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please give all the rules to find a question tag in a sentence


Dear student,

Here is the answer:

A question tag is a short question at the end of a statement. 

For example :  You are going to London, aren't you?
Here "aren't you" is a question tag.
 Question tags are used when we are asking for an agreement or confirmation from someone.

Here are the rules: 
1) We use a negative question tag with a positive statement.
For example 
Positive statement + negative question tag
   You are a doctor,        aren't you?

(Keep in mind that the pronoun "you" comes after the auxiliary verb "aren't).)

2) For negative statements we use a positive question tag.

For example
Negative statement                   + positive question tag.
Gopal isn't going to meet him,      is he?

(Keep in mind that the noun is replaced by a pronoun at the end of the question tag. Here the noun "Gopal" is replaced by a pronoun "he".)

3. We form the question tag with "do or does" if the verb in the main sentence is in simple present tense.

For example 
You bake cakes, don't you?

4. We form the question tag with "did" if the verb in the main sentence is in simple past tense.

For example 
She studied Spanish, didn't she?

5. The question tag used is positive, if the statement contains a word with a negative meaning.
For example 
Nobody went to the fair, did they?

Here are few examples of positive statements with negative question tags.
  • He was happy, wasn't he?
  • She studied very hard, didn't she?
  • You have eaten five pieces, haven't you?
  • We must pay him a visit, mustn't we?

Here are few examples of negative  statements with positive  question tags.
  • You weren't joking, were you?
  • Your sister doesn't speak French, does she?
  • They couldn't hear anything, could they?
  • You won't be late again, will you?

However there are few exceptions :

1. I am late today, aren't I?
2. Let's hurry up now, shall we?  (When a statement begins with "Let's" we use "shall" in question tag.)
3. This is my book, isn't it? (We used "it" instead of "this" )
4. There aren't any more cakes left, are there? (Here we used "there" with auxiliary verb "are") 
5. Don't forget, will you? (With negative imperatives we use "will you?" as the question tag)

Regards

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experts please give this answer
 
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Dear student,

Three things are to be kept in mind while making a question tag:
*The right auxiliary Verb to be used in the question.
*The right pronouns to be used in the tag.
*Whether the verb in the question tag should be positive or negative

Both (1) and (2) should be in agreement with the verb and noun in the main statement.

Rules to form Question Tags :-

1. If the main statement is positive, the auxiliary verb will be negative and vice versa.
e.g.*He saw that, didn't he ?
*But he isn't going to England, is he?

2. If there is a single subject/noun/pronoun in the main sentence, the corresponding pronoun/same pronoun will be used in the question tag.
e.g.,
*You are coming with us, aren't you?
*Reena is leaving tonight, isn't she?

3. If there are more than one noun/pronoun in the main sentence then the corresponding pronoun to the active subject will be used in the Question tag. e.g.
*After all this time you'd think he'd had forgotten, wouldn?t you?
*You wouldn?t refuse me, would you ?

4. If the verb in the main sentence is an active verb without any auxiliary verb, then the verb used in the Question tag will be the form of verb 'do' that corresponds with the tense in the main sentence.
*He knows it's true, doesn't he ?
*You wanted to come with me, didn't you ?
*I told you so, didn't I ?
*She never informed us, did she ?

5. If the main sentence has an auxiliary then it is used in the question tag, but with opposite affirmation, i.e., a positive auxiliary in the main sentence transforms to a negative auxiliary in the question tag and vice versa e.g.
*He will be coming, won't he ?
*You were there at the party, weren?t you ?
*You would appear for this exam, wouldn?t you?
*He didn?t call us, did he ?
*She doesn't live here anymore, does she ?

Regards!!
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