 Tag
Questions Are Easy, Aren’t They?
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Tag Questions Are Easy, Aren’t
They? |
Have you ever been in a conversation and wanted to check
your understanding? That is the time to use a tag
question in English.
A tag question is a short question added to a statement.
The tag includes a pronoun and its matching form of the
verb be, or auxiliary verb. If the tag question is
negative, we shorten the phrase, or use a contraction
with the auxiliary verb. Here's an example:
I was visiting a friend and saw a photo on the wall. I
said,
“That’s a picture of your grandson, isn’t it?”
My friend answered,
“Yes, it is. That picture is from when he was two. He’s
a lot taller now.”
Purpose of tag questions
In the example, I wanted to confirm something I thought
was true. So I started with a positive statement,
"That's a picture of your grandson" then I added a
negative tag question: "isn't it?" My friend said I was
right - the picture was of his grandson.
English speakers use tag questions to encourage a
listener to respond. You will often hear teachers using
tag questions:
"You remember the history lesson from last week, don't
you?"
Some language researchers say that men use tag questions
more often than women. They think it might show that men
have more power in the conversation, and use tags to ask
for information or agreement. Others say women use a
certain kind of tag questions to make the conversation
run more smoothly.
Whatever your gender, when you use a tag question you
expect an answer. The form of that answer depends on the
type of tag question. Let's look at the two types of tag
questions.
Positive statements with negative
tags
We’ll talk first about tag questions that follow a
positive statement with the verb be. They use a reduced
form, or contraction. Make the tag question with a form
of the verb be combined with the negative not and the
pronoun. The verb be has to match the number and person
of the pronoun. Take a look at these examples:
They are walking to school, aren’t they?
She is taking the bus, isn’t she?
I am supposed to be sitting here, aren’t I?
You’re the math teacher, aren’t you?
In these examples, you reverse the order of the pronoun
and verb in the tag question. “They are” becomes “aren’t
they?” and “She is” becomes “isn’t she?”
If the statement uses another verb instead of be, the
tag question uses an auxiliary verb such as do or have.
For example, in the song A Little Time the singing duo
Beautiful South ask the question,
You need a little room for your big head,
Don't you, don't you?
and
Your face has been looking like that for hours
Hasn't it, hasn't it?
If you ask a negative tag question you expect a positive
answer.
Question: It's raining out, isn't it?
Expected answer: Yes, it is.
Negative statements with positive
tags
Now let’s look at tag questions that follow a negative
statement. These are in the affirmative. You can use
this to confirm that what you are thinking is true, and
you expect a negative answer.
Question: You don't eat all the cake, do you?
Expected answer: No, I don't.
Negative sentences with positive tag questions are not
as frequent as our first type. They use the same form,
with reversed word order.
British or American?
Tag questions are an example of a big difference between
British and American English. Language researchers using
computer data found that British English speakers used
tag questions nine times as often as American English
speakers!
Changing question intonation
In Understanding and Using English Grammar, Betty Azar
says that the intonation (change in pitch) shows the
purpose of a tag question. If the speaker is trying to
confirm information, the tone rises:
Adam works at VOA, doesn't he?
Speakers saying something that they are almost certain
the listener will agree with use a falling intonation.
It's a nice day, isn't it?
We leave you with a famous line from Carly Simon, in the
song You're So Vain:
You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You're so vain, I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? don't you?
For VOA Learning English, I’m Jill Robbins.
And I’m Jim Tedder.
Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this story for Learning English.
Hai Do was the editor. |
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