Long Beach City College

E-ESL Online Learning

Tag Questions

Dolphins aren't fish, are they?

Introduction

Tag questions are used to asked questions when the person asking the question thinks he or she already knows the answer. This lesson shows how to form tag questions and it provides several interactive quizzes.

Tag Questions

Most of the time, tag questions will be formed with a form of "be" or "do." However, a tag question can be made from any statement.

Step One - Make a question

Step Two - Make the question affirmative if it is negative or make the question negative if it is affirmative

Step Three - Remove everything after the subject noun

Step Four - Combine the statement with the tag*
*Replace the subject noun with a pronoun if it isn't already a pronoun

Tag questions have two parts, a statement and a tag. The following is an example.

She is a teacher, isn't she?

The first step in making a tag question is to form a question from the statement part.

She is a teacher. <-----------> Is she a teacher?

The second step is to make the question negative if it is affirmative or affirmative if the question is negative.

Is she a teacher? <-----------> Isn't she a teacher?

The third step is to remove everything after the subject noun.

Isn't she a teacher? <-------------> Isn't she?

The fourth and final step is to combine the statement with the tag.

She is a teacher, isn't she?

You weren't at the party, were you?

Step Two - Make question affirmative if it is negative or make question negative if it is positive
Weren't you at the party? <----------------> Were you at the party?

Step Three - Remove everything after the subject noun.
Were you at the party? <-----------------> Were you?

Step Four - Combine the statement with the tag
You weren't at the party, were you?

I am the lab manager, aren't I?

Step Two - Make question affirmative if it is negative or make question negative if it is positive
Am I the lab manager? <---------------------> Am I not the lab manager?
This is where a problem occurs. There is no contraction of am and not. "Amn't" is not a word. The closest word in English is aren't. Therefore, even though it looks wrong, it is correct to change the question to aren't I.
Am I the lab manager? <--------------------> Aren't I the lab manager?

Step Three - Remove everything after the subject noun.
Aren't I the lab manager? <-----------------> Aren't I?

Step Four - Combine the statement with the tag
I am the lab manager, aren't I?

Judy lives in Lakewood, doesn't she?

Step Three - Remove everything after the subject noun.
Doesn't Judy live in Lakewood? <-----------------> Doesn't Judy?

Step Four - Combine the statement with the tag
Judy lives in Lakewood, doesn't Judy?
Since we know that we are talking about Judy, we do not need to repeat her name. We will replace her name with the pronoun she.
Judy <------------------> she
Judy lives in Lakewood, doesn't she?

Sron worked in the ESL Writing Center, didn't he?

Step Two - Make the question affirmative if it is negative or make the question negative if it is affimative
Did Sron work in the ESL Writing Center? <---->Didn't Sron work in the ESL Writing Center?

Step Three - Remove everything after the subject noun.
Didn't Sron work in the ESL Writing Center? <-----------> Didn't Sron?

Step Four - Combine the statement with the tag
Sron worked in the ESL Writing Center, didn't Sron?
Since we know that we are talking about Sron, we do not need to repeat his name. We will replace his name with the pronoun he.
Sron <------------> he
Sron worked in the ESL Writing Center, didn't he?

You have seen this movie, haven't you?

Step Two - Make the question affirmative if it is negative or make the question negative if it is affirmative.
Have you seen this movie? <-------------> Haven't you seen this movie?

Step Three - Remove everything after the subject noun.
Haven't you seen this movie? <-----------> Haven't you?

Step Four - Combine the statement with the tag
You have seen this movie, haven't you?

Long Beach City College

E-ESL Online Learning

Introduction

Tag Questions

Quizzes