Tag Questions You Speak English, Don't You?: Notes
Tag Questions You Speak English, Don't You?: Notes
A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece
of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.
We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean
something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.
+ -
Positive statement, negative tag?
- +
Negative statement, positive tag?
personal
main pronoun
subject auxiliary auxiliary not
verb (same as
subject)
personal
subject auxiliary main verb auxiliary pronoun
(same as subject)
Nothing came in the post, treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative
did it? statements
Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a
negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example,
instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where
the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the
police station is, would you?" Here are some more examples:
Intonation
We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With
rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more
like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:
intonation
You don't know where my wallet is, do you? / rising real question
A question tag is the "mini-question" at the end. A tag question is the whole sentence.
How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may
repeat the tag and reverse it (..., do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful about
answering tag questions. In some languages, an oposite system of answering is used,
and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to
a lot of confusion!
Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the
real facts, not (necessarily) the question.
For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the
correct answers:
correct
tag question
answer
Snow is Yes (it the answer is the same in but notice the change of stress
white, isn't is). both cases - because when the answerer does not
it?
Snow is
No it agree with the questioner
black, isn't the answer is the same in
isn't!
it? both cases - because
Snow isn't No (it snow IS NOT BLACK!
black, is it? isn't).
In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes"
(meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English!
The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.
The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.
The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!
Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!
Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!
Men don't have babies, do they? No.
The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.
Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence
remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for
invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.
Don't forget, will you? with negative imperatives only will is possible