tag questions

TAG QUESTIO

NS

Reported by:

GADDIII – 11 BSE ENGLISH

WHAT IS ATAG

QUESTION?

TAG QUESTIONA statement that is turned into a

question by adding an

interrogative fragment called a

“TAG”

For example…

You’re John, aren’t you?

TAG QUESTIONUsed to ask for confirmation or

opinion.“Am I right

?”

“Do you

agree?”

For example…

It is going to rain, isn’t it?

When a sentence is written, a comma

separates the main clause from the tag. If a tag question is sentence medial, commas set off

the tag, and the terminal punctuation is still a question mark.

It’s human, isn’t it, to hope that peace among all people in

the world is possible?

For example…

TAG QUESTIONAlthough they have

the grammatical form of a question,

they may differ from questions in that

they do not expect an answer.

When there is no auxiliary verb or be

verb in the main clause, then a do verb must be introduced as an operator to carry

the tense.

She assigned homework,didn’t she?

For example…

To form tag questions…

1.) If the main clause is

affirmative, the tag should be

negative.If the main clause is negative, the tag should be affirmative.

Your aunt is visiting from the province, isn’t

she?

For example…

Your aunt isn’t visiting from the province, is she?

2.) If the subject of the main clause is not a pronoun, then it must be pronominalized

in the tag.

Megan is quite a

volleyball player, isn’t

she?*(isn’t

Megan?)

For example…

Responding to Tag Questions

According to the extensive corpus of

oral and written data by Brown (1981)…

Out of 80 tag questions, 30% of the tags received no answer at all.

Others were responded to with a yes or a no.

Others received affirmative answers such as that’s right, or sometimes, additional information is offered.

According to the extensive corpus of

oral and written data by Brown (1981)…

For example…Q: You’re from Makati, aren’t you?A: Yes, I am.Q: You’re from Makati, aren’t you?A: That’s right.

For example…Q: You’re from Makati, aren’t you?A: Yes. I’ve lived there since I was a kid.

If the listener disagrees with the speaker, he would give an explanation for the disagreement.

According to the extensive corpus of

oral and written data by Brown (1981)…

For example…Q: It is going to rain tonight, isn’t it?A: No. The weather

station said it would only be cloudy.

FIVE MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF TAG QUESTIONS

1.) INDICATE INFERENCE

Ex.So, therefore, that proves

malice, doesn’t it?

2.) SEEKING AGREEMENTEx.

They keep coming back, don’t they?

3.) INVITING CONFIRMATIONEx.Science is your

favorite subject, isn’t it?

4.) EXPRESSING DOUBTEx.They can’t get

through the hole, can they?

5.) EXPRESSING OPINIONEx.But that makes a mockery of

belief, doesn’t it?

SIX MINOR FUNCTIONS OF TAG QUESTIONS

1. Keeping the conversation going

2. Expressing interest

3. Expressing humor or sarcasm

4. Beginning a conversation

5. Making a polite request

6. Expressing surprise