It is enthusiasm and career passion that motivate me to write this experience innovation with aims to share some of my opinions on topic related to tag questions for grade- 11 students as well as help both my colleagues and my students partically remove the difficultly when teaching related lesson. For this reason i choose the theme- “GUIDING THE 11TH FORM STUDENTS HOW TO USE TAG QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY ”
2. Practical basis of the problem
Thach Thanh 2 high school is one of the mountainous schools in Thanh Hoa province. People mainly live on rice and sugar canes, the living standard is very low. As a result, students have not had much good chance of studying and using English until recently. Students (and even their teachers) do not have an English environment to practice. There has not been an even class for group D or A1 because most of the students here take part in the others groups such as: A, B, C. Learning English here has not still been really important to students and people here. As common in other high schools in Vietnam, the students in this school have to take English as a compulsory subject in the curriculum and study it three periods a week ( 1 period = 45 minutes), for 37 weeks a year. Therefore, the English teachers have so much difficulty in teaching English .
A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini question added after a sentence that confirms the information someone is asking or encouraging a reply from the person we are asking to. They mean something like “ is it right ?” or do you agree? They are very common in English.
EX:
- He could speak French and Italian. couldn’t he ?
- She didn’t go home last night . Did she ?
2. Form of question tags
The basic structure of a tag question is:
Positive statement
Negative tag
Ex: Summer is hot
Isn’t it?
Negative statement
Positive tag
Ex: Summer isn’t cold
Is it?
2.1. Ordinnary verbs
S+ v( s,es,ed/ 2………….)…., don’t, doesn’t, didn’t + personal pronouns?
S+ ( don’t, doesn’t, didn’t + v…..)… , do, does, did + personal pronouns?
2.2. Special verbs
S+ Special verbs………., Special verbs + not+ S?
S+ Special verbs +not, ……………Special verbs+ S?
3. RULES FOR TAG QUESTIONS.
There are lots of different questions tags.There are some main rules as below:
3.1. we use auxiliary verbs to make a sentence “negative of interrogative” . so, to make a tag question we use auxiliary verbs. They are different in different tense.The sentence and the question tag must be in the same tense.
EX:
He doesn’t like fish, does he ? ( Present simple tense)
They have visited Halong bay, haven’t they ? (present perfect tense )
They went to school late last week, didn’t they? ( past simple tense )
3.2. Always use Personal pronouns in the question tag, not using proper names
EX:
Nam is a good student, isn’t he? ( not isn’t Nam )
They are very kind, aren’t they ?
Hoa isn’t your best friend, is she ?
3.3. A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag .
If the main part of a sentence is negative the question tag is positive
EX:
You aren’t a teacher, are you ?
He isn’t crazy, is he ?
He wasn’t relaxed, was he ?
They weren’t on time last night, were they ?
You don’t live in Thach Thanh, do you ?
Lan doesn’t often study hard , does she
He didn’t stydy for the test, did he?
You haven’t been here all weeks, have you?
You hadn’t done it before then , had you ?
He won’t do it again, will he ?
You shouldn’t be so busy, should you ?
3.4. A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag .
If the main part of a sentence is positive the question tag is negative.
EX:
You are a student , aren’t you?
He is very busy, isn’t he ?
Mrs Hoa is very kind , isn’t she ?
You were worried, weren’t they ?
You speak English, don’t you ?
He studies French, doesn’t he ?
Lan studied for the test, didn’t she?
You have been here all weeks, haven’t you?
You had done it before then , hadn’t you ?
He will study hard do it again, won’t he ?
You could do it for me , couldn’t you ?
You should go home on time, shouldn’t you ?
We must be patient , mustn’t we ?
You would like a new job , wouldn’t you ?
4. SOME SPECIAL CASES OF TAG QUESTIONS:
4. 1. When the statement contains a word with a negative meaning, the question tag needs to be positive
EX:
He hardly ever eats fish, does he ?
They rarely eat in restaurants, do they ?
She never goes to school on foot , does she ?
You seldom drink wine, do you ?
I barely know you , do I ?
4. 2. Imperative sentences
Sometimes we use question tags with imperative ( invitations, orders) , but the Sentences remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use “ won’t” for invitations , we use “ can, can’t, will, would” for order.”
EX:
Close the door , will you ?
Don’t talk in class. Will you ?
Let’s go to the cinema, shall we ?
Help me . can you ?
Close the door. Would you ?
4.3. Tag questions with pronouns
- After a clause with somebody, someone, everybody ,anyone, nobody, noone , some, the tag pronoun is normally “they”
EX:
Someone tasted my coffee, didn’t they?
Somebody wanted a drink, didn’t they ?
Everybody realized the danger, did they ?
- After a clause with everything, nothing, anything, little, something, that, this. The tag pronoun is normally “it”
EX:
Everything will be all right, won’t it ?
Nothing is important to you, is it?
Nothing can happen, can it ? A little progress has been made, hasn’t it? Very little progress has been made, has it ?
4. 4 . Tag questions with could , would rather , had better.
EX:
You would rather go , wouldn’t you ?
You used to go to school late , didn’t you ?
He’d better stay, hadn’t he ?
4.5.Tag questions with subject “ I” followed by verbs: think, believe, suppose, figure, assume, fancy, imagine, reckon, expect , seem, feel. We use surbondinate clause to make question tag.
EX:
I think he will come, won’t he ?
I don’t believe Mary can do it, can she ?
Noted : as above model but if subject is not “I” we use main clause to make question tag :
EX:
She thinks he will come , doesn’t she ?
She doesn’t believe Mary can do it, does she ?
4.8. Tag question with I am.
The negative question tag “ am I not “ has no contraction. Because a question tag with no contraction sounds very pendatic, we prefer a very ungrammatical constructions but which is correct for question tag: “aren’t I”
EX:
I am late, aren’t I ?
I am unlucky , aren’t I ?
They must obey the law, needn’t they ?
You must finish the test on time, needn’t you ?
4.10. Tag questions with WISH followed by a question tag: May
Ex: I wish to go out, may I ?
4.11. Intonation
We can change the meaning of a tag question with a musical Pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, sound like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sound More a statement that doesn’t require a real answer:
EX:
You don’t know where my wallet is, do you ? ( rising− real question)
It is a beautiful day, isn’t it ? ( falling− not a real question)
PART B: PRACTICE ON TAG QUESTIONS
1. Exercises and suggested answers
EXERCISE 1: Add tag questions to the following.