question taqs

Lecture No.15
Question tags
A. Use
Melanie: It s a lovely day, isn t it ?
Harriet: Beautiful. We re having a glorious summer, aren t we ?
Melanie: You haven t heard a forecast for the weekend, have you ?
Harriet: No, I haven t, but I think it s going to stay sunny .
A question tag is a short question added on to a statement. When a tag is spoken, the voice can go down or up .
FALLING RISING
It s a lovely day, isn t it? You haven t heard a forecast, have you ?
With a falling intonation, the speaker thinks the statement is true. With a rising intonation, the speaker is less sure.
B. Form
POSITIVE STATEMENT + NEGATIVE TAG NEGATIVE STATEMENT + POSITIVE TAG
It is very warm, isn t it? It isn t very warm, is it ?
A negative tag is an auxiliary verb + n t + A positive tag is an auxiliary verb + pronoun. pronoun . You ve played before, haven t you? David hasn t got a car, has he ?
The children can swim, can t they? I shouldn t laugh, should I ?
It ll be dark soon, won t it? You aren t ill, are you ?
There was a mistake, wasn t there? The answer wasn t right, was it ?
The pronoun (you, he, etc) refers to the subject of the sentence, e.g. you, David. In
the present simple and past simple we use a form of do .
You live near here, don t you? We don t have to pay, do we ?
This coat looks nice, doesn t it? The shower doesn t work, does it ?
I turned right, didn t I? Your horse didn t win, did it ?
The answer yes means that the positive is true, and no means that the negative is true .
Mark works for Zedco, doesn t he? ~ Yes, he does. (He works for Zedco.) Melanie doesn t
33
eat meat, does she? ~ Fes, / think she does. (She eats meat.) Claire is married, isn t she ?
~ No, of course she isn t. (She isn t married.) Andrew hasn t got many friends, has he ? ~
No. (He hasn t got many friends .)
C. Requests and suggestions
After a request with an imperative (e.g. Wait ...), we can use can you? or could you ?
Wait here a moment, can you? Give me an example, could you? We can also use You couldn t..., could you? or You haven t..., have you? for a request . You couldn t help me, could you? You haven t got a pound, have you ? After Don t... the tag is will you?: Don t make any noise, will you? After Let s ... we use shall we?: Let s sit in the garden, shall we ?
Exercises
Look carefully at each statement and tag. Say if it is more likely to be a comment (with falling intonation) or a question (with rising intonation .)
This price list is up to date, isn t it? ~ Yes, it is. a question
1.It was a super show, wasn t it? ~ Great. I really enjoyed it .
2.These sweaters are nice, aren t they? ~ I like this one .
3.We ve got time for a coffee, haven t we? ~ A quick one maybe .
4.Let me see, the bus goes at ten past, doesn t it? ~ Quarter past.
You are at a barbecue. Add tags to help start a friendly conversation.
These sausages are delicious, aren t they?
. ~ They certainly are .
You haven t lived here long, have you ? ~ No, only three months?
1.It s quite a big garden, ............................................? ~ Yes, there s plenty of room .
2.There aren t many people here yet,.............................................. ? ~ No, but it s still quite early.
3.You re Rachel s friend, .......................................... ? ~ Yes, I m Vicky .
4.You came in a sports car, ............................................? ~ That s right .
5.These burgers look good,.............................................. ? ~ I can t wait to try them.
6.We can sit on the grass,............................................... ? ~ I think it s dry enough .
34
Complete the conversation. Put in the question tags.
Emma: You don t really want to go out with me any more, (?) do you?
.Matthew: Of course I do. But I need a bit of time to myself sometimes .
Emma: You get plenty of time to yourself, (1 ) ............................................ EMatthew: Emma, you know what I feel for you .
I ve told you enough times, (2 )...........................?
Emma: Yes, you have. And you re quite happy, (3 )............................................?
You don t mind, (4 ) ....................................................?
The situation doesn t bother you, (5 )..................................................?
Matthew: Why are we arguing? There s nothing to argue about, (6 ) ..............................?
Emma: You can t ever look at things from my point of view, (7 ) .....................................?
35