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Using tag questions in English

Tag questions are short phrases added to the end of sentences to check information, seek confirmation, or ask for agreement. Tag questions can make requests sound softer, encourage conversation, or show doubt, making them useful in everyday English.

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A good place to start is examples with the verb "to be." Note that a positive statement is followed by a negative tag and vice versa. Additionally, the verb in the tag must match the verb in the main statement in tense and form.

 

But no! You are so excited, aren't you?

Caption 19, BBC Comedy Greats: Michael McIntyre on Google Earth

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Hello. You were searching for a hidden microphone, weren't you?

Caption 21, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: BBC TV Movie

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Just as we use "do" to create questions, this verb is used when adding a tag question for sentences with verbs other than "to be" or auxiliary verbs. 

 

The Ambulocetus does look like a link between a land animal and a whale, doesn't it?

Caption 11, Green TV: Evolution of the Whale

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But you don't care about those, do you?

Caption 4, The Big Bang Theory: Sheldon meets James Earl Jones

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You made us what we are, didn't you?

Caption 20, Movie Trailers: Interview with the Vampire

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A sentence in the present perfect requires "have" in the tag rather than "to be" or "do." Similarly, the future tense requires "will," or "won't" if the tag is negative. 

 

You have won a few races, haven't you?

Caption 15, James Dean: Interview & Famous Drive Safely Spot

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Remember me, boy, will you?

Caption 25, Spiller Feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)

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Make yourself at home! Won't you? OK.

Captions 82-83, ALF: Some enchanted evening

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Modal verbs such as "would," "should," "can," and "could" are also used in tag questions in certain instances. 

 

Just come over here and sit down, would you? -OK.

Caption 7, Campus Movie Fest: Small Talk

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Further Learning
In addition to spotting more examples on Yabla English, try to make your own sentences with the following modal verbs and suitable tag questions with "can"/"can't," "could"/"couldn't," "should"/"shouldn't" and "would"/"wouldn't."

 

A few more examples:
We can wait a few more minutes, can't we?
He wouldn't forget about it, would he? 

English Gerunds

A gerund is a noun that has been formed by adding the suffix -ing to a verb. The gerund will often function as a verb within the clause, but in the context of the complete sentence forms a subject. Progressive active participle verbs also end in -ing, but retain verb form. Let's learn to tell the difference between a gerund (noun) and a progressive active participle (verb).

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But believing ends in seeing

Caption 44, Katie Melua - A Happy Place

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You will be seeing them again.

Caption 37, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four - BBC TV Movie

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In the first example, "seeing" and "believing" are gerund nouns. Try placing the definite article "the" before the words and see if the sentence still makes sense: "But the believing ends in the seeing." The fact that it works grammatically shows that both "seeing" and "believing" are gerunds. But in the second example, "You will be the seeing them again" would be grammatically incorrect, because in this case "seeing" is a verb. 

 

I'd like your opinion about fast driving on the highway.

Caption 21, James Dean - Interview & Famous Drive Safely Spot

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I'm in a truck, we're driving through the bush.

Caption 23, Kiting For Conservation - Kenya

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In the first example, "the fast driving" works, so it is a gerund noun. In the second example, "we're the driving..." does not work grammatically, so it's a verb.

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Further Learning
Try taking examples of some English verbs and adding -ing to the end of them to make the gerund nouns, then search for examples on Yabla English to see them used in a real-world context.