Page 96 - Grammar Glow - 8

17 17 Question Tags

Warm-up

Match the sentences in Column A with the question tags in Column B. Then, rewrite the
sentences in the blanks provided.
Column A Column B

1. They are not coming for dinner, a. hadn’t she?
2. She will work this Sunday, d. didn’t he?
3. Shweta had spoken to him, c. are they?
4. Jerry slept throughout the journey, d. won’t she?

1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________

Question Tags

A short question at the end of a statement can turn a whole statement into a question. This is
often done to make sure that the person we are speaking to has understood what we are saying.
It is also a way of convincing ourselves of a fact that we are not sure of. For example:
• You teach in that school, don’t you?

In the above sentence, don’t you is a question tag.
There are two types of question tags—positive and negative.

A negative sentence has a positive question tag. For example:
• Benaras is not the capital of UP, is it?

A positive sentence has a negative question tag. For example:

• Benaras is the oldest living city, isn’t?
Question Tags in Different Tenses

A question tag takes on the tense of the main sentence.

Simple Present : He reads the newspaper, doesn’t he?
: I do not like think food, do I?

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