How to Make Tag Questions Ask Questions in English Basic English Grammar

wanna speak real English from your first

lesson sign up for your free lifetime

account at English class 101.com

hi everybody my name is Alisha in this

lesson I’m going to talk about tag

questions I’m going to explain what

tagged questions are how to make them

and a few different ways to use them so

let’s get started okay first what is a

tag question a tag question is a short

question that comes after a statement so

I’ll explain a lot of examples today so

these are very short questions usually

just like two words we use tag questions

for confirmation or for agreement so

when we want to check that something is

correct for example we use a tag

question when we want to use a tag

question to confirm information we

typically use downward intonation to do

this so you’ll hear a few examples of

this in this lesson however we also use

tag questions to ask for information so

we want to get some new information we

can use a tag question to do that but

typically when we want to ask for

something

we’ll use upward intonation the same way

that we would ask a regular information

question so let’s keep this in mind as

we look at some of the rules for using

tag questions and making tag questions

okay first to make tag questions there

are two basic rules I want to explain so

the first rule is if the verb in the

main sentence or in the main part of the

statement is a positive verb then the

verb in the tag question must be

negative so let’s look at a few examples

of this here you cooked this didn’t you

so here cooked is the verb and the main

part of the statement and it’s positive

that means I need to use a negative verb

here in this case didn’t in the ending

part of the statement so I’ll explain

this rule in just a moment to another

example he could hear me couldn’t he so

here could is positive in

main part of the statement therefore I

need to use the opposite form could it

the negative form at the end of the

statement in the tag question last

example here you’ve had breakfast

haven’t you so here I’m using you have

had breakfast so here you have is my

positive verb my positive auxiliary verb

in this case so I need to use the

negative haven’t in my tag question at

the end of the sentence so this is the

first part then the opposite is also

true as we see here in point number 2 so

if the verb in the main sentence or the

main part of the statement is negative

then the verb and the time question is

positive so this is the opposite of 0.1

that we just talked about here so I’ve

just made the opposite of each of these

sentences so here we’ll see you didn’t

cook this did you hear I have the

negative you did not cook this therefore

the positive did is used in the tag

question again he couldn’t hear me

could he here I’ve used couldn’t this

time it’s negative in the main part of

the statement so the tag question is

positive could he finally you haven’t

had breakfast have you here I have the

negative haven’t have not therefore I

need to use the positive have in the tag

question so this is the basic rule for

making tag questions if we see a

positive verb in the main part of the

statement the tag question should be

negative it should use a negative verb

and the opposite is also true

if a negative verb is used in the main

statement we should use a positive verb

in the tag question so this is one key

theme you’ll see in our example

sentences for today so let’s look at a

few more details about how to make these

point number three here is about

auxiliary verb so remember auxiliary

verbs are like have and has B for

example so if there’s no auxiliary verb

in the main statement then the tag

question will

use the appropriate form of the word do

and by that I mean the positive or the

negative form like do or does for

example so let’s look at some examples

of this so no auxilary verb is used here

so he made this didn’t he here I have

the verb made past tense

he made this didn’t he no auxilary verb

is here so we need to use the verb do

however made is a positive meaning the

tag question needs to be negative so

here didn’t his past tense did not in

other words the contracted form did not

is used here let’s look at one more here

I have the negative she didn’t go did

she so I need to use the positive did in

the tag question here again they

cancelled didn’t they so cancelled is

the verb it’s the positive form of the

verb used here I therefore need to use

the negative in the past didn’t in the

tag question

so again if no auxiliary verb is in the

main statement then we should use the

correct form the appropriate form of do

to make the tag question at the end

however as in point number four if there

is an auxiliary verb so if we do see

some case of have or be used then we

need to use the same auxiliary verb in

the tag question but we still need to

follow this rule the positive and

negative rule so for example he hasn’t

finished his homework has he here the

auxiliary verb has is used but I have

the negative form he hasn’t finished his

homework so I need to match this with

the positive has he he hasn’t finished

his homework has he next one she’s left

the office hasn’t she here the verb

might be hard to find it’s this

apostrophe s she’s left meaning she has

left the office hasn’t she here I’ve

used the negative because the positive

she has is used in the main statement

finally they were listening to our

conversation weren’t they here I’m using

were the positive were in the main

statement so I need to use the negative

weren’t in the tag question so please be

careful when you’re using an auxilary

verb in your main statement make sure to

use the opposite form of the auxiliary

verb in the tag question all right let’s

go on to part five so part five is a

little bit special so if M or R if one

of these words is used in the main part

of your statement then we’ll use our or

art to make the tag question here this

one’s a little bit special so for

example I’m I’m as the contracted form

of I am so I’m bleeding I am bleeding

aren’t I so again the same positive and

negative rule I am bleeding aren’t I

aren’t I so we’ll use the negative

aren’t here to match with the positive I

am another example

you’re not leaving are you so here you

are not leaving you are not leaving are

you so here we have a negative form

you’re not leaving are you

so here we need to use the positive form

in the tag question finally they’re

going home aren’t they so here we have

they are going so there’s a positive

form they are they are so we need to

match this with the negative form

they’re going home

aren’t they all right so please be

careful if you see this M or R in your

main statement please be careful of that

finally point number six if you use a

modal verb so this is like will won’t

good should would for example if a modal

verb is used in the main part of the

statement we need to follow the same

rule use the modal verb in the tag

question as well just use the opposite

form of that for example I shouldn’t eat

this should I

so here shouldn’t is my mode over I’ve

used the negative shouldn’t so we’ll use

the positive should in the tag question

I shouldn’t eat this should I another

one he won’t call will he so won’t in

this case the negative won’t is you

so I need to use will the positive form

in the tag question

finally they wouldn’t hurt us would they

again there’s the negative form in the

main statement and the positive form in

the tag question so you can see that

these two points about the positive and

negative matching these really are the

basis for making other tag questions and

then just pay attention to whether or

not you’re using an auxilary verb as

well in your main statement so always

think about matching the opposite form

of the verb in the main statement to the

tag question there and also think about

your intonation when you’re using these

kinds of sentences when you’re using

these kinds of questions so as we talked

about here when you want to just get

agreement or get confirmation from

someone you can use downward intonation

so for example he made this didn’t he or

she didn’t go did she or they cancelled

didn’t they

so there’s a very kind of downward sound

to it it sounds a little bit like you’re

not really asking for information maybe

like you’re talking to yourself almost a

little bit however if you want to

actually ask someone for information

make sure to use upward intonation so to

use the same examples

he made this didn’t he or she didn’t go

did she or they cancel

didn’t they so it’s again it still

sounds like you want to get confirmation

about something but when you use the

upward intonation it sounds like you

don’t actually know maybe you have a

guess but you’re not quite sure and you

are looking for some information so

please keep your intonation the sound of

your voice in mind when you’re using tag

questions okay that’s everything that I

want to explain for this point I hope

that it was useful for you if you have

any questions or if you want to try to

make a tag question please feel free to

do so in the comment section below this

video if you liked the video please make

sure to give it a thumbs up subscribe to

our Channel and check us out at English

class one

one calm for some other good resources

thanks very much for watching this

lesson and I will see you again soon bye

bye

[Music]