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.
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’,
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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