Short note on Question tags

Question Tags are short questions added at the end of a sentence. The purposes of question tag are:

1. To confirm a known information. Answer is not expected. Eg.: ‘You are a student, aren’t you?’
2. To seriously ask a question and get an answer. Eg.: ‘The patient is out of danger, isn’t he?’
3. To sound polite. Eg.: ‘Please close the door, will you?’ ‘Let us have dinner, shall we?’

Question tags, can be asked in two tones of voice:

The Falling Tone The Rising Tone

Purpose 1 above uses Falling Tone. Purpose 2 & Purpose 3 uses Rising tone.

We are confirming Information. We are unsure of the answer. So we expect our

question to be answered. In Purpose 2, the

person really wants to know from the doctor

whether the patient is out of danger.

In Purpose 3, the speaking-person really wants

to know whether his friend will say yes or no to

his request/proposal.

Rules of Question Tag Forming

1. Positive Statement has a negative question.
Eg.: He is a army-man, isn’t he? [Is becomes Isn’t]

Negative statement has a positive question tag.

Eg.: The movie hasn’t started, has it? [Has becomes Hasn’t]

2. The question tag will have the same Subject as in the main sentence.
Eg.: Kohli is a great batsman, isn’t he [Kohli]?
3. The question tag will have the same helping verb, in same tense, as in the main sentence.
Eg.: We are powerful, aren’t we? [ARE>Aren’t]
4. When the sentence is without a helping verb, we add ‘Do/Did’ before the main verb.
Eg.: We love pizza.
We [DO] love pizza, don’t we?
Note on Short Answers
We specifically use short answers during:

1. Permission: we use ‘may’ and ‘can’.

Eg.: May I come in?—Yes, you may.

Can I use credit card here?—Yes, you can.

2. Possibility. We use ‘may’ or ‘might’.

Eg.: Why should I study Law? –You may have a strong career. [80 % possibility]
Do you think it will rain? –I don’t know. It might. [10 % possibility]

3. Obligation. We use ‘MUST’

Eg.:
Do I have to maintain 90% attendance?
--Yes, you do. [Alternatively, ‘Yes, you must’]