Tags: uses
Tags are either questions, statements or imperatives added to a clause to invite a response from the listener:
A:You’re a musician,aren’t you?
B:Well, yes, but I’m just an amateur.
A:She can’t swim,can she?
B:No. Apparently she never learnt as a child.
Donna plays football,doesn’t she?
He was your teacher,wasn't he?
A:Pass me that CD,will you?
B:[passes the CD]
A:Thanks.
Tags: form
Tags consist of one of the auxiliary verbsbe, doorhave, or the main verbbe, or a modal verb, plus a subject, which is most commonly a pronoun:
main clause | be, do, have, modal | subject pronoun |
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When we use auxiliarybe, doorhave, a modal verb or main verbbein the main clause, this verb is used in the tag:
Shewascrying,wasn’t she?
Hedoeslook like his father,doesn’t he?
They’vewaited a long time,haven’t they?
You’reDanish,aren’t you?
If there is no auxiliary or modal verb in the main clause, we use auxiliarydo, does, didin the tag:
Heplayshockey,doeshe?
Shedancesbeautifully,doesn’t she?
The girlswantedto go home,didn’t they?
If the main clause verb isI am, then the negative tag form isaren’t I:
Sorry,I’mlate again,aren’tI?
If the main clauseverb isused to, the tag verb isdid:
A:Martinusedtolive in Oxford,didn’t he?
B:Yes, that’s right.
If the main clause verb isought to, the tag verb is most commonlyshouldor, far less commonly,ought:
Weoughtto leave now, really,shouldn’t we?Or (far less commonly)Weoughtto leave now, really,oughtn’t we?
When tags follow imperatives, the tag verb is usuallywill:
A:Phoneme this evening,willyou?
B:Yeah, OK. I’ll give you a call about 6.30.
Question tags
Question tags turn statements intoyes-noquestions. There are two types.
Type 1
The first type of question tag consists of an affirmative main clause and a negative tag, or a negative main clause and an affirmative tag. Negative tags are most commonly used in the contracted form:
[main clause]She’s a translator,[tag]isn’tshe?(affirmative main clause + negative tag)
He hasn’t arrived yet,has he?(negative main clause + affirmative tag)
We can use type 1 question tags when we expect the answer to the question to confirm that what we say in the main clause is true:
A:You work with Barbara,don’t you?(A thinks it is true that B works with Barbara.)
B:Yes, that’s right.
A:Sam’s not very old,is he?(A thinks it is true that Sam is not very old.)
B:No, he’s only 24.
With type 1 tags, we can use falling intonation (↘) if we are fairly sure of the answer, and rising intonation (↗) if we are not so sure.
fairly sure | not so sure | ||
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Type 2
The second type of question tag consists of an affirmative main clause and an affirmative tag:
[main clause]You’reJoe’s cousin,[tag]areyou?
Shegotthe email,did she?
We can use type 2 tags when we do not know if the answer isyesorno. The intonation is usually a rising tone:
A:Maureenlivesin Hamden,does s↗he? (The speaker wants to know if Maureen lives in Hamden or not.)
B:Yes, She does. She was born there in fact.
A:You’rea graphic designer,arey↗ou?
B:No, not actually a designer, but I work with graphics.
A:Oh, right.
Imperative tags
A tag after an imperative clause softens the imperative a little. The tag verb is most commonlywillbut we can also usewould, could, canandwon’t:
Turn the TV down,will you?
Don’t shout,will you? I can hear you perfectly well.
Come here a minute,can you?
After the imperative withlet’s, we can useshallin the tag:
Let’shave some lunch now,shall we?
Statement tags
We can use a statement tag to emphasise or reinforce an affirmative statement. The tag is also affirmative. They typically invite the listener to agree or sympathise in some way, or to offer a parallel comment. Statement tags are very informal:
A:I’mbored with this, Iam. (stronger thanI’m bored with this)
B:Me too.
A:My Maths teacher was lovely. Hewasa great teacher, hewas.
B:Hm, you were lucky. Mine wasn’t so good.
When the main clausehas a pronoun subject, a statement tag can have a noun as the subject instead of a pronoun:
A:She won some money last week,Catherinedid.
B:Really?
A:Yeah.
He was a great teacher,Mr Mark was.
This construction is similar to a tail construction.
See also:
Headers and tails
Universal tags:right, yeah
We can userightandyeahin very informal situations instead of question tags:
A:So, you’re not coming with us tonight,right?
B:No, I’m too busy. Sorry. or (less informally)You’re not coming with us tonight,are you?
A:They’ll be here about 4.30,yeah?
B:Yeah. That’s what they said. or (less informally)They’ll be here about 4.30,won’t they/will they?