berlitz_orange_logo.JPG Question tags

Select the right question tag.
TAG QUESTIONS

How to use them:

The general principle of question tags is simple
and you certainly know it already:

If the main statement is affirmative, the tag is negative.
If the main statement is negative, the tag is affirmative.

When to use them:

Tags are generally used if you have a good idea of the answer
to your question already and they really request confirmation
of the initial statement.

eg "Pierre is French, isn't he?"

tells us the speaker already thinks Pierre is French.


Sometimes, however, they express a strong hope rather
than a conviction:
eg "It won't hurt, doctor, will it?"
"You'll lend me the money, won't you?"

are examples of this kind of sentence.

Some special cases:

1) If the tense used has more than one auxiliary such as "have been doing,"
"will be able to," etc. then the tag uses only the first auxiliary.

eg "You would have been able to to work late, wouldn't you?"
of the auxiliaries here it the first one, "would", provides the tag.


2) The imperative sometimes uses "will"

"Come here, will you?"
"Don't let the cat out, will you?"

and sometimes "won't"
(it gives a more "helpless" idea of the speaker).
"Help me with my homework, won't you?"


3) "I am ..." takes the tag " ... aren't I?" as in:

"I am going to be invited, aren't I?"

and "I'm not ..." takes "... am I?" as in:

"I'm not late, am I?"