Tag Question

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. We use tag questions to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Is that right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure of a tag question is:

Table 3

Table 3

positive statement

negative tag

Snow is white,

isn't it?

There are no rows in this table

⁠

Table 4

Table 4

negative statement

positive tag

You don't like me,

do you?

There are no rows in this table

⁠

Notice that the tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes" (meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English!

Here are some more examples, with correct answers:

The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.

The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.

The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!

Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!

Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!

Men don't have babies, do they? No.

The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

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