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WHAT ARE TAG QUESTIONS?

TAG QUESTIONS are really short questions that are onto the end of
statements or regular sentences so that they become questions.

He’s your brother, isn’t he?

You’re hungry, aren’t you?

They can’t afford to buy a new car, can they?


They are questions, but they use a different structure to
regular questions.

You are coming to the party. Sentence

Are you coming to the party? Regular question.

You are coming to the party, aren’t Question tag.


you?
So, it’s very simple!
First, you take a statement and then you add your question tag.

You are coming to my house, aren’t you?

SUBJET + AUX. VERB + MAIN VERB


AUXILIARY+ NOT + PRONOUN
VERB
With Tag question, you’ll see that:

• The subject needs to match the pronoun.


• The auxiliary verbs need to be the same.

Ex.
She's a doctor, isn't she?

Yesterday was so much fun, wasn't it?


When the statement is positive, we use a negative question tag.

She's Italian, isn't she?


It was raining that day, wasn't it?

When the statement is negative, we use a positive question tag. 

He isn't here, is he?
Your mum hadn't met him before, had she?
Here are more examples!

In this case we use don't, doesn't or didn’t:

Jenni eats cheese, doesn't she?
I said that already, didn't I? 

In this case we use to be to make the question tag:

The bus stop's over there, isn't it?

None of those customers were happy, were they?


• The verb in the statement is a modal verb

They could hear me, couldn't they?
You won't tell anyone, will you?

• If the main verb or auxiliary verb in the statement is am, the positive question tag
is, am I? but the negative question tag is usually aren't I?:

I'm never on time, am I?


I'm going to get an email with the details, aren't I?
Practice
Exercise
1. You haven't seen this film, ____________?
2. She's a doctor, ____________?
3. He isn't here, ____________?
4. I don't need to finish this today, ____________?
5. Jenni eats cheese, ____________?
6. They could hear me, ____________?
7. I'm a really patient person, ____________?
8. We will be there tomorrow, ____________?
Practice
Exercise
1. You haven't seen this film, have you?
2. She's a doctor, isn't she?
3. He isn't here, is he?
4. I don't need to finish this today, do I?
5. Jenni eats cheese, doesn't she?
6. They could hear me, couldn't they?
7. I'm a really patient person, aren’t I?
8. We will be there tomorrow, won't we?

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