Tag Questions in English | How & When to Use | Accurate Grammar and Pronunciation

In this week's Confident English lesson,

we're going to explore tag questions in English.

Those short little question words that come at the end of a statement,

turning a sentence into a question. For example,

think about a conversation in English you had recently.

Do you remember anyone adding something like, isn't it,

don't you, doesn't she, at the end of a statement?

Each of those is an example of a question tag.

What I love about tag questions is that knowing how and when to use them

not only sharpens your grammar skills,

but it also boosts your pronunciation skills in English as well.

Particularly with your use of intonation.

So when exactly should you use them and how do you use them

correctly? If you don't already know,

I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English,

everything I do here is designed to help you get the confidence you want for

your life and work in English. And by the end of this lesson today,

you'll know exactly how to form tag questions.

In fact,

you'll be equipped with five specific circumstances or

situations in which we tend to use tag questions so that you can insert them

into your English conversations easily then to ensure you've got it right.

I have a short quiz for you at the end. So be sure to stick with me.

Let's start with a quick review of what tag questions are just to make sure

we're on the same page.

Tag questions appear in the form of a statement with a small question

tagged at the end.

This means it's been added on to the end of a statement as an afterthought

and for a specific purpose. As I mentioned earlier,

some common examples include don't you, isn't he, doesn't she,

wouldn't you. And when we use tag questions,

they tend to follow this structure, your statement,

and then an auxiliary verb or modal, and the subject.

For example, this color's beautiful, isn't it?

The addon of isn't it might be confusing.

And you may wonder why exactly do English speakers add on this

extra question at the end. Why go to the trouble?

Why not just ask the question directly, for example,

do you think this color's beautiful?

Those are all valid questions and I have some answers for you.

Let's take a look at five specific reasons tag questions are

used. Number one, question tags,

seek information like any question we might ask.

Tag questions are gateways to getting more information from others.

For example, imagine you're going to buy a new phone,

but the warranty details are a little foggy or unclear.

To learn whether or not water damage is covered,

you might ask: "the warranty does cover water damage, doesn't it." Now,

in that example, did you notice that my statement was positive?

The warranty does cover water damage.

And then the question tag was in the negative form. Doesn't it?

When we use question tags, there's an important thing to remember.

If the statement is positive, the warranty does include water damage.

Then the question tag is in the negative form, we can also reverse this.

For example, you wouldn't happen to know the time, would you?

In this example,

the statement is in the negative form and the question tag is in the positive.

And now let's move on to reason number two.

Tag questions can be used to request or ask for a favor.

Before we look at this, before we look at how to politely use tag questions,

to request something let's pause and reflect on intonation.

In the examples I shared with reason number one,

you may have noticed that I used rising intonation at the end.

Just like we with typical questions in English,

in rising intonation our pitch goes up when we speak

and you'll especially hear rising in to when

someone is using question tags to ask for a favor.

Let me give you an example.

Let's say one of your coworkers needs some help with a project and makes this

request. You wouldn't happen to have any notes on this client, would you?

Listen again and see if you can hear that rising intonation at the end,

you wouldn't happen to have any notes on this client, would you?

In that example, not only am I using that rising intonation at the end,

but I'm also following our typical tag question structure.

I have my statement then an auxiliary or modal verb and the subject.

Alternatively, you can also form a request by using an imperative statement,

followed by will would wouldn't or won't and

the subject.

Here's a clear example of how we can make the same request that we just

illustrated,

but use an imperative to make it more assertive rather than say,

you wouldn't happen to have any notes on that client, would you? You could say,

send me any notes you have on that client, won't you?

Both examples are making a request using a tag question at the end with

that rising intonation.

But the second one is a bit more assertive because we've used that imperative

statement.

And now reason number three for using question tags is to help start

conversations.

Sometimes asking a direct question can come across as being

too bold or forceful. And in those circumstances,

tag questions are a great way to ask conversation questions

in a more subtle way. Let me give you an example.

Imagine that someone new has joined your team at work instead of

catching someone off guard and directly asking, are you doing okay?

You could use a more subtle approach with a tag question, for example,

there's quite a bit of information to process, isn't there?

This is a great way to start a conversation or keep it going.

And just as you may have noticed in my previous examples,

I'm still using that rising intonation with the question tag. However,

we don't always do that.

We don't always use rising intonation.

Let's take a look at reason number four for using question tags and

how we might adjust our intonation.

We can use question tags to confirm facts and assumptions.

Imagine you've invited someone for dinner and the day before you want to

reconfirm that they'll be able to come.

You might do that by asking you're still coming for dinner tomorrow, aren't you?

Did you notice the continued use of rising intonation?

That's because this question indicates that you're curious to know the answer

and you're aiming to confirm an assumption.

On the contrary English speakers use falling intonation

with the question tag, when they want to confirm and emphasize.

Here's what I mean. Let's say that as a parent,

you're aware that your daughter is falling behind in school.

Her grades are not as good as they should be.

She's not dedicating her time to study.

When you go to a parent teacher conference, you might say,

Stephanie has fallen behind, hasn't she.

Listen again. Stephanie has fallen behind,

hasn't she.

I'm using falling intonation. As a result,

it sounds more like a statement than a question.

And that's because my belief is stronger.

It's not just an assumption. Instead, I'm certain that this is a fact.

In some ways that question tag is less about asking a question

and more about confirming what I know to be true.

So I'm confirming and emphasizing my belief or

certainty. Let me give you one more example.

Let's say that you're having that dinner party that we talked about,

where you confirmed that someone would be able to come.

And then it's the day of your dinner party. Your friend calls you,

she's stuck in traffic and you say, you're not going to make it, are you.

My intonation's going down.

I'm confirming and emphasizing what I believe to be true because she's

stuck in traffic. You're not going to make it.

Are you. And with that,

let's move on to reason number five English speakers use question tags

and we'll continue to look at the use of falling intonation.

The fifth reason for using tag questions is to lighten the mood.

When we talked about reason number three, starting a conversation,

we highlighted that tag questions can dampen the

awkwardness or the abruptness of a direct question.

In the same way,

English speakers use tag questions to minimize any negativity

or frustration in a conversation. On top of that,

we're able to insert humor through the use of dramatic hyperbole.

A hyperbole is an exaggerated statement.

Something that we are not meant to take literally.

When you seek to do this, you can use this structure, your hyperbole,

an auxiliary verb and your subject. Here's an example.

Let's say that you are in a group of friends trying to make plans to get

together, but everyone has different preferences, different schedules.

So finding a day and a time to get together has become extremely

complicated. And after a lot of back and forth,

there is a bit of tension and frustration there. To help lighten the mood,

you might say, this feels a bit like hurting cats,

doesn't it? In this example, I've done two things. First.

I used a hyperbole or an exaggerated statement,

and second I used falling intonation to

humorously acknowledge something everybody is thinking or feeling.

And with that,

you have five fantastic reasons to use tag questions in English.

Let's do a quick recap, reason. Number one, to seek information.

Reason two request or ask for a favor.

Reason number three, start a conversation in a more subtle way.

Number four, confirm assumptions and facts.

And number five to lighten the mood.

Now let's do a quick quiz to see how well you understand all these

reason and to ensure your accuracy using tag questions.

I have four questions for you in this quiz. In each one.

I want you to do two things. First,

I want you to identify the correct question tag. And number two.

I want you to consider which reason we're using for the

tag question. Are we asking for a favor, confirming a fact,

starting a conversation and so on.

You can share your answers with me in the comments below.

That's also where I will share the correct answer.

So you can review those comments just below the video. Number one,

it's so hot you can almost fry an egg on the sidewalk, ______?

What's the question tag.

It's so hot you can almost fry an egg on the sidewalk _____?

In the comments below, share your answer.

What is question tag and why are we using it? Now,

question number two. I don't need to get a haircut _____?

I don't need to get a haircut ______? Again.

Finish that with a question tag and number three,

beauty exists within the eye of the beholder _____?

How would you finish that with a question tag? And number four.

Our last question, the quiz. In this one,

I have a little bit more information I want you to fill in.

You _______ happen to have time to help me with this client ______?

What do you think is missing there again?

You can find my answers in the comments below to confirm

your answers. As always, if you found this lesson helpful to you,

I would love to know.

And there's one very simple way that you can tell me,

give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube. And while you're at it,

subscribe to my Speak Confident Englishchannel.

So you never miss one of my Confident Englishlessons. They,

you so much for joining me and I look forward to seeing you next time.