Question Tags

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

يترجم للعربية على أنه ( سؤال تأكيدي ) لأنه يؤكد المعنى الذي عبر عنه النصف الأول من الجملة, فيقابله بالعربية قولنا :

هم ذهبوا للمدرسة, أليس كذلك؟

لاحظ ان المثال لا يشير بالضرورة إلى بنية السؤال التأكيدي بل إلى وظيفته في الجملة.

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

the basic structure is:

Case#1: Positive statement = Negative tag

    -                  +

Snow is white, isn't it?

Case#2: Negative statement = Positive tag

    +               -

You don't like school, Don't you?

Notice that the question tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

Examples

• ?He's still sleeping, isn't he
• ?You do go to school, don't you
• ?Let's go for a walk, shall we
• ?We won't be late, will we
• ?Nobody called, did they
• ?They will wash the car, won't they
• ?We must lock the doors, mustn't we
• ?I'm correct, aren't I