Question Tags in English - Grammar Lesson

a question tag is a short question at the end of a statement for example you are a student aren't you aren't you is a question tag you are creating a yes/no question at the end of your statement in general question tags are used when asking for agreement or confirmation but we will see more about that in a moment when using question tags a positive statement is followed by a negative question tag you are a student aren't you you are is positive so the question tag needs to be negative aren't you notice how there is a comma at the end of the first statement you are student comma the question tag is formed by an axillary a modal verb or form of the verb to be in this case it is a form of the verb to be after this comes the subject pronoun in this case you a negative statement is followed by a positive question tag Mary isn't a teacher is she Mary isn't is negative so the question tag needs to be positive is she Mary isn't a teacher is she notice how we don't repeat the noun Mary and the question tag we use the subject pronoun she' to avoid repetition a subject pronoun is used to replace the subject in the statement if it appears as a noun or a noun phrase intonation is the rise and fall of the voice in speaking question tags can have a rising intonation or falling intonation let's look at the meaning of both rising intonation John doesn't speak Spanish does he if the intonation of the question care goes up it means you're not sure and you want to know the answer John doesn't speak Spanish does he my voice went up at the end was does he because I'm not sure whether he speaks Spanish or not falling intonation John doesn't speak Spanish does he the intonation of the question tag goes down it means you're checking or confirming information that we are sure of it can also mean you're making conversation John doesn't speak Spanish does he my voice went down at the end was does he because I am sure he doesn't speak Spanish but it would be great if you could confirm this with me or I just want you to agree with me let's look at using question tags and different tenses we will start with negative question tags remember if we have a positive statement the question tag is negative we will start with the verb to be here are 4 positive statements can you tell us what the negative question tag would be for each one if the verb to be in this statement is in the present tense then it also needs to be in the present tense in the question tag also if the verb to be in a statement is in the past tense then it also needs to be in the past tense in the question tag you are a student aren't you he is very busy isn't he she was happy wasn't she they were surprised weren't they be careful there is an exception when the subject is I followed by an in the positive statement for example I am late the negative question tag is irregular and you say aren't I I am late aren't I we do not say am i know it probably sounds strange to you but that is what we do in English I am late aren't I let's look at using question tags with auxiliary verbs and modal verbs remember if we have a positive statement the question tag is negative what is the question aggghhhhh for each one you have studied all week haven't you you had arrived before we left hadn't you you will pass the exam won't you you can speak two languages can't you you could do it for me couldn't you we must be patient mustn't we you should go now shouldn't you you would like a new job wouldn't you that was easy wasn't it what do we do with normal verbs that are not to be or modal verbs or the reverbs what we do for example you speak English this is a positive statement what would a negative question tag be when the verb in the statement is in the present tense we form the question tag what don't or doesn't you speak English don't you he speaks Spanish doesn't he and when the verb in the statement is a the past tense we form the question tab with didn't she studied for the test didn't she we use didn't because studied is the past tense of study let's try some more examples what would the negative question tag be for these statements they need a dictionary don't say John lived in Japan didn't he Mary wants a new car doesn't she now we're going to look at positive question tags if we have a negative statement the question tag is positive we will start with a verb to be here are 4 negative statements can you tell us what the positive question tag would be for each one remember if the verb to be in the statement is in the simple present in then the question tag also needs to be in the present tense if the verb to be in a statement is in the symbol past tense then the question tag also needs to be in the past tense let's begin you aren't a teacher are you he isn't crazy is he she wasn't relaxed was she they weren't late were they the same applies to negative statements with auxilary verbs and modal verbs here are some examples can you tell us what the positive question tag would be for each one you haven't been here all week have you you hadn't done it before then had you you won't fail the exam will you you can't drive a car can you you couldn't do it for me could you we mustn't say anything must we you shouldn't be so busy should you you wouldn't stop me would you when a statement has don't doesn't or didn't in it you just remove the negative end part of in apostrophe T to make it a positive question tag you don't speak French do you she doesn't speak Italian does she he didn't study for the test did he statements using negative words such as barely hardly neither no nobody none nothing and so them these are treated as negative statements if those words appear in this statement then the question tag will be positive for example nobody went to the meeting this statement contains the word nobody so it is a negative statement that needs a positive question tag nobody went to the meeting did play another example nothing is ready is it the word nothing makes it negative so we need a positive question tag is it be careful with the following question tags I an early aren't I we saw this before let's go to the beach shall we when a statement begins was lent the question tag is shall we they're armed any spiders in the bedroom are there notice how we use there and the question tags this is Paul's pen isn't it we don't say isn't this no which a isn't it don't forget William with negative imperative we normally use will you as the question tag this was easy wasn't it give us more examples of question tags in the comments have an awesome day you

Channel: Woodward English

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Keywords: Learn English, Inglés, English, Lesson, Question Tags, Questions, Grammar, ESL, Intonation, Examples, Modal Verbs, Auxiliary Verbs, To Be, Question tags in English, English questions tags, negative question tags, positive question tags, irregular question tags, esl question tags, Modal verbs question tags, question tag shall, tag question, how to form question tags?, tag questions, types of tag questions, rules for forming question tags, question tags rules, question tags english

Id: 6CSdK651k9Y

Length: 14min 23sec (863 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 09 2017