My name’s Ola and I am an English teacher. I teach online during 1:1 and group classes. I believe you can eliminate your language blockade. The secret word here is consistency. There are other secret words too. That is why I record this podcast’s episodes, and each comes with a little worksheet, a one-pager to help you digest and test what you’ve practised here. You can speak English more confidently, slay that fear and enjoy easy communication.
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Hello hello! Thank you for choosing this episode. Today we are building our confidence that’ll allow us to use question tags fluently. We will practice a lot today but please do not forget about your Worksheet. Learning is revising, keep that in mind. I did mention this topic a few times before, for instance in the episode about the weather. It’s because question tags are highly useful in small talk. Nevertheless, we’ve never got into details, and that’s what we’ll do today.
Before we jump into tag questions I have to tell you a few things. Firstly, group lessons. I’m teaching groups now! Let me know if you want to try! No lectures, no course books, no grammar, just speaking. Classes are organised into packets of 1, twice a week. Intensive English Speaking course! Conversations, communication, language blockade elimination. If you’re interested please send an email at contact@teacherola.com or dm me on Instagram.
Secondly, top talks. Every Thursday at 11 am I go live just for a quick chat, 20 minutes or so to discuss some language-related tips. You’ll find me as teacherola.podcast. So join me on Thursday at 11:00 live on Instagram!
Visit my shop, buy a Worksheet set, and have your Worksheets in one place. They’re editable. You can complete them on your smartphone. Check out my e-book with episode transcripts.
Lastly, I am working on my Speak English With Tv Series course, a programme focused on one skill only, speaking.
If you’re wondering whether such a course is right for you grab a checklist, the link is in the description. Thank’s for your patience and let’s get back to the episode.
Tag questions turn a statement into a question. They are often used for checking information. They can also facilitate making questions, right? All you need to do is make an affirmative, positive statement, and then add a tag, and Bob’s your uncle! You have a question. That’s a shortcut but I know sometimes it might be helpful.
Tag questions are made using an auxiliary verb (like be or have) and a subject pronoun (I, you, she, we, they). For instance:
She doesn’t speak Spanish, does she?
Negative question tags are usually contracted:
It’s a cold day, isn’t it?
One important rule to remember is that if the main clause is positive, the question tag is negative, and if the main clause is negative, it’s positive. For example:
It’s raining, isn’t it?
It’s raining is an affirmative, positive sentence, whereas the tag must be the opposite that is negative: isn’t it?
And: It isn’t sweet, is it?
Here the main clause is negative: it isn’t sweet, hence the tag must be the opposite, positive. Is it?
Next rule. If there is no auxiliary verb (in the present simple and past simple) use do, does, or did. Like in normal questions.
Exceptions. Surprisingly there’s only one. It’s weird, but that’s typical of exceptions. After I am we say aren’t I? Told ya! It’s weird. Listen to this example sentence:
I’m allowed to join them, aren’t I?
Now, we will go through all the tenses and I’ll give you positive sentences. Your task is to add a correct question tag. I’ll give you some time to say the whole sentence with a tag after me, and then I’ll say it too. So that you can immediately compare your answers.
So it’s gonna be a sentence without a tag, time for you to say the sentence with a proper tag and then you’ll hear the correct answer. Perfect. Let’s begin.
Present simple:
She’s happy, …?
…
She’s happy, isn’t she?
They watch films together, …?
…
They watch films together, don’t they?
Present continuous:
We’re visiting them on Monday, …?
…
We’re visiting them on Monday, aren’t we?
Past simple:
She was late yesterday, …?
…
She was late yesterday, wasn’t she?
He spoke to you last night, …?
…
He spoke to you last night, didn’t he?
Past continuous:
It was raining last Sunday, …?
…
It was raining last Sunday, wasn’t it?
Present perfect:
They’ve been to Barcelona, …?
…
They’ve been to Barcelona, haven’t they?
Present perfect continuous:
She’s been working here for a while, …?
…
She’s been working here for a while, hasn’t she?
Past perfect:
I heard he had forgotten to call you, …?
…
I heard he had forgotten to call you, hadn’t he?
Past perfect continuous:
We’d been sightseeing a lot, …?
…
We’d been sightseeing a lot, hadn’t we?
Future Simple:
She’ll call you, …?
…
She’ll call you, won’t she?
Future continuous:
They’ll be talking, …?
…
They’ll be talking, won’t they?
Future perfect:
You’ll have finished before noon, …?
…
You’ll have finished before noon, won’t you?
Future perfect continuous:
We’ll have been walking all day, …?
…
We’ll have been walking all day, …?
Modal verbs:
He can join us, …?
…
He can join us, can’t he?
Well done! That was a lot of work, but you’re not done yet. Now the opposite. Negative sentences with positive tags, ok? Let’s do it. I promise that’s the final part of the episode, later we’ll wrap up. Let’s go.
Present simple:
We aren’t invited, …?
…
We aren’t invited, are we?
They don’t go out together, …?
…
They don’t go out together, do they?
Present continuous:
We’re not seeing Adam tomorrow, …?
…
We’re not seeing Adam tomorrow, are we?
Past simple:
She wasn’t happy, …?
…
She wasn’t happy, was she?
He didn’t come, …?
…
He didn’t come, did he?
Past continuous:
They weren’t travelling last year, …?
…
They weren’t travelling last year, were they?
Present perfect:
She hasn’t shown up yet, …?
…
She hasn’t shown up yet, has she?
Present perfect continuous:
He hasn’t been working with that injury, …?
…
He hasn’t been working with that injury, has he?
Past perfect:
We hadn’t been abroad before, …?
…
We hadn’t been abroad before, had we?
Past perfect continuous:
She hadn’t been sleeping well recently, …?
…
She hadn’t been sleeping well recently, had she?
Future Simple:
We won’t go on holiday this year, …?
…
We won’t go on holiday this year, will we?
Future continuous:
They won’t be arguing, …?
…
They won’t be arguing, will they?
Future perfect:
You won’t have left the office before 5, …?
…
You won’t have left the office before 5, will you?
Future perfect continuous:
He won’t have been talking on the phone all day, …?
…
He won’t have been talking on the phone all day, will he?
Modal verbs:
You can’t come, …?
…
You can’t come, can you?
That’s it for today! The topic is not finished though, we still have to talk about intonation, but we’ll do that next time in another grammar episode. Now go to your inbox and get the worksheet to test yourself. Translate the sentences into English. If you aren’t a member of TOPeople download the worksheet from teacherola.com/156.
If you find this episode useful, tell your friends about my podcast. Thank you so much for doing so! I’ll see you next Wednesday! We’ll be talking about the word ‘speak’. Till then, happy learning. Take care! Stay fearless and say it out loud! Bye!