we use a Tag-question:
 Point 1
 A comma is used between the main sentence and
the ‘tag’ part, e.g.
 This is your book isn’t it?
,
Tag-Questions
 Point 2:

 Even if the subject of the main sentence is a noun –

proper noun or common noun – the
subject of the ‘tag’ part is always a corresponding
PERSONAL PRONOUN. e.g.

Mary isn’t your sister, is she?

Tag-Questions
 Point 2 (continued)

 John has gone home, hasn’t ?

‘John’ – proper noun – male – singular
he
pronoun – male – singular – subjective case
Tag-Question
 Point 2 (continued)

 Ted and Jerry got their books, didn’t ?

‘Ted and Jerry’ – Proper nouns – male – plural
they
Personal Pronoun – male -- plural
Tag-Questions
 Point 3

 The verb in the ‘tag’ part depends on the verb in the

main sentence:
 If the verb in the main sentence is in Present Tense,
the verb in the ‘tag’ part will be in Present Tense; and
the verb in the main sentence is in Past Tense, the
verb in the ‘tag’ part will be in Past, and so on.
 If the verb in the main sentence is in Positive form,
the verb in the ‘tag’ part will be in Negative form.
Tag-Questions
 Point 3 (continued)

 She is your sister, she?

“is” – main verb – Simple Present Tense –POSITIVE

isn’t
– Simple present tense – NEGATIVE
Tag-Questions
 Point 3 (continued)

 Brad hasn’t done his work, he?

‘hasn’t’ – Present perfect – NEGATIVE
has
Present perfect -- POSITIVE
Tag-Questions
 Point 3 (continued)

 Kate goes to school, she?

‘goes’ – Simple present – POSITIVE
‘does not go’ – Simple present – NEGATIVE
doesn’t
Tag-questions
 Point 3 (continued)

 James did not go to school, he?

‘did not go’ – Simple past – NEGATIVE
‘go’ – Simple past – Positive; however, in ‘tag’
part, the auxiliary (helping) verb alone is used:
did
Point 4
The negative form of the verb in the ‘tag’ part is
always contracted:
does not = doesn’t; has not = hasn’t; will not = won’t
Tag-questions
Point 5-Modal
Questions tags consist of …
AUXILIARY VERB + PRONOUN:
I shouldn’t laugh, should I?
Sarah was winning, wasn’t she?
she
We use the auxiliary verb that is used in the previous sentence. If there
is no auxiliary verb, se use “do/does” (present tense) and “did” (past
tense):
You live near here, don’t you?
You turned left, didn’t you?
The pronoun refers to the subject of the previous sentence.
Tag-questions
Point 6-Exception
Some verbs form question tags differently:
I am  aren’t I?
I’m helpful, aren’t I?
There is  isn’t there?
There is a chemist’s near here, isn’t there?
There are  aren’t there?
There are many shops in the area, aren’t there?
This is / That is  isn’t it?
That’s your wife over there, isn’t it?
 Exercise (Make a correct tag questions of each sentence)
1. This campus is so great,....................?
2. Transmission and network influence the effectivity of a
modem, ...............?
3. He can speak Sundanese well, .....................?
4. Students did their mid test a few months ago,..........?
5. The price of petrol (BBM) has been decided, .........?
6. The government is building a good facility in
telecommunication nowadays,................?
7. Indonesia is not a part of East Asian, ..............?
8. There are some factors to increase productivity,...........?
9. You should obey the regulation of your campus,........?
10. They came to the seminar of AEC 2015 yesterday,.........?
 Exercise (Make a correct tag questions of each sentence)
1. This campus is so great,....................?
2. Product, price, promotion and place influence the
marketing, ..............?
3. He can speak Sundanese well, .....................?
4. Students did their mid test a few months ago,..........?
5. The price of petrol (BBM) has been decided, .........?
6. The government is running a good business environment by
building creative industry,..................................?
7. Indonesia is not a part of East Asian, ..............?
8. There are some factors to increase productivity,...........?
9. You should obey the regulation of your campus,........?
10. They came to the seminar of AEC 2015 yesterday,.........?
Practice
 Make a short conversation between you and your
friend to confirm the lecture schedule! (using tag
questions)
References
 Nick Brieger and Simon Sweeney.The Language of
Business English. 1994. Prentice Hall Publisher,
London –UK
 www.weblearneng.com/wp.../tag.questions1.ppt
 www.carmenlu.com/third/.../question_tags.ppt has
been downloaded on january,4th 2015