Question Tags – Part 1

Question tags are phrases added at the end of a sentence to make it a QUESTION or ask for agreement from the hearer.

The important aspect to be noted in tag formation is that a Positive statement takes a negative tag and a Negative statement takes a positive tag with a few exceptions. On this basis, analyze the following sentences.  Let me make it clear that this is not an exhaustive list of tags and explanations are minimum due to practical constraints. Question Tags will require a little more space than my usual posts. Therefore it will be presented in three parts back-to-back.

Please note the following short forms which will be used in place of full forms:
P = Positive sentence,  N = Negative sentence.

Other tips to note regarding the formation of TAGS :

(1) the statement must  end with a comma (,)

(2) the beginning  letter of the tag must be  in small letter, eg- i

(3) the tag must end with a question mark (?)

  • It is very cold today, isn’t it? (P)
  • It’s not very warm today, is it? (N)
  • None of the food was wasted, was it? (N)
  • We saw no one we knew, did we? (N)
  • A small scratch like that is nothing, is it? (N)
  • Few people knew the answer, did they? (N)
  • A few people knew the answer, didn’t they (P)
  • Little progress has been made, has it? (N)
  • A little progress has been made, hasn’t it? (P)
  • We could scarcely hear what he said, could we? (N)
  • We seldom see them nowadays, do we? (N)
  • I am older than you, aren’t I? (P)
  • I am not older than you, am I? (N)
  • We mustn’t be late, must we? (N)
  • One can’t be too careful, can one? (N)
  • She used to be quite a good tennis player, didn’t she? (P)
  • She didn’t use to be a good dancer, did she? (N)

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