Practise these contractions —
|
Word |
Contraction |
Word |
Contraction |
|
am/’m |
aren’t…..? |
had
+ v3 |
hadn’t…..? |
|
are/’re |
aren’t…..? |
had
better not |
had…..? |
|
can |
can’t…..? |
has
+ v3 |
hasn’t…..? |
|
command |
will
you? |
has
to /have to /had to |
doesn’t/don’t/didn’t…..? |
|
could |
couldn’t…..? |
has/have/had+
noun |
doesn’t/don’t/didn’t…..? |
|
dare
not |
dare…..? |
have
+ v3 |
haven’t…..? |
|
dares |
doesn’t…..? |
let(me/us/him/her/them) |
will
you? |
|
do |
don’t…..? |
may |
mayn’t…..? |
|
does |
doesn’t…..? |
might |
mightn’t…..? |
|
did |
didn’t…..? |
must |
mustn’t…..? |
|
don’t/
never + v + o |
will
you? |
needed |
didn’t…..? |
|
‘d
+ better |
hadn’t…..? |
needs |
doesn’t/needn’t…..? |
|
‘d
+ have + v3 |
wouldn’t…..? |
shall |
shan’t…..? |
|
‘d
+ rather |
wouldn’t…..? |
should |
shouldn’t…..? |
|
‘d
+ v3 |
hadn’t…..? |
used
to + v1 |
didn’t…..? |
|
‘s
+ been + v4 |
hasn’t…..? |
v1 |
don’t…..? |
|
‘s
+ being + v3 |
isn’t…..? |
v2 |
didn’t…..? |
|
‘s
+ ing |
isn’t…..? |
v5 |
doesn’t…..? |
|
‘s
+ noun |
isn’t…..? |
will |
won’t…..? |
|
‘s
+ p.p. (v3) |
hasn’t…..? |
would
rather not |
would…..? |
|
had
+ noun |
didn’t…..? |
would/’d
+ v1 |
wouldn’t…..? |
Quick Tip: Tag questions are a very common
feature of spoken English and are used mostly
as a social convention, inviting a response
from the other person. They are used to elicit a response or just as a statement. Tags are also used
for asking for
an agreement or confirmation.
Tag is not a separate sentence; it is
a part of sentence.
Grammar Focus: Rules of Question Tag
1.
There should be comma (,) at the end of the statement.
He plays football, doesn’t he?
2.
A
tag should begin with small letter.
She eats an apple, doesn’t she?
3.
Affirmative
statement has a negative tag and
negative statement has a
positive tag.
Ram
works hard, doesn’t he? (Positive statement-Negative tag)
We
aren’t running on the ground, are we? (Negative statement-Positive tag)
4.
Nouns
as subject of the statement should be changed into pronoun.
The girls were in
white dress, weren’t they? We have a car, don' t we?
People live in house,
don't they?
These boys are
honest, aren't they?
5.
If
there is auxiliary verb in the statement, the same auxiliary verb should be
repeated in the tag. Here is a list of auxiliary verbs.
|
Present Form Past
Form |
|
|
is/am/are |
was/were |
|
have/has |
had |
|
do/does |
did |
|
shall/will |
should/would |
|
can/may |
could/might |
|
must |
had
to |
You
are making
noise, aren’t you?
You
ought to read
this novel, oughtn’t you?
He will fail the test, won’t he? Rica can sing a song, can’t she? We do our task, don't we?
6.
If
there is no auxiliary verb in the statement, do,
does or did
is used in
the
tag
according to the subject, number and form of the verb.
Sub
+v1 (base form) = don’t Sub +v2 (past form) = didn’t
Sub +v5 (‘s’ or ‘es’ form) =doesn’t
Rita works hard, doesn’t she? People love music, don’t
they?
Roman
sang a beautiful song, didn’t he?
7.
If
the subject of the statement is ‘this’ or ‘that’ the pronoun in the tag is ‘it’ but if the subject is ‘these’ or ‘those’, the
pronoun in the tag is ‘they’.
This is a nice book, isn’t it? That is your concern,
isn’t it?
These are the things I need, aren’t they? Those are my
books, aren’t they?
8.
If
there is ‘You and I’ together in the
subject of the statement, the pronoun
in the tag should be ‘we’.
You
and I are relatives, aren’t we?
You
and I were working in a shop, weren’t we?
9.
If the verb ‘have’
is used as a main verb the tag will be as
given below. Have = do: We have lunch at 12, don't we?
Has = does
: She
has me do it, doesn't it?
Had = did: I had a headache
yesterday, didn't I?
10.
Imperative
sentences take will you as a tag. But
in the case of ‘Let’s’, ‘shall
we’ is used.
Close the window , will you? Never
take drugs, will you? Don’t make a
noise, will you? Get it done, will you?
Please, help me, will you? Have
this yourself, will you?
Let us play, will you? Do it, will you?
Let’s not play there,
shall we? Turn off
that switch, will you? Let’s have a
cup of tea, shall we? Come
here, will you?
11.
A
sentence having two clauses takes a
tag according to the former clause.
I wish he would pass the exam, don’t I? I don’t think he
will come here, do I?
It
is said that 5% of total children are out of school, isn’t it?
12.
If there is sub+’d+rather+v1 and sub+'d+better+v1 in the statement the tag
will
be wouldn’t and
hadn’t respectively.
You’d better take the exam, hadn’t you? He’d rather
consult doctor, wouldn’t he?
13.
Sentence
with negative words such as neither, no, none, no one, nothing, scarcely,
barely,
hardly, hardly ever, seldom, never, rarely, nobody, not often, infrequently are
always followed by a positive tag.
Nobody writes
homework, do they?
These students never play volleyball, do they?
Ram and Anita hardly pass the exam, do they?
Nothing happened, did it?
Neither of the students had lunch, did they?
None of them enjoyed the film, did they?
14.
Singular
auxiliary verbs (is, was, has, does)
change to plural
auxiliary verbs (are, were, have, do) to form tags if the
subjects of the statements are somebody, someone, nobody, no one, everybody,
everyone, anybody, anyone, none,
neither, etc.
Everyone likes swimming, don’t they? Everybody likes her,
don’t they?
No one respects a criminal, do they? Neither of the books
is good, are they? Somebody has got my purse, haven’t they?
15.
If
the subject of the statement is everything, anything, something, nothing, all +
singular verb, the pronoun in the tags is
‘it’.
Everything is ok, isn’t it? All is fine, isn’t it?
Something is wrong to
you, isn’t it?
Grammar Focus: Common Errors
|
Incorrect Correct |
|
|
|
I have many problems,
don’t I? |
|
|
He has a nice car,
doesn’t he? |
|
|
They had their lunch,
didn’t they? |
|
|
We have to go there,
don’t we? |
|
Y |
You had to convince her,
didn’t you? |
|
G |
Govinda has to be
careful, doesn’t he? |
|
|
You'd
better take the exam, hadn’t you? |
|
|
I am alright, aren’t I? |
|
|
Don’t tell a lie, will
you? |
|
|
Let’ have a cup of tea,
shall we? |
|
|
Everyone likes him, don’t
they? |
|
|
I shall be late this
evening, shan’t I? |
|
|
He cut his finger, didn’t
he? |
|
|
He hardly speaks English,
does he? |
|
|
He used to smoke, didn’t
he? |
|
|
This is a beautiful
house, isn’t it? |
|
|
That was a terrible
accident, wasn’t it? |
|
|
One should study hard,
shouldn’t one? |
|
|
Nobody has awareness, do
they? |
A.
Add a suitable question-tag to these sentences.
You mustn't
read this question, ? We all
have to write a short story, ? We must
obey the rule, ? We have to go there, ?
Milan doesn’t need to go home, ? Samikshya has to see a doctor, ?
Smoking ruins our health, ? John has to stop it, ?
Most people cannot go to Africa,
? Subash saw somebody, ?
Finding a job isn’t easy, ? Abin went
somewhere last night, ? They always sleep after lunch, ? Sangam
has something to do, ?
You’re coming with us, ? Anju told somebody about it, ? Nawaraj
is late this morning, ? They put it somewhere,
?
The hotel was quite good, ? There is
a cat in the room, ? Subashree cooks well, ? Somebody wants to meet him, ? You can’t
tell the difference, ? I
saw somebody I knew, ?
Nilam does his work very well, ? Anjush brought
something, ? This isn’t very pleasing, ? Thakur gave
it to someone, ? Nitesh likes quiet places, ? Susan is very thin, ?
Puja doesn’t play the piano, ? They need twenty-five dollars,
? They
didn’t hurt the child, ? They look at
the stars, ?
There were accidents yesterday, ? We take photographs,
?
Tourists used to come here, ? I like Mina
as she´s very friendly, ? Rachana needn’t go home, ? He usually travels by plane, ?
Rashila dared to jump, ? Anupam
writes detective stories,
? They daren’t do that, ? They go to the gym after lunch, ?
Ribi doesn’t dare to do that, ? Anuj
goes to bed early, ?
Rikesh saw the film, ? Bibas is a very intelligent person ? Everything is good, ? We were
at the party yesterday, ?
You aren’t good today, ? She has
a wallet, ?
She smokes 5 cigarettes
a day,
? Roy has got a new job, ? Rohan had had a great time there, ? We have
no problem, ?
They shall book the ticket, ? I have
been to Kathmandu, ? He has to work tomorrow, ? Bibek
scarcely goes to party, ?
Rishi has many friends here, ? Grisma
has no experience, ? You live up in the town, ? They had a baby last year, ?
Ritisha studies with you, ? Jeevan
had been to China, ? Rohit will be back later, ? We’d better go there on time, ? Sabina left at two o’clock, ? They
are very beautiful women ?
B.
Add
a suitable question-tag to these sentences.
There´s some milk in the fridge, ? This is a very incredible story , ? Both men look very much alike, ? Jonas took them somewhere,
?
I´m your best friend, ? I liked something about her, ? Sailesh has seen that movie, ? I have to work today, ?
They have to come back later, ? Ritesh wants to buy a computer ? Wait please,
? Mary is a very
friendly person ?
One should study hard, ? These shoes are very expensive ? Kapil
has to meet her, ? The movie
was very exciting ?
Kristina and I had to
say it, ? Ann likes apples and pears, ? I have a
new pen, ? We go to temple everyday, ?
Labish has a grammar book, ? Ramesh gets up at 6:45 everyday ? Manamulya had some problems, ? Reema
dares to tell a lie, ?
We must be honest, ? Ritu
visits her parents every month, ? Manoj has to be here at 2 o’clock, ? They
have to write many letters,
?
You don’t
have to follow him, ? Roshna
has to wait a few minutes, ? Nikesh has to fill a form, ? Sajan usually talks about football, ? Sudarsan didn’t have to go there, ?
Sachin wears his father´s shoes, ?
Niraj has your ticket,
? It takes me an hour to get there, ? Everything seems all right, ? Sijan goes there three times a week, ? Nisha has got to leave, ? Bipin plays golf with his boss, ?
Mohan plays football,
? Shreya
writes about her trips, ? You didn’t have any lessons today, ? Mary
has to come with him, ?
Rabin is on holiday, ? Sudan has to
study tonight, ?
We see
it on a daily basis, ? Aryan won’t object, ? Priyanka doesn’t know your
father, ? Nobody knows the matter, ?
There are three boys here, ? This will work to solve our problem, ? I
am not disturbing you, ? You haven’t
got a headache, ?
Someone has let the dog in, ? Don’t burst
that balloon, ? Raj
may read this book, ? You do go to school, ?
She is a charming
girl, ? The
moon goes round the earth, ? I
am a poor person, ? Live and let
other live, ?
They are very good people, ? Sudip
barely comes to me, ?
Nothing
was good at the party,
? Let’s
have a talk, ?
Rajan comes here every day, ? I have a
headache now, ?
C.
Add
a suitable question-tag to these sentences.
She can speak French well, ? Nobody knows
about it, ? They will be here early, ? None did well, ?
Hiramani left at two o’clock, ? Neither of them plays well, ? I was a very stupid person ? I am not well, ?
This trip is very interesting
? I am an engineer, ?
She is very pleasant,
? Several
boys use drug, ? This music is very romantic ? Manners
make a man, ? These exercises are very difficult ?
Birds make nest, ?
This whisky is very good, ? Parents are like gods,
? These girls are very beautiful ?
Dogs are best pets, ?
Do it yourself, ? Cats ate rats, ?
You just keep quiet, ? Cows are grazing,
? Please help the needy
people, ? Horses were running, ? Have
a cup of tea, ? We merely sleep, ?
None helped me last year, ? Everybody knows
me, ?
That boy ran very fast, ? She
barely drinks alcohol, ? You dare
not stay here, ? We never
set out there, ? There are no people, ? You need
not stay hare, ?
Sushmita said nothing, ? Nothing is interesting, ?
Sujal’d rather play basketball,
? I hardly sing a song, ?
