Tag Questions – English Grammar Lessons

Ellii Tag Questions

This section explains the concept of tag questions in English, their formation, and how to respond to them.

What are Tag Questions?

• Tag questions involve adding a short phrase at the end of a positive or negative sentence stem.

• Tag questions are used for emphasis or confirmation in spoken English.

• Example: "That kitten is cute, isn’t it?"

Forming Tag Questions

• To form tag questions, reverse the order of the subject and verb from the sentence stem.

• Subject pronouns remain the same in tags; nouns become pronouns.

• The tag verb is opposite to that in the sentence stem.

Types of Tag Questions

• Tags depend on the tense and verb used in the sentence stem.

• Positive stem verbs have negative tags; negative stem verbs have positive tags.

• Be verbs use Be in tags; other present verbs use "do" or "does."

Intonation in Tag Questions

• Intonation refers to voice rising or falling. Rising intonation implies less certainty than falling intonation.

• Rising intonation (80–90% sure): "That was a great movie, wasn’t it?"

• Falling intonation (95% sure): "That was a great movie, wasn’t it?"

Responding to Tag Questions

• Respond based on agreement with the sentence stem using appropriate verb forms ("yes" for agreement).

• Respond with “yes” for agreement with positive sentences and “no” for negatives.

Practice Exercises

This section provides practice exercises for forming and responding to tag questions.

Practice Examples

• Engage in exercises by providing correct tag questions with varying levels of certainty through intonation.

• Example: "They speak Spanish fluently, don’t they?"

• Practice saying twice with rising and falling intonations.

Conclusion