Tag Question class 12 unit 1

Tag Question

A tag question is the process of adding a short question at the end of a statement to confirm whether the statement is right or wrong.

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General Concept

Statement Type	Tag Type	Example
Affirmative Statement	Negative Tag	I will bring my bicycle, won’t I?
Negative Statement	Positive Tag	She was absent yesterday, wasn’t she?

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Modal Verb Contractions Table (Negative Forms)

Full Form	Contraction	Full Form	Contraction
is not	isn't	are not	aren't
was not	wasn't	were not	weren't
have not	haven't	had not	hadn't
has not	hasn't	cannot	can't
shall not	shan't	may not	mayn't
will not	won't	do not	don't
did not	didn't	does not	doesn't
could not	couldn't	should not	shouldn't
might not	mightn't	would not	wouldn't
must not	mustn't

Notes:

• "Won’t" is a special contraction of "will not", not willn't.
• Some contractions like "shan’t", "mayn’t", "daren’t" are considered formal, old-fashioned, or less common in modern English.
• "Can not" is usually written as one word: "cannot” and its contraction is "can't".

BASIC RULES (1–10):

1. Positive sentence → Negative tag

She is a teacher, isn’t she?

2. Negative sentence → Positive tag

They don’t like tea, do they?

 3. Use auxiliary (helping) verb from the main sentence

He has finished, hasn’t he?

4. If there's no auxiliary verb, use “do/does/did”

She sings well, doesn’t she?

5. Subject in the tag must be a pronoun

Ram and Shyam came early, didn’t they?

6. Verb tense in the tag must match the main sentence

He was at home, wasn’t he?

7. “I am” takes “aren’t I?” in tag

I am your friend, aren’t I?

8. Contractions are used in negative tags

You’re late, aren’t you? (Not “are not you?”)

9. Question mark (?) is used at the end of tag questions

They were happy, weren’t they**?**

10. Tag question reflects the speaker’s expectation

You like coffee, don’t you? (expecting yes)
You don’t like coffee, do you? (expecting yes)

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🟩 INTERMEDIATE RULES (11–20):

11. Use “they” in tags for indefinite pronouns (someone, everyone, etc.)

Everyone enjoyed the movie, didn’t they?

12. Use “they” in tags for “nobody”, “no one”, “none”

Nobody came, did they?

13. Use “it” for things like weather, time, distance, etc.

It’s cold today, isn’t it?

14. Use “there” in the tag if the sentence begins with “there”

There is a problem, isn’t there?

15. With “used to” use “didn’t” in the tag

He used to play football, didn’t he?

16. With “Let’s…” use “shall we?”

Let’s go home, shall we?

17. With imperative sentences (commands/requests):

• Positive imperative → will you?

Open the door, will you?

• Negative imperative → won’t you?

Don’t be late, won’t you?

18. “Never”, “hardly”, “seldom”, “scarcely” → positive tag

She never lies, does she?

19. “Neither”, “none”, “no one”, “nothing” → positive tag

None of them attended, did they?

20. Questions with modal verbs follow the same modal

He can swim, can’t he?
She won’t come, will she?

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🟦 ADVANCED RULES (21–30):

21. “Had better” takes “hadn’t” in the tag

You had better go now, hadn’t you?

22. “Would rather” → tag with “wouldn’t”

You’d rather stay home, wouldn’t you?

23. Sentences with “none of us” → tag with “we”

None of us complained, did we?

24. With “have got” (BrE) → tag with “haven’t”

He has got a car, hasn’t he?

25. “Everybody”, “somebody” → tag with “they”

Somebody was at the door, weren’t they?

26. “Neither of them” → use “they” in the tag

Neither of them came, did they?

27. Sentences beginning with “Each”, “Every” → use “they”

Every student was present, weren’t they?

28. “Few”, “little” (negative idea) → positive tag

Few people understood it, did they?

29. “A few”, “a little” (positive idea) → negative tag

A few students came, didn’t they?

30. Tag questions can be used rhetorically (speaker doesn’t expect a real answer)

You don’t think I’m stupid, do you? 

Grammar (from book )

Rewrite the following sentences adding appropriate question tag.

a. Gill does not know Ann, does he?
b. I’m very patient, aren’t I?
c. They’d never met me before, had they?
d. Listen carefully, will you?
e. Let’s have a break, shall we?
f. Let us invite them, will you?
g. Hari used to live in France as a boy, didn’t he?
h. You’d better not take a hard drink, had you?
i. Sheep eat grass, don’t they?
j. Mr. Pande can speak nine languages, can’t he?
k. She’s finished her classes, hasn’t she?
l. She barely managed to reach the goal, did she?
m. Don’t let him swim in that pond, will you?
n. There are lots of people here, aren’t there?

Read the following situations. What do you say in these situations? Use question tags.

a. The sky is full of cloud. You can see lightning and hear thunder.

It’s going to rain soon, isn’t it?

b. You want to pay the taxi fare but you are short by 100 rupees.

Shyam, you have to lend me Rs. 100, haven’t you?

c. You have met a stranger at a party and you want to have a chat with him/ her.

We will talk later, won’t we?

d. You came out of the film hall with your friend. You enjoyed the film.

The film was very enjoyable, wasn’t it?

e. You and your friend listened to a comedian on the stage and felt spellbound by his/her performance.

He gave an excellent presentation, didn’t he?

f. You think your friend’s father has arrived from the US but you are not sure.

Your father has not arrived from US, has he?

g. You think Susan will join the new job tomorrow but you are not sure.

Susan will go to her new job tomorrow, won’t she?

h. Your friend’s hair looks too short.

You have got too short hair, haven’t you?

i. You want to go for a picnic with your friends in class.

Let’s go to picnic, shall we?

j. You want permission from your father to go for a walk.

Let me go for a evening walk, will you?