Question Tags and Short Answers
What is a Question Tag?
A question tag is a grammatical structure where a short question is asked to express interest rather than seek information.
Examples
Sunil loves to ride his horse, doesn’t he?
Radha doesn’t want to participate in the competition, does she? Gauri and Ketan have not met grandmother yet, have they?
Children find games amusing, don’t they?
The phrases doesn’t he, does she, have they and don’t they are question tags.
Question Tags – Pattern
For positive statements: Question tag = Auxiliary + n’t + Subject
The guests have come, haven’t they?
Puja bought this dress, didn’t she?
For negative statements: Question tag = Auxiliary + Subject
The guests haven’t come yet, have they?
Puja didn’t buy this dress, did she?
How to Form Question Tags?
It is easy to form a question tag:
1. Rewrite the sentence replacing the full-stop with a comma(,).
2. Change the verb in the sentence to its contracted form for negativetagging.
3. Add the appropriate verb for positivetagging.
4. Add the appropriate pronoun after theverb/contraction.
5. Add a question mark (?) tofinish.
Examples
He is a librarian, isn’t he?
She is not coming, is she?
Dorothy called you several times, didn’t she?
They couldn’t hear me, could they?
I am the greatest, aren’t I?
What are Short Answers?
• Short answers are generally used in direct speech or during an engagingconversation.
• The questions to short answers usually begin with auxiliaryverbs.
Short Answer - Pattern
Yes + pronoun + auxiliary
Or
No + pronoun + auxiliary + n’t (not)
Examples
Are you going to the party? Yes, I am.
No, I am not.
Can we have some coffee before that? Yes, we can.
No, we can’t/cannot
Is Joel coming for the party? Yes, he is.
No, he isn’t.