What are question tags?
They are a special grammar construction we use at the end of statements to check information and confirm agreement. They can be used in the positive form or negative form
Positive: You don’t like chocolate do you?
Negative: We have finished haven’t we?
When do we use them?
Tag questions are commonly used when we are sure that someone will agree with us. For example: You are coming tonight, aren’t you?
Why do we use them?
1) For clarification: He did say that, didn’t he?
2) To confirm an appointment: You’ll be there at 2.30pm, won’t you?
What problems can learners have?
One of the problems my Spanish learners have in Mallorca is their first language interference (L1). They have a different way of expressing this grammar point. For example they say: You are coming out tonight, yes? Instead of the correct form: You are coming out tonight, aren’t you?
How can learners overcome their L1 interference?
At Carole Brown Idiomas, our English teachers use a variety of activities such as:
- Songs
These can be a great way to familiarise learners with question tags. The song A little bit of time by the Beautiful South is peppered with them. For example:
Funny how quick the milk turns sour, isn’t it?
Your face has been looking like that for hours, hasn’t it?
You need a little room for your big head, don’t you?
You need a little space for a thousand beds, won’t you?
- Role plays
These are also very useful in learning to practise this grammar point. For example learners can do a role play interview for a job using the following structure:
Interviewer: Your name is John Vartry, isn’t it?
Candidate: Yes, it is
- Matching two halves of sentences
Here the English teacher puts the learners in pairs, Student A and Student B. Student A has one half of the sentence and Student B has the other half. The objective is to work together to match their sentences. For example:
Student A: She loves you
Student B: Doesn’t she?
In this activity they learn visually how question tags work.
At Carole Brown Idiomas we help our learners learn how to use question tags correctly so that they will sound more natural to the native ear.
