Negative Yes/No Questions and� Tag Questions
This Isn’t Dangerous, Is It?
3
Focus on Grammar 4
Part III, Unit 7
By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells
Copyright © 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
“This isn’t dangerous, is it?”
Isn’t this fun?
These parachutes work, don’t they?
We won’t get hurt, will we?
You haven’t done this before, have you?
Use
Use negative yes/no questions and tag questions to: check information you believe to be true OR comment on a situation.
In both sentences the speaker believes that he should pull the blue cord and wants to check this information.
Don’t I pull the blue cord?
I pull the blue cord, don’t I?
Isn’t the view great?
The view is great, isn’t it?
In both sentences the speaker is commenting on the view.
Negative Yes/No Questions
Like affirmative yes/no questions, negative yes/no questions begin with a form of be or an auxiliary verb, such as have, do, will, can, or should.
Aren’t sharks vegetarians?
Haven’t you
had lunch yet?
Can’t you swim
somewhere else?
Didn’t you see the shark warning sign?
Tag Questions 1
Form tag questions with statement + tag. The statement expresses an assumption. The tag means Right? OR Isn’t that true?
It’s a long way down, isn’t it?
Statement
Tag
I went the wrong way, didn’t I?
Statement
Tag
Tag Questions 2
You won’t talk for too long,
will you?
This rope will hold me, won’t it?
If the statement verb is affirmative, the tag verb is negative. If the statement verb is negative, the tag verb is affirmative.
Negative
Affirmative
Affirmative
Negative
Tag Questions 3
He isn’t joking, is he?
He has done this before, hasn’t he?
Form the tag with a form of be or an auxiliary verb, such as have, do, will, can, or should. Use the same auxiliary that is in the statement.
You bought life insurance, didn’t you?
Be Careful!
In the tag, only use pronouns. When the subject of the statement is that, the subject of the tag is it.
That wasn’t my parachute, was it?
Tom isn’t enjoying this, is Tom?
he?
Practice 1
Complete the tag questions with the correct tag.
Example: You can swim, …
can’t you?
isn’t it?
will it?
do we?
did he?
has she?
shouldn’t we?
doesn’t he?
Intonation 1
Use tag questions in conversations when you expect the other person to agree with you. In this type of tag question, the voice falls on the tag.
You didn’t wear a seatbelt, did you?
The speaker is checking information he believes is correct. He expects the listener to answer (and agree).
You’re right. I didn’t wear a seat belt.
Uh-huh.
That hurts, doesn’t it?
This type of tag question is more like a statement than a question. The listener can just nod or say uh-huh to show that he or she is listening and agrees.
Intonation 2
That’s what they told us in the skydiving class.
Tag questions can be used to get information. This type of tag question is more like a yes/no question. Like a yes/no question, the voice rises at the end, and you usually get an answer.
The speaker wants to confirm his information because he is not sure it is correct.
Well, sometimes there are sharks.
This parachute will open before we land, won’t it?
This isn’t dangerous, is it?
Answers
Answer negative yes/no questions and tag questions the same way you answer affirmative yes/no questions.
There’s a hospital nearby, isn’t there?
Yes, there is.
The answer is yes, if the information is correct.
Doesn’t your parachute work?
No, it doesn’t.
The answer is no, if the information is not correct.
Practice 2
Write dialogues for each picture using tag questions or negative yes/no questions, and answers for each picture.
Example:
Eels don’t bite, do they?
No, we don’t. We just like to hug.
1.
2.