Hi, everyone.
Not so long ago,
I made a video on tag questions, explaining what they are
and how to use them in the present tense.
If you haven't seen that video yet,
you can check it out by clicking on the link in the description
of the video below.
So just to remember,
a tag question is a small question form used
at the end of a sentence
to check or confirm a piece of information.
It's normally formed by an auxiliary verb be or do,
plus a pronoun.
So, there is a main clause and then comes the tag question.
Let's take a look at a conversation,
and see some uses of tag questions in the past.
And at the end of the video,
I have some exercises for you to practise.
Hi, Mel.
Oh.
Hi, Rebecca.
So, guess what I did this weekend.
You watched a movie, didn't you?
As we've said before,
when the main clause is positive,
the tag question will be negative.
So the main verb we have here is watched.
Notice how it's in the past,
and in the positive state.
So since there is no verb of be in this phrase, the tag question
will have didn't,
which is the negative form of did.
Yes, but you'll never guess what kind of movie it was.
It was a horror movie, wasn't it?
In this case,
we do have the verb of be in the past form was.
So if we have the verb of be in the main clause,
we're going to use it in the tag question as well.
But if it's positive in the main clause,
it's going to be negative in the tag question,
plus the pronoun.
Wow.
You're really good at guessing.
So I was watching the movie,
and then… You weren't scared, were you?
Notice how with the subject you, we use were or weren't.
Since the main clause here is negative,
the tag question will be positive.
And notice her rising intonation when she says the phrase,
because in this case she's not really sure
about the answer.
You weren't scared, were you?
That's right, I wasn't.
How do you know all of this?
You made a post on social media about it.
Oh, yes.
I guess you didn’t remember that, did you?
In this case,
we have the main clause in the negative form
with no verb of be.
So it's didn’t remember.
So the tag question will be positive using
the auxiliary verb did.
Notice how her intonation is falling,
because in this case she is very sure
and she is just confirming.
I guess you didn’t remember that, did you?
Now that you've seen
how to use tag questions in the past form,
how about some practise?
Take a look at the following phrases,
and complete them with the correct tag question.
She didn't get a good grade on the test, did she?
Jack was really tired today, wasn't he?
Your brother and sister travelled last weekend,
didn't they?
You weren't in class yesterday, were you?
You got all of them right, didn't you?
For more practise,
you can check out Cambridge's English Grammar in Use,
full of exercises on tag questions.
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Oh, and leave me a comment using tag questions in the past.
I hope you stay safe, and I'll see you soon.
Bye.