Let's - Let's go to the beach, shall we? We must remember the good times, mustn't we? He did have a bath. Question Tag Intonation We use falling intonation on question tags when we are checking information and we expect the listener to agree. A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag. For example:- If the tag is not a real question it has a flat or falling intonation. For all the reasons discussed above, and given the striking differences between the behaviour of canonical question tags and that of innit, I conclude that it is more desirable to put forward an analysis of innit within what we know about the syntax of pragmatic particles than doing so within the syntax of question tags. A special case occurs when the main verb is to be in a simple tense.
Some examples from : Here, eil and fhaca are of the irregular verbs tha and chunnaic. She doesn't like it here, does she? This time we almost made some sense of it, didn't we? A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag. We use rising intonation to ask a real question, when we are unsure whether the statement is true or not, or when asking for information and making requests. If the statement doesn't use an auxilliary verb, then the auxiliary do is used in the tag part. The answer is you can, but you can use tag questions to verify or check information that you think is true, or to check information that you aren't sure about.
Question tags are attached to one of the following clause types:Of these, the declarative is by far the most common. Schneider eds A Handbook of Varieties of English. Last Updated : 07 Jan 2019. In Central Scotland in and around Stirling and Falkirk , this exists in the form eh no? In other cases, when they do expect a response, they may differ from straightforward questions in that they cue the listener as to what response is desired. The main part of the sentence is positive, but the question tag is negative. This article needs additional citations for.
» If the main part of the sentence has I am not in it, use am I in the question tag. Why do they do this? When the verb in the main sentence is in the we form the question tag with. In both English and Spanish, it is common to use tag questions when the person making the statement expects the listener to be in agreement. He had a bath, didn't he? Note She is from England, isn't she? In some languages the most common is a single word or fixed phrase, whereas in others it is formed by a regular grammatical construction. Search question tag and thousands of other words in English Cobuild dictionary from Reverso.
Modal verb You can sing, can't you? In legal settings, tag questions can often be found in a. The auxiliary must agree with the , and of the verb in the preceding sentence. The adverbs never, seldom, hardly, rarely, … have a negative sense. Example: Open the window, will you? The falling pattern is used to underline a statement. Another common formation is comparable to the English correct? Why can't we just ask a normal question? A plain conjunction may be used, such as the Czech and Slovak že? As a rule, the English rising pattern is used when soliciting information or motivating an action, that is, when some sort of response is required. No auxiliary He eats meat, doesn't he? They aren't very nice, are they? For the theory that English has borrowed its system of tag questions from Brittonic, see. In English and the Celtic languages, this interrogative agrees with the verb in the main clause, whereas in other languages the structure has fossilised into a fixed form, such as the French n'est-ce pas? When there is no special emphasis, the rule of thumb often applies that a positive sentence has a negative tag and vice versa.
If something is in question or has been calledinto question, doubt or uncertainty has been expressed about it. If a modal can, could, will, should, etc. We treat statements with these words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally positive. A Question Tag is the shortest form of a qustion using the verb plus pronoun. Although they have the grammatical form of a question, they may be not expecting an answer.
Various other words occur in specific languages, such as German oder? Question tags are short questions at the end of statements. This is unique among the Germanic languages, but the Celtic languages operate in a very similar way. Jefferson Farjeon, The Z Murders. The statement itself ends with a falling pattern, and the tag sounds like an echo, strengthening the pattern. When they have different subjects, the statement and the question must be punctuated as separate grammatical elements example 2.
This form may express confidence, or seek confirmation of the asker's opinion or belief. . Ohio State University Working Papers in Linguistics. Question tags are formed with the auxiliary or modal verb from the statement and the appropriate subject. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
So be sure to use them with care. Statements with This When the subject is this, we use it in the tag question. Some languages have words whose only function is as a question tag. Jill: Oh you do, do you? If the verb used in the statement is an auxiliary verb, then the verb used in the tag must match it. If the verb is in the past simple we use did.
