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Tag questions: their use and form:

A tag question is a question we add to the end of an statement. For example:


You've learned a lot of English already, haven't you?

You've learned a lot of English already,


Statement

haven't you?
tag

A tag question generally includes an auxiliary verb like "be", "do", "have" or "can" and a subject pronoun
like "you", "I", "it" or "they".

There are two ways we use tag questions:


1) the first way we use tag questions is to confirm information we think is true, we use upper intonation
for these questions. For example:
a. You've learned a lot of English already, haven't you?
b. It's time to start, isn't it?
c. I wasn't late, was I?

In each of this, we say what we think is true and add the tag to check. We expect the answer to confirm
that what we think is true, is. Look at the expected answers for this tag questions:
a. You've learned a lot of English already, haven't you?
Expected answer: Yes, I have.
b. It's time to start, isn't it?
Expected answer: Yes, it is.
c. I wasn't late, was I?
Expected answer: No, you weren't
2) the second way we use tag questions is to make comments or small talk (to make a comment or
encourage small talk). We use downer intonation for these questions. For example:
a. It's a nice day, isn't it?
b. The bus is really crowded, isn't it?
c. The cookies were delicious, weren't they?

For these tag questions, we don't expect an answer but the other person can continue the conversation.
Look at these short conversations:
a. It's a nice day, isn't it?
It sure is.
b. The bus is really crowded, isn't it?
Yes. It seems to get more crowded every day.
c. The cookies were delicious, weren't they?
Mmm.

As we said earlier, tag questions have two parts:


- a statement;
- and a tag.

With affirmative statements, we use a negative verb in the tag. The verb tense is the same in both the
statement and the tag.
a. The waiter is busy, isn't he?
b. Dinner was expensive, wasn't it?

Affirmative statement + negative tag

Notice, if the subject is a noun like "the waiter" or "dinner" we change the noun to a pronoun like "it" in
the tag.
When we make tag questions about affirmative statement we expect to hear affirmative answers. For
example :
a. The waiter is busy, isn't he?
Yes, he is.
b. Dinner was expensive, wasn't it?
Yes, it was.

Affirmative statement + negative tag Affirmative answer

To make tag questions about negative statements, we use a postive verb in the tag.
I wasn’t late, was I ?
They aren’t waiting for us, are they ?
His sister hasn’t called, has she ?

Negative statement + positive tag

When we make tag questions about negative statements, we expect to hear negative answers. For
example :
a. I wasn’t late, was I ?
No, you weren’t.
b. They aren’t waiting for us, are they ?
No they aren’t.
c. His sister hasn’t called, has she ?
No, she hasn’t.

Negative statement + positive tag Negative answer


Cuidado con los tiempos, el verbo utilizado tiene que ser el mismo para el statement y la tag question.
Intonation of tag questions:

Tag questions can have :

Rising intonationquestions to confirm a check information

Falling intonationto make small talk or just a comment


The past perfect : statements

Have you ever had a really bad morning ? I did, today.

I woke up late because I hadn’t set my alarm clock. By the time I got to school, the staff meeting had
already started. I looked in my bag, and I’d forgotten my teacher’s book.

Had+ Past Participle

Let’s look at these sentences: they are all in the past perfect form : the word had and the past participle
(for examples, look at the green forms). Note the contraction « ‘d » for had. Had = ‘d.

We use the past perfect to describe an event that happen or didn’t happen before another event in the
past.

We use past perfect for the earlier event and simple past for the latere vent. For example

The first event is : I ha

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