Question tags

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Negative tags
It’s a nice day, isn’t it?
You’ve got a guitar, haven’t you?
It was a nice meal, wasn’t it?
You’ll call later, won’t you?

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Positive tags
It isn’t a nice day, is it?
You haven’t got a guitar, have you?
It wasn’t a nice meal, was it?
You won’t call later, will you?

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 Tags with modals, have got and
other verbs
She can play tennis, can’t she? She doesn’t like cats, does she?
She can’t play tennis, can she? She likes cats, doesn’t she?

He’s got an e-reader, hasn’t he? They’ve gone to Italy, haven’t they?
He hasn’t got an e-reader, has he? They haven’t gone to Italy,
have they?

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GET IT RIGHT!
Are you a new student, aren’t you?
You’re a new student, aren’t you?

He doesn’t like cats, doesn’t he?

He doesn’t like cats, does he?

They’ve organised a party, don’t they?

They’ve organised a party, haven’t they?

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Language in action
Tom: I’m having a party on Saturday. I gave you an invitation, didn’t I?
Luke: Yes, you did. I can bring my sister, can’t I?
Tom: Yes, but you won’t bring your mum, will you?!
Luke: Ha! Ha! You’ve got the music organised, haven’t you?
Tom: Yes, that’s the most important thing. I couldn’t forget about that.
Luke: Okay. See you on Saturday. It’s at 8 pm, isn’t it?

Identify the tenses and the types of question tags.

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Can you remember the rules?
Question tags are short questions which we use to check facts or keep
the conversation going.
• With positive statements, use a negative question tag.
You’re Spanish, aren’t you?
• With negative statements, use a positive question tag.
She doesn’t like dogs, does she?
• When be is used in the statement, repeat it in the question tag.
I’m early, aren’t I? You won’t say anything, will you?

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• With modal verbs (can, might) and most other verb forms, repeat the
modal or the auxiliary verb in the question tag.
You can’t play the piano, can you?
• With present or past simple verbs use do, don’t, does, doesn’t
(present simple) or did, didn’t (past simple).
You love this song, don’t you?
I gave it back to you, didn’t I?

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Speaking
Work in pairs.
Student A: Choose a tag. Student B: Make a question.

do you? does it? do they?

did he? doesn’t he? haven’t they?

won’t you? does it? will we?

didn’t he? have you? aren’t you?

haven’t we? will she? has it?

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Speaking
How well do you know your classmates? Write names.
Think of two of your own ideas.
1 ________ can play football. 6 ________ hasn’t got a cat.
2 ________ went camping in the 7 ________ can’t sing.
summer. 8 ________ is afraid of spiders.
3 ________ has got a dog. 9 ________ ________________
4 ________ has visited London. 10 ________ _______________
5 ________ went to the cinema last
week.

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Acknowledgements

The publishers are grateful to the following illustrators:

Slide 2: Graham Kennedy
Slide 3: David Semple
Slide 4: Arped Olbey (Beehive Illustration)

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