what are question tags how do I use
question tags correctly will question
tags make me sound more natural when I
speak English yes in today's lesson I am
going to teach you how to use question
tags correctly we are going to look at
the grammar why we use question tags and
very importantly the intonation
I'm arnelle from our nails everyday
English let's begin it's raining quite
hard isn't it Oh tomorrow we have that
presentation don't we finish do you in
all three sentences the little bits at
the end isn't it don't we do you those
those are the question tags and in
writing they are separated by a comma
now how do we form question tags we
usually have a positive statement and a
negative tag like in our earlier example
it's raining quite hard isn't it part of
the statement negative tag or a negative
statement and a positive tag you don't
like fish do you
common mistake we don't use question
tags in a question do you speak English
do you that's not correct rule number
one let's start with B B is the most
common verb in English it's likethey the
king the king of herbs am r is was were
are all forms of B be in the statement
be in the tag it is cold today isn't it
positive statement negative tag oh these
chilies they're they're really spicy
aren't they positive statement negative
tag that restaurant wasn't very good was
it those flies were so annoying one
thing but what about M as in I am I'm
next am i we use aren't when we say I
I'm next
aren't I I'm the tallest here all right
this brings me to another very important
point with question tags remember their
comment and spoken English so we
contract it's very uncommon to say it's
cold today is it not contract those tags
rule number two
auxiliary verbs auxilary in the
statement auxilary in the question tag
you can play the piano can't you
what's my main verb play
what's my auxilary can we use can in the
question tag you're working late tonight
aren't you
what's my main verb working
what's my exhilarate are yous are in the
question tag we haven't seen Frank at a
me in ages have we main verb seen box we
verb have use have in your question tag
number three now let's look at this
statement
Brian plays football there's no B and
there's no auxilary we only have one
verb play what do I do
use do does or did Brian plays football
doesn't he
your parents live in New York don't they
okay how are you feeling let's do a
mini-review be big in the statement be
in the tag auxilary in the statement
auxilary in the tag no auxilary no be
use do did does imperatives number four
come here will you close a window will
you I know this is a lot of information
but question tags are very common I
guarantee 100% that when you're watching
your next movie or TV program you're
going to hear a question tag ninety nine
percent ninety nine percent so grammar
is very important but so is intonation
and intonation is very important when
using question tags now what is
intonation intonation is the way your
voice changes when you're speaking
intonation really communicates emotion
when we use question tags there are two
types of intonation we have rising
intonation and falling intonation when
we use rising intonation we are asking a
question we need information because we
don't know something
but when the intonation falls we are
confirming information it's not a real
question we're asking for agreement
let's do a few examples
you don't know where my phone is do you
this clock is wrong isn't it you've been
to South Korea
haven't you in these examples you can
hear the intonation Rises it goes up at
the end because I'm not sure I'm asking
a question now if I'm not looking for
information I'm just confirming
information the intonation falls Rachel
baked cookies for everyone I know she's
such a nice lady isn't she
ah these cookies are awful they're not
very nice are they it's cool today isn't
it in those examples you can hear the
intonation falling because the
information is already clear I'm
confirming it with the person I'm
talking to great now of course you know
this there are always exceptions in
English grammar but use the rules that
you've learned today and you'll be one
step closer closer closer to sounding
like a native speaker I hope you enjoyed
watching today's video don't forget to
subscribe subscribe will you and I can't
wait to see you soon for another lesson
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