{"id":4332,"date":"2021-04-07T23:25:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T06:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/english-speaking\/?p=4332"},"modified":"2021-04-07T23:34:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T06:34:59","slug":"tag-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/english-speaking\/tag-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Tag Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

We <\/span>touched on<\/i><\/b>\u2014briefly talked or wrote about\u2014tag questions in our article about <\/span>answering questions in English<\/span><\/a>. But there\u2019s a lot more to learn about this special type of question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019re going in depth on tag questions. We\u2019ll learn their basic structure, how to use them in positive and negative contexts, how to answer them, and some special use cases.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Structure of a Tag Question<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Tag questions have a specific construction in English: <\/span>statement + short question<\/i><\/b>. They\u2019re used to ask for confirmation about something and commonly used in everyday conversation. If you want to confirm if something is correct or if someone agrees or disagrees with a statement, you can ask a tag question.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Statement<\/span><\/td>\nTag Question<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
He\u2019s very tall,<\/span><\/td>\nisn\u2019t he?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Statement<\/span><\/td>\nTag Question<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You\u2019re not going to go,<\/span><\/td>\nare you?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you make a tag question, repeat the auxiliary or \u2018be verb\u2019 from the statement and then change the positive or negative form to the opposite\u2014meaning a positive statement changes to a negative tag question and a negative statement changes to a positive tag question.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Tag Questions with a Positive Statement<\/span><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at tag questions asked with a positive statement. The form has two parts: <\/span>Positive Statement + Negative Tag<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Positive Statement:<\/span><\/h4>\n

Subject + Auxiliary or \u2018be verb\u2019 + Main Verb<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

They + are + going,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Negative Tag:<\/span><\/h4>\n

Auxiliary + Not + Personal Pronoun (repeat the subject)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Aren\u2019t (are not) + they?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

So, the full tag question is: <\/span>They are going, aren\u2019t they?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are some more examples:<\/span><\/p>\n