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hi everybody my name is alicia in this
lesson i'm going to talk about tag
questions i'm going to explain what tag
questions are
how to make them and a few different
ways to use them so let's get started
okay first what is a tag question a tag
question is a short question
that comes after a statement so i'll
explain a lot of examples today so these
are very short questions usually just
like two words
we use tag questions for confirmation or
for agreement so when we want to check
that something is correct for example we
use a tag question when we want to use a
tag question to confirm information we
typically use downward intonation to do
this so you'll hear a few examples of
this in this lesson
however we also use tag questions to ask
for information so we want to get some
new information we can use a tag
question to do that
but typically when we want to ask for
something we'll use upward intonation
the same way that we would ask a regular
information question so let's keep this
in mind as we look at some of the rules
for using tag questions and making tag
questions okay first um to make tag
questions there are two basic rules i
want to explain so the first rule
is if the verb in the main sentence or
in the main part of the statement
is a positive verb then the verb in the
tag question must be negative so let's
look at a few examples of this here you
cooked this didn't you so here cooked
is the verb and the main part of the
statement
and it's positive that means i need to
use a negative verb here in this case
didn't in the ending part of the
statement so i'll explain this rule in
just a moment too
another example
he could hear me couldn't he so here
could is positive in the main part of
the statement therefore i need to use
the opposite form couldn't
the negative form at the end of the
statement in the tag question
last example here you've had breakfast
haven't you so here
i'm using you have had breakfast so here
you have is my positive verb my positive
auxiliary verb in this case so i need to
use the negative haven't in my tag
question at the end of the sentence so
this is the first part
then the opposite is also true as we see
here in point number two so if the verb
in the main sentence or the main part of
the statement is negative then the verb
in the tag question is positive so this
is the opposite of point one that we
just talked about here so i've just made
the opposite of each of these sentences
so here we'll see you didn't cook this
did you here i have the negative you did
not cook this therefore the positive did
is used in the tag question
again he couldn't hear me could he here
i've used couldn't this time it's
negative in the main part of the
statement so the tag question is
positive could he
finally you haven't had breakfast have
you
here i have the negative haven't have
not therefore i need to use the positive
have in the tag question so this is the
basic rule for making tag questions if
we see a positive verb in the main part
of the statement the tag question should
be negative it should use a negative
verb and the opposite is also true if a
negative verb is used in the main
statement we should use a positive verb
in the tag question so this is one key
theme you'll see in our example
sentences for today so let's look at a
few more details about how to make these
um point number three here is about
auxiliary verb so remember auxiliary
verbs are like have and has be for
example so if there's no auxiliary verb
in the main statement
then the tag question will use the
appropriate form of the word do and by
that i mean the positive or the negative
form like do or does for example so
let's look at some examples of this so
no auxiliary verb is used here so he
made this didn't he here i have the verb
made past tense he made this didn't he
no auxiliary verb is here so we need to
use the verb do
however made is a positive meaning the
tag question needs to be negative
so
uh here didn't is past tense did not in
other words the contracted form did not
is used here let's look at one more here
i have the negative she didn't go
did she so i need to use the positive
did in the tag question
here again they canceled didn't they so
canceled
is the verb it's the positive form of
the verb used here
i therefore need to use the negative in
the past didn't in the tag question so
again if no auxiliary verb is in the
main statement then we should use the
correct form the appropriate form of do
to make the tag question at the end
however as in point number four
if there is an auxiliary verb so if we
do see some case of have or be used
then we need to use the same auxiliary
verb in the tag question but we still
need to follow this rule the positive
and negative rule so for example he
hasn't finished his homework has he here
the auxiliary verb has is used but i
have the negative form he hasn't
finished his homework so i need to match
this with the positive has he he hasn't
finished his homework has he
next one
she's left the office hasn't she here
the verb might be hard to find it's this
apostrophe s she's left meaning she has
left the office hasn't she
here i've used the negative because the
positive she has is used in the main
statement
finally
they were listening to our conversation
weren't they
here i'm using were the positive were in
the main statement so i need to use the
negative weren't
in the tag question so please be careful
when you're using an auxiliary verb in
your main statement make sure to use the
opposite form of the auxiliary verb in
the tag question
all right let's go on to part five so
part five is a little bit uh special so
if am or are
if one of these words is used in the
main part of your statement
then we'll use are or aren't to make the
tag question here this one's a little
bit special so for example i'm i'm is
the contracted form of i am so i'm
bleeding i am bleeding
aren't i so again the same positive and
negative rule i am bleeding
aren't i aren't i so we'll use the
negative aren't here to match with the
positive i am
another example you're not leaving are
you so here you are not leaving you are
not leaving are you so here we have a
negative form you're not leaving are you
so here we need to use the positive form
in the tag question
finally
they're going home aren't they so here
we have they are going so there's a
positive form they are they are so we
need to match this with the negative
form they're going home aren't they
all right so please be careful if you
see this m or r in your main statement
please be careful of that
finally point number six if you use a
modal verb so this is like will won't
could should would for example
if a modal verb is used in the main part
of the statement we need to follow the
same rule use the modal verb in the tag
question as well just use the opposite
form of that for example i shouldn't eat
this should i so here shouldn't is my
modal verb i've used the negative
shouldn't so we'll use the positive
should in the tag question i shouldn't
eat this should i
another one he won't call will he so
won't in this case the negative won't is
used so i need to use will
the positive form in the tag question
finally
they wouldn't hurt us would they
again there's the negative form in the
main statement and the positive form in
the tag question so you can see that
these two points about the positive and
negative matching these really are the
basis for making other tag questions and
then just pay attention to whether or
not you're using an auxiliary verb as
well in your main statement
so always think about matching the
opposite form of the verb in the main
statement to the tag question there and
also think about your intonation when
you're using these kinds of sentences
when you're using these kinds of
questions so as we talked about here
when you want to just get agreement or
get confirmation from someone you can
use downward intonation so for example
he made this didn't he or she didn't go
did she or they canceled didn't they so
there's a very kind of downward sound to
it it sounds a little bit um
like you're not really asking for
information maybe like you're talking to
yourself almost a little bit however if
you want to actually ask someone for
information
make sure to use upward intonation so to
use the same examples
he made this didn't he or she didn't go
did she or they canceled didn't they so
it's again it still sounds like you want
to get confirmation about something but
when you use the upward intonation it
sounds like you don't actually know
maybe you have a guess but you're not
quite sure and you are looking for some
information so please keep your
intonation the sound of your voice in
mind when you're using tag questions
okay that's everything that i want to
explain for this point i hope that it
was useful for you if you have any
questions or if you want to try to make
a tag question please feel free to do so
in the comment section below this video
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resources thanks very much for watching
this lesson and i will see you again
soon bye
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