Structure Question tag

Gede Eka Putrawan, S.S., M.Hum

 Question tag is an expression used at the end of a sentence to ask for
confirmation or agreement about something we are not sure.
 The tag is constructed by finding out the auxiliary verb of the sentence
and then put it at the end part.
 It is used particularly in spoken English.
 Question tag adalah untuk sebuah pertanyaan yang dibuat dalam satu
kalimat untuk sebuah penegasan. Kadang-kadang pertanyaan jenis ini
tidak membutuhkan jawaban apapun, kecuali hanya untuk penegas si
pembicara kepada yang diajak bicara. dalam bahasa Indonesia
question tag adalah kata "bukan?" “kan?” untuk sebuah penegasan.
 Contoh:
- dia anak pintar, kan?
- kamu mengerti, bukan?

 If the main part of the sentence is positive, the question
tag is negative.
 if the main part of the sentence is negative, the question
tag is positive.
 Questions tags are auxiliaries (kt. bantu) and pronouns
(kt. ganti).
 The statement and the tag are always separated by a
comma.
 Treat any statements with nothing, nobody etc. like
negative statements.

QUESTION
TAGS
+
You can swim,
You can’t swim,
-
can’t you?
can you?
Main
clause/statement
Main
clause/statement
+
-
Tag
Tag
We form question tags
with an auxiliary verb
(e.g. be, have, do) or a
modal
(e.g. can, could, will,
would)
+
Pronoun

Q
U
E
S
T
I
O
N
T
A
G
I am
It
I am right, am not I? Aren’t I?
Nothing is missing is it?
Imperative
Suggestion
There
They
+
-
+
-
Open the door,
Don’t open the door,
will you?
will you?
Let’s start, shall we?
There is a letter for me, isn’t there?
Somebody called me,
Nobody called me,
didn’t they?
did they?

 Positive Statement, Negative Tag?
Statement (+) Question Tag (-)
Mira is a nurse, isn’t she?
She comes here, doesn’t she?
Soeharto led this country for more than 10 years, didn’t he?
He had met him before, hadn’t he?
 Negative Statement, Positive Tag?
Statement (+) Question Tag (-)
She does not cook every day, does she?
They haven’t sacrificed their life for us, have they?
We were not lazy, were we?

 The question tag for ‘I am’ is ‘aren’t I?
e.g. I’m the fastest, aren’t I? not: am not I?
 When the statement is positive, but contains a negative word (never,
barely, seldom, scarcely, hardly) then the question tag must be in
positive form.
e.g. They seldom visit their children, do they?
Tantri never reads the Jakarta Post, does she?
 When the subjects of the statement are somebody, someone,
everybody, everyone, nobody, and none, the personal pronoun in
the QT must be they.
e.g. Somebody is looking at me, aren’t they?
nobody called me, did they?

 When the subjects of the statement are something, everything,
nothing, the pronoun in QT is it.
e.g. Everything is running well, isn’t it?
Nothing can change my love for you, can it?
 When the subject of a positive statement in simple present is I, the
QT is “aren’t I?” and not vice versa.
e.g. I am a successful student, aren’t I?
I am a scholar, aren’t I?
I am not late, am I?
I am not a good man for her, am I?
 The QT of let’s is “shall we?”
e.g. Let’s go to the movie, shall we?
Let’s go, shall we?

 The QT of imperative (kalimat perintah) is “will ”, “would”, “won’t”.
e.g. Go out, will you?
Don’t smoke here, will you?
Open the window, will you?
Open the window, would you?
 We use won't with a polite request e.g. Open the window, won't you?
 The pronoun for the baby is it.
e.g. The baby is sleeping now, isn’t it?
 The QT of there is there.
e.g. There is a letter for me, isn’t there?
 In informal context/situation, the question tags used are usually right,
OK, correct.
e.g. John isn’t going, right?
I am your teacher, OK?
 If there is a modal verb in the main part of the sentence the question tag
uses the same modal verb.
e.g. They couldn’t hear me, could they?
You won’t tell anyone, will you?
We should have left earlier, shouldn't we?

Question tags can either be ‘real’ questions where you
want to know the answer or simply asking for agreement
when we already know the answer.
If the question tag is a real question we use rising
intonation. Our tone of voice rises.
If we already know the answer we use falling
intonation. Our tone of voice falls.

You're English,
aren't you?
You're not German,
are you?
You are a good singer,
You didn't go to work yesterday,
You have been to London,
 She doesn't like it,
You can sing,
 They shouldn't do that,
 He eats meat,
 He had a bath,
 Nothing happened,
 Peter can play football,
aren't you?
did you?
haven’t you?
does
she?
can’t you?
should they?
doesn’t he?
didn’t he?
did it?
can’t he?

 He was on the team last year,
 She has been swimming,
 She hasn't been playing tennis,
 You're a mechanic,
 Kiki doesn’t write a letter before bed,
We came home late last night,
 You didn’t see me,
 He sells toys,
 You are a student,
 They mustn’t buy the car,
 He won’t be happy,
 It seldom barks,
 You wouldn’t like a puppy,
wasn’t he?
hasn’t she?
has she?
aren’t you?
does she?
didn’t we?
did you?
doesn’t she?
aren’t you?
must they?
will he?
doesn’t it?
would you?

 They don’t take the book,
 She has never taken the boxes,
 Susan was not from her hometown,
 Someone let us go,
 Dogs like meat,
 He's been to Texas,
 He'll never know,
 Shut up,
 None understood that word,
 Deti had planned this,
do they?
has she?
was she?
didn’t they?
don’t they?
hasn’t he?
will he?
will you?
did they?
hadn’t she?

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