Question Tags
Question Tags : A question tag is a short question added at the end of a sentence to confirm or check information. Question tag āĻšā§āĻā§ āĻāĻāĻž āĻ¸ā§°ā§ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻļā§āĻ¨, āĻ¯āĻŋāĻā§ āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āĻ¯ā§° āĻļā§āĻˇāĻ¤ āĻ¯ā§āĻ āĻā§°āĻž āĻšāĻ¯āĻŧ āĻāĻŋāĻŦāĻž āĻāĻāĻž āĻ¨āĻŋāĻļā§āĻāĻŋāĻ¤ āĻā§°āĻŋāĻŦāĻ˛ā§ āĻŦāĻž āĻĒā§°ā§āĻā§āĻˇāĻž āĻā§°āĻŋāĻŦāĻ˛ā§āĨ¤
Basic Rules of Question Tags : Question Tag ā§° āĻŽā§āĻ˛ āĻ¨āĻŋā§āĻŽāĻ¸āĻŽā§āĻš
1. Positive sentence → Negative tag : āĻāĻ¤āĻŋāĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āĻ¯ā§° āĻĒāĻŋāĻāĻ¤ āĻ¨ā§āĻ¤āĻŋāĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ tag āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻšā§
Example: You are coming, aren’t you ? → āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻšāĻŋ āĻāĻāĻž, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
2. Negative sentence → Positive tag : āĻ¨ā§āĻ¤āĻŋāĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āĻ¯ā§° āĻĒāĻŋāĻāĻ¤ āĻāĻ¤āĻŋāĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ tag āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻšā§
Example: She isn’t ready, is she ?→ āĻ¤āĻžāĻ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻ¸ā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ¤ āĻ¨āĻšā§, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
3. Auxiliary verb in sentence → Same auxiliary in tag : āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āĻ¯āĻ¤ āĻ¯āĻĻāĻŋ auxiliary verb āĻĨāĻžāĻā§, tag āĻ¤ āĻāĻā§ verb āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻšā§
Example: He is working, isn’t he ? āĻ¤ā§āĻāĻ āĻāĻžāĻŽ āĻā§°āĻŋ āĻāĻā§, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
4. No auxiliary verb → Use do / does / did : āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āĻ¯āĻ¤ auxiliary āĻ¨āĻžāĻĨāĻžāĻāĻŋāĻ˛ā§ do / does / did āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻā§°āĻž āĻšāĻ¯āĻŧ
Example: She likes tea, doesn’t she ? āĻ¤āĻžāĻ āĻāĻžāĻš āĻāĻžāĻ˛ āĻĒāĻžā§, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
5. Imperative sentence → will you / won’t you : āĻāĻĻā§āĻļ āĻŦāĻž āĻ āĻ¨ā§ā§°ā§āĻ§āĻŽā§āĻ˛āĻ āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āĻ¯āĻ¤ āĻāĻāĻŦā§ā§° āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻšā§
Example: Open the door, will you ? : āĻĻā§°ā§āĻāĻž āĻā§āĻ˛āĻžāĻā§āĻ¨, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
Exam Tips
Positive → Negative tag / Negative → Positive tag / Same subject + same tense / Sentence ā§° āĻļā§āĻˇāĻ¤ ? āĻĨāĻžāĻāĻŋāĻŦ
Common Exam Mistakes
- Wrong : She likes tea, isn’t she ? Right : She likes tea, doesn’t she ?
- Wrong : I am right, am I not ? Right : I am right, aren’t I ?
- Wrong : Let’s start, will we ? Right : Let’s start, shall we ?
MCQs
1. She is very kind, ___? (āĻ¤āĻžāĻ āĻā§āĻŦ āĻĻā§āĻžāĻ˛ā§, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?)
a) is she b) isn’t she c) doesn’t she d) wasn’t she
Ans: b) isn’t she
2. They haven’t finished the work, ___? āĻ¤ā§āĻāĻāĻ˛ā§āĻā§ āĻāĻžāĻŽāĻā§ āĻļā§āĻˇ āĻā§°āĻž āĻ¨āĻžāĻ, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ?
a) have they b) haven’t they c) do they d) did they
Ans: a) have they
3. He plays football every day, ___? āĻ¸ā§āĻ āĻā§ā§ąāĻžāĻ˛ā§āĻā§ā§ąā§ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻ¤āĻŋāĻĻāĻŋāĻ¨ā§ āĻĢā§āĻāĻŦāĻ˛ āĻā§āĻ˛ā§, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ?
a) isn’t he b) doesn’t he c) didn’t he d) won’t he
Ans: b) doesn’t he
4. Let’s go for a walk, ___? āĻāĻšāĻž āĻāĻŽāĻŋ āĻā§āĻāĻāĻžāĻāĻŋāĻŦāĻ˛ā§ āĻ¯āĻžāĻāĻ, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
a) will we b) won’t we c) shall we d) do we
Ans: c) shall we
5. I am your friend, ___ ? āĻŽāĻ āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻžā§° āĻŦāĻ¨ā§āĻ§ā§, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
a) am I not b) don’t I c) aren’t I d) didn’t I
Ans: c) aren’t I
6. She didn’t call you, ___? āĻ¤āĻžāĻ āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻžāĻ āĻĢā§āĻ¨ āĻā§°āĻž āĻ¨āĻžāĻāĻŋāĻ˛, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
a) did she b) didn’t she c) does she d) isn’t she
Ans: a) did she
7. Open the window, ___? āĻāĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻ˛āĻžāĻā§ āĻā§āĻ˛āĻžāĻā§āĻ¨, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
a) do you b) will you c) did you d) are you
Ans: b) will you
8. We have completed the task, ___? āĻāĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻžāĻŽāĻā§ āĻ¸āĻŽā§āĻĒā§ā§°ā§āĻŖ āĻā§°āĻŋāĻā§āĻ, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
a) have we b) haven’t we c) do we d) did we
Ans: b) haven’t we
9. He never tells a lie, ___? āĻ¸ā§āĻ āĻŽāĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻšāĻāĻ¨ā§ āĻā§āĻ¤āĻŋā§āĻžāĻ āĻŽāĻŋāĻāĻž āĻ¨āĻā§, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
a) does he b) doesn’t he c) is he d) isn’t he
Ans: a) does he
10. Let’s revise the lesson, ___? āĻāĻšāĻž āĻĒāĻžāĻ āĻā§ āĻĒā§āĻ¨ā§°āĻžāĻŦā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ¤āĻŋ āĻā§°ā§āĻ, āĻ¨āĻšā§ āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻŋ ?
a) will we b) won’t we c) shall we d) do we
Ans: c) shall we