Collins Cobuild

Unit 8
Question tags: uses
Main points
You  can  use  negative  statements  with  positive  question  tags  to
make requests.
You  use  positive  statements  with  positive  question  tags  to  show
reactions.
You use some question tags to make imperatives more polite.
1
You can use a negative statement and a positive question tag to ask
people for things, or to ask for help or information.
You wouldn’t sell it to me, would you?
You won’t tell anyone else this, will you?
2
When you want to show your reaction to what someone has just said,
for example by expressing interest, surprise, doubt, or anger, you use a
positive statement with a positive question tag.
You’ve been to North America before, have you?
You fell on your back, did you?
I borrowed your car last night. – Oh, you did, did you?
3
When you use an imperative, you can be more polite by adding one of
the following question tags.

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will you
won’t you
would you
See that she gets safely back, won’t you?
Look at that, would you?
When you use a negative imperative, you can only use ‘will you’ as a
question tag.
Don’t tell Howard, will you?
‘Will  you’  and  ‘won’t  you’  can  also  be  used  to  emphasize  anger  or
impatience. ‘Can’t you’ is also used in this way.
Oh, hurry up, will you!
For goodness sake be quiet, can’t you!
4
You use the question tag ‘shall we’ when you make a suggestion using
‘let’s’.
Let’s forget it, shall we?
You use the question tag ‘shall I’ after ‘I’ll’.
I’ll tell you, shall I?
5
You use ‘they’ in question tags after ‘anybody’, ‘anyone’, ‘everybody’,
‘everyone’, ‘nobody’, ‘no one’, ‘somebody’ or ‘someone’.
Everyone will be leaving on Friday, won’t they?
Nobody had bothered to plant new ones, had they?
You use ‘it’ in question tags after ‘anything’, ‘everything’, ‘nothing’, or
‘something’.
Nothing matters now, does it?
Something should be done, shouldn’t it?
You use ‘there’ in question tags after ‘there is’, ‘there are’, ‘there was’,

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or ‘there were’.
There’s a new course out now, isn’t there?
6
 When  you  are  replying  to  a  question  tag,  your  answer  refers  to  the
statement, not the question tag.
If  you  want  to  confirm  a  positive  statement,  you  say  ‘yes’.  For
example,  if  you  have  finished  a  piece  of  work  and  someone  says  to
you ‘You’ve finished that, haven’t you?’, the answer is ‘yes’.
‘It became stronger, didn’t it?’ – ‘Yes, it did.’
If  you  want  to  disagree  with  a  positive  statement,  you  say  ‘no’.  For
example, if you have not finished your work and someone says ‘You’ve
finished that, haven’t you?’, the answer is ‘no’.
You’ve just seen a performance of the play, haven’t you? – No, not
yet.
If  you  want  to  confirm  a  negative  statement,  you  say  ‘no’.  For
example, if you have not finished your work and someone says ‘You
haven’t finished that, have you?’, the answer is ‘no’.
‘You didn’t know that, did you?’ – ‘No.’
If you want to disagree with a negative statement, you say ‘yes’. For
example, if you have finished a piece of work and someone says ‘You
haven’t finished that, have you?’, the answer is ‘yes’.
‘You haven’t been there, have you?’ – ‘Yes, I have.’

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