Con las "question tags" en ingls terminamos las frases con una pregunta corta, de

signo contrario, la cual se usa para pedir la opinin o buscar la aprobacin del
interlocutor. Equivalen en espaol a: no es verdad?, no?, no es as?
I Am / I Am not / Are / Aren't / Is/ Isn't
Was / Wasn't / Were / Weren't

To go to Boston is the best choice, isn't it?
Ir a Boston es la mejor opcin, no?
I am on the list of those who have passed the test, aren't I?
Estoy en la lista de los que aprobaron el examen, no?
Pearl and Nick aren't in position to buy such an expensive house,are they?
Pearl y Nick no estn en condiciones de comprar una casa tan costosa, no?
I was at the office when Sarah got there, wasn't I?
Yo estaba en la oficina cuando Sarah lleg, no?
It was a great day to go fishing, wasn't it?
Fue un buen da para ir a pescar, no?
Your friends weren't expecting your call, were they?
Tus amigos no esperaban tu llamado, no?
We were having a good time at the party, weren't we?
La estbamos pasando bien en la fiesta, no?
Do / Don't / Does / Doesn't
Did / Didn't

I don't play tennis very well, do I?
No juego muy bien al tenis, no?
Those musicians play beautifully that song, don't they?
Esos msicos tocan esa cancin maravillosamente, no?
Wendy doesn't like coffee at all, does she?
A Wendy no le gusta para nada el caf, no?
The room looks great with the new painting, doesn't it?
La habitacin se ve maravillosa con el cuadro nuevo, no?
The movie scared you, didn't it?
La pelcula te asust, no?
Vera came to see you to ask for your advice, didn't she?
Vera vino a verte para pedirte consejo, no?
We didn't come on time to see the festival, did we?
No llegamos a tiempo para ver el festival, no?
Alice and Nick invited you to their wedding, didn't they?
Alice y Nick te invitaron a su casamiento, no?
Have / Haven't / Has/Hasn't
Had / Hadn't

I have chosen the cake you like, haven't I?
He elegido la torta que te gusta, no?
Phillip and Judith haven't been to the World Cup, have they?
Phillip y Judith no han ido al Mundial, no?
Edith hasn't attended classes lately, has she?
Edith no ha asistido a clase ltimamente, no?
The Lord of the Rings has been Tolkien's best book, hasn't it?
El Seor de los Anillos ha sido el mejor libro de Tolkien, no?
We had seen that woman in the shop, hadn't we?
Habamos visto a esa mujer en el negocio, no?
Helen hadn't answered all the questions on the test, had she?
Helen no haba respondido todas las preguntas en la prueba, no?
The doctors hadn't seen a case like that before, had they?
Los mdicos no haban visto un caso como se antes, no?
Martin hadn't finished painting the wall, had he?
Martin no haba terminado de pintar la pared, no?
Will / Won't
Would / Wouldn't

You will come to Spain next winter, won't you?
Vendrs a Espaa el invierno prximo, no?
The coffee machine will be soon working, won't it?
La mquina de caf estar funcionando pronto, no?
John and Peter won't play this tournament, will they?
John y Peter no jugarn este campeonato, no?
We will be seeing you soon, won't we?
Te veremos pronto, no?
You would work on Sundays, wouldn't you?
Trabajaras los domingos, no?
Mike wouldn't mind if I stayed at home, would he?
A Mike no le importara que me quedase en casa, no?
This necklace would be perfect for Mary Ann, wouldn't it?
Este collar sera perfecto para Mary Ann, no?
Victor and Wendy wouldn't think of getting married, would they?
Victor y Wendy no pensaran en casarse, no?
Can / Can't
Could / Couldn't

You can't play the guitar, can you?
No sabes tocar la guitarra, no?
This road can be dangerous to take at night, can't it?
Puede ser peligroso tomar esta ruta de noche, no?
It can't be true that Ben has just arrived, can it?
No puede ser cierto que Ben acabe de llegar, no?
Angela and Jack can call your lawyer if they are in trouble, can't they?
Angela y Jack pueden llamar a tu abogado si estn en problemas, no?
The winners could go to Swiss, couldn't they?
Los ganadores podran ir a Suiza, no?
You could ask Susan what she thinks about your case, couldn't you?
Podras preguntarle a Susan lo que piensa acerca de tu caso, no?
The project could have failed but for Daniel, couldn't it?
El proyecto podra haber fallado si no fuera por Daniel, no?
We couldn't come earlier to the party, could we?
No podramos llegar ms temprano a la fiesta, no?
May / Mightn't

It may rain tonight, mightn't it?
Podra llover esta noche, no?
We may try to talk to Susan to see if she changes her mind,mightn't we?
Podramos intentar hablar con Susan a ver si cambia de opinin, no?
Jane mightn't help me with the cleaning, may she?
No podra Jane ayudarme con la limpieza, no?
Bill may catch the train if he tried, mightn't he?
Bill podra alcanzar al tren si lo intentara, no?
Should / Shouldn't
Must / Mustn't

Sally should have called to tell us that she is ok, shouldn't she?
Sally debera haber llamado para decirnos que est bien, no?
Robert shouldn't propose to Alice if he is not sure about it, should he?
Robert no debera proponerle matrimonio a Alice si no est seguro, no?
Tim and I should take a taxi so we get on time, shouldn't we?
Tim y yo deberamos tomar un taxi as llegamos a tiempo, no?
The students shouldn't behave that way, should they?
Los alumnos no deberan comportarse as, no?
Carol mustn't use make-up in the play, must she?
Carol no debe usar maquillaje en la obra de teatro, no?
I must visit the doctor if the pain continues, mustn't I?
Debo ir al mdico si contina el dolor, no?
The gardener must finish the work now, mustn't he?
El jardinero debe terminar el trabajo ahora, no?
Janet must think of a present for her boyfriend's birthday, mustn't she?
Janet debe pensar en un regalo para el cumpleaos de su novio, no?
Las "questions tags", tambin llamadas "tag questions", son pequeas preguntas
que decimos al final de una oracin (afirmativa o negativa) cuando queremos que
nuestro interlocutor muestre acuerdo o desacuerdo, o bien para preguntar lo que
no sabemos.

Equivalen a nuestro no? verdad? no es as? no es cierto? Y son muy
comunes tanto en espaol como en ingls.

Normalmente se usan en el lenguaje informal, por eso se contraen.

Ejemplos:


-You are American, aren't you?Eres Americano, verdad?

-She doesnt work on Saturdays, does she? Ella no trabaja los sbados, no?

Cmo se forman las "Question Tags"?

1) Verbo auxiliar + pronombre:

Para formar la "question tag" utilizamos los verbos auxiliares (be, have, do, will,
would, can could, etc) y a continuacin el pronombre personal sujeto.

Ejemplo:


-Mary is at home, isn't she?
Excepcin: con I am, hacemos la question tag,arent I?

-I am right, aren't I? (no: am not I) Tengo razn, no?

-I am not mistaken, am I? No estoy equivocado, verdad?

El auxiliar debe concordar con el verbo de la oracin principal, es decir, si el verbo
est en pasado, el auxiliar ir tambin en pasado.

-You liked the movie, didn't you? Te gust la pelcula no?

2) La ley de los contrarios

En oraciones afirmativas, la question tag va en negativa:

- You speak English, don't you? Hablas ingls no?

Y en oraciones negativas, la question tag va en afirmativa:

-You havent got a pet, have you? Tienes una mascota, verdad?

Excepcin: Cuando en la oracin principal usamos palabras negativas como
nothing, no one, nobody, no never hardly scarcely and little la question
tag deber ser afirmativa.

Ejemplos:

-Nobody likes the food, do they? A nadie le gusta la comida, verdad?
- Well never forget that day, will we? Nunca olvidaremos ese da, verdad?


Otras particularidades:

-Con somebody anybody, nobody someone anyone, no-oneeverbody
anyone, la question tag llevar el auxiliar en plural y el pronombre sujeto "they",
aunque en la oracin el verbo est en singular.

- Nobody knows what happened, do they? Nadie sabe lo que pas, verdad?
- Everybody wanted to go to the concert, didn't they? Todo el mundo quera ir al
concierto verdad?

-Con everything, anything, nothing, something ponemos "It" en la question
tag.

-Everything is all right now, isn't it? Todo est bien ahora, verdad?

Despus de "let's", se coloca la "questin tag" "Shall we"

-Let's have a pizza, shall we? Tomemos una pizza, no?

-"There" puede ser el sujeto en una question tag:

-There isnt any rice left, is there?

-Con el imperativo,

En negativo ponemos la question tag "will you"? Y la orden se convierte en una
peticin corts:

Ejemplos:

- Don't be late, will you? No llegues tarde, vale?

En afirmativo ponemos la question tag "won't you?", y la orden se convierte en
invitacin:

-Have another piece of cake, won't you? Tmate otro trozo de pastel, no?

Por qu son tan difciles de aprender?

Esto depende de cada persona, lo que para algunos es difcil para otros puede no
serlo y viceversa. Tambin influye el hecho de que estas estructuras no se parecen
en nada a las que nosotros usamos en espaol, y acostumbrados a decir verdad?
no? es normal que nos cueste un poquito ms aprender tantas variaciones en
ingls.

Lo ms importante es no desanimarse, y sobre todo saber que La clave est en
la prctica!

Un saludo,
Virginia. Colaboradora de El blog para aprender Ingls

**************
Ms sobre "questions tags"
Aqu puedes hacer muchos ejercicios sobre "questions tags".
1. isn't she?
2. were you?
3. does she?
4. didn't he?
5. don't you?
6. can't you?
7. will he?
8. couldn't he?
9. aren't there?
10. shall we?
11. is it?
12. aren't I? (ain't I? is vulgar)
13. would you?
14. should I?
15. didn't they?
16. had he? (He'd = He had)

1.
Ann is on vacation, ?
2.
You weren't listening to me,, ?
3.
Sue doesn't like onions, ?
4.
Jack applied for his new job, ?
5.
You have a camera, ?
6.
You can type well, ?
7.
He won't mind if I leave early, ?
8.
Tom could help you with the work, ?
9.
There are a lot of people here, ?
10.
Let's have dinner at 8:30, ?
11.
This movie isn't very interesting, ?
12.
I'm too fat, ?
13.
You wouldn't tell anyone, ?
14.
I shouldn't have gotten angry, ?
15.
They had to go home, ?
16.
He'd never seen you before, ?