# 2. Paco enjoyed Chicago a lot, didn't he?(Question tags)

> We're sure that you have heard lots of question tags in English. They are not difficult, are they? Read the exercises of this section carefully and you will be able to use question tags easily, won't you?

# Curiosidad

ING01-06-05-audio03.mp3

Springfield (Illinois State): Abraham Lincoln's resting place

Imagen de Alexander Gardner en Wikipedia. Dominio público.

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery. Before his election in 1860 as the first Republican president, Lincoln had been a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. Senate. As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States, Lincoln won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year. His tenure in office was occupied primarily with the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Six days after the large-scale surrender of Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee, Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated.

Taken from Wikipedia.

# Reflexiona

Questions Tags

Question tags are very common in English. They are placed at the end of a sentence and they ask for confirmation. They mean: Am I right? or Do you agree with me?

Click on this link to see an explanation in Spanish. Here's another one.

# Retroalimentación

As you have probably deduced, the basic structure to form a question tag is:

+ Positive statement | - negative tag?
Today is Sunday, | isn't it?
- Negative statement, | + positive tag?
You don't like pizza, | do you?

Listen to this video about question tags and say if the questions below are true or false:

1) Questions tags are added at the beginning of the sentence.

2) We use questions tags to check if something is true.

3) We don't use questions tags to ask the listener to agree with what we have said.

Complete the sentences with the missing information:

4) If the main sentence is positive, the verb in the question tag is _______. And if the main sentence is negative, the question tag is ______.
5) When the main sentence contains __________________( have, will, can, could, etc.), we repeat the auxiliary verb in the question tag.
6) When the main sentence doesn't contain an auxiliary verb, the question tag uses the verb ________(in present simple) or ____ (in simple past ) .
7) If the subject of the sentence is nothing, everything, something and anything, we use _____ as the subject in the tag.
8) With ________________, we use tags will you/can you, would you. For example: Help me with this, can you?

1) FALSE. Questions tags are added at the end of a sentence.

2) TRUE.

3) FALSE. We do use questions tags to ask the listener to agree with what we have said.

4) If the main sentence is positive, the verb in the question tag is negative . And if the main sentence is negative, the question tag is positive .

5) When the main sentence contains an auxiliary or modal verb (have, will,can,could, etc), we repeat the auxiliary verb in the question tag.

6) When the main sentence doesn't contain an auxiliary or modal verb, the question tag uses the verb do/does(n't) (in simple present) or did(n't) (in past).

7) If the subject of the sentence is nothing, everything, something and anything, we use it in the tag.

Nothing is easy, is it?(Note: nothing = negative, so the question tag is positive. Compare with: Everything is easy, isn't it?)

8) With imperatives, we use tags will you/can you, would you.

Intonation in question tags

We can change the meaning of a tag question with our voice's intonation. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:

| INTONATION |
You don't know where Lincoln was born, | do you? | / rising | real question
Springfield is a beautiful town, | isn't it? | \ falling | not a real question

# Ejercicio Resuelto

> 1) It's not raining now, __________?

> 2) Your friend Mary likes pizza, __________?

> 3) You don't know who the most intelligent person in the class is, __________?

> 4) Paco is visiting Chicago now, __________?

> 5) Come with me to the supermarket, __________?

> 6) His classmates haven't failed the exam, __________?

Write the correct question tag to finish the questions above.

# Retroalimentación

> 1) It's not raining now, is it?

> 2) Your friend Mary likes pizza, doesn't she?

> 3) You don't know who the most intelligent person in the class is, do you?

> 4) Paco is now visiting Chicago , isn't he?

> 5) Come to the supermarket with me, won't you?

> 6) His classmates haven't failed the exam, have they?

# Comprueba lo aprendido

# Pregunta

Complete the sentences below with the appropriate question tag.
1) Paco is visiting Chicago, __________?

# Respuestas

Opción 1

a) isn't he?

Opción 2

b) does he?

# Retroalimentación

Correct.
Wrong. We can't use the auxiliary form does with the verb to be.

# Solución

1. Opción correcta (Retroalimentación)
2. Incorrecto (Retroalimentación)

# Pregunta

2) Your father shouldn't have said that, __________?

# Respuestas

Opción 1

a) would he?

Opción 2

b) should he?

# Retroalimentación

Wrong. You must always use the same verb in the question tag, so you can 't say would.
Correct.

# Solución

1. Incorrecto (Retroalimentación)
2. Opción correcta (Retroalimentación)

# Pregunta

3) Your sister would have passed the test if she had studied harder, __________?

# Respuestas

Opción 1

a) would she?

Opción 2

b) wouldn't she?

# Retroalimentación

Wrong. If the main clause is in the affirmative form the question tag has to be negative.
Correct.

# Solución

1. Incorrecto (Retroalimentación)
2. Opción correcta (Retroalimentación)

# Pregunta

4) The children weren't at school yesterday morning, __________?

# Respuestas

Opción 1

a) were they?

Opción 2

b) was they?

# Retroalimentación

Correct.
Wrong. You always have to keep the same verb form, so you can't use was but were.

# Solución

1. Opción correcta (Retroalimentación)
2. Incorrecto (Retroalimentación)

# Para saber más

Information about the question tags with explanations in Spanish.

Try to do these exercises about question tags to improve your knowledge about this grammar point.

Exercise 1 | Exercise 2 | Exercise 3
Exercise 4 | Exercise 5 | Exercise 6

Have a look here to check some information about the question tags in English.

Watch this video about the President of the United States who abolished slavery in the States.