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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.........................................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................iii
CHAPTER I...............................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1
A. Background …………………………………………………………………………....1
B. Question of the problem....................................................................................................1
C. Writing purpose.................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER II..............................................................................................................................2
DISCUSSION............................................................................................................................2
A. Definition of a Question Tag............................................................................................2
B. Forming and Using Question Tags in Sentences..............................................................2
C. Rules for Making Tag Questions.....................................................................................3
1. Positive Statement Tag Questions..................................................................................3
2. Negative Statement of Question Tags…………………………………………………5
3. Answering Tag Questions...............................................................................................8
D. Forming and Using Question Tags in Sentences……………………………………….. 8
E. Tag Question Special Cases... .…………………………………………………………10
1. Negative adverbs..........................................................................................................10
2. Intonation.....................................................................................................................11
3. Imperatives...................................................................................................................12
CHAPTER III...........................................................................................................................14
CLOSING................................................................................................................................14
A.CONSLUSION.................................................................................................................14
B. SUGGESTION................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................15
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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background

Language is a dynamic and varied tool that represents not just our thoughts and ideas, but
also the nuances of human connection.We investigate the fascinating realm of tag questions
and their relevance in English language communication in this paper.
Tag questions are short interrogative words or sentences that are inserted at the end of a
sentence. These mini-questions are frequently used in communication for a variety of goals,
ranging from asking confirmation or explanation to conveying politeness or interpersonal
dynamics. Tag questions' intricate mechanics include not just language and syntax, but also
intonation patterns and cultural nuances.
Understanding the use of tag questions is not just an academic pursuit; it has practical
implications for language learners, teachers, and anyone engaged in English-language
interactions.

B. Question of the problem

1. What is definition of Tag Question?

2. What is the function of Tag Question?
3. What is the rules for making Tag Questions
4. How to forming and using Tag Question in sentences?
5. Tag Question Special Cases

C. Writing purpose

1. To know what is definition of Tag Question

2. To know what is the function of Tag Question
3. To kknow what is the rules for making Tag Questions
4. To know how to forming and using Tag Question in sentences
5. To know what is the Tag Question special cases

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 CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION

A. Definition of a Tag Question

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a

mini-question. We use tag questions to ask for confirmation. A question tag or a tag question,
according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a phrase such as ‘isn’t it?’ or
‘don’t you?’ that you add to the end of a statement in order to turn it into a question or check
that the statement is correct, as in, you like mushrooms, don’t you?”. You speak English,
don't you?
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a question tag as “a short phrase such as “isn’t it”
or “don’t you” that is added to the end of a sentence to check information or to ask if
someone agrees with you”, and according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a question tag
is “a question (such as isn’t it in “it’s fine, isn’t it?”) added to a statement or command (as to
gain the assent of or challenge the person addressed)”. The Collins Dictionary definition of a
question tag is as follows – “In grammar, a question tag is a very short clause at the end of a
statement which changes the statement into a question. For example, in ‘She said half price,
didn’t she?’, the words ‘didn’t she’ are a question tag.”

B. The Function of Tag Question

In general, Question Tags function to ask for confirmation from the listener about
something that is not yet very convincing to the speaker or can be said to ask for approval
from the listener for the statement made.
Tag questions are short question forms used to seek confirmation or agreement from the
interlocutor. The primary functions of tag questions are as follows:
 Confirmation: Tag questions are used to ensure that the information provided by the
speaker is correct or accurate. For example, in the sentence "It's a beautiful day, isn't
it?" the tag question "isn't it" is used to request the interlocutor to confirm that the
day is indeed beautiful.

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  Expressing Doubt: Tag questions can also be used to express the speaker's doubt or
uncertainty regarding a statement that has been made.
 Maintaining Conversational Harmony: Tag questions help maintain conversational
harmony. They contribute to building more friendly and inclusive communication,
especially in everyday conversation.
 Modulating Intonation: Tag questions are often used to modulate the intonation of a
conversation. When tag questions are used, the speaker's voice intonation typically
rises at the end of the sentence, creating a more friendly and interactive tone.

Tag questions typically consist of auxiliary or modal verbs followed by a pronoun or "it."
For example, "isn't it," "aren't you," "won't she." They play an important role in everyday
communication and are frequently used in spoken language for asking casual questions or
seeking agreement from the interlocutor

Example:
He is a doctor, isn't he? (Meaning: He's a doctor, right?)
He is a doctor (he is a doctor) is a statement that is proposed, while isn't he? (not) is the firm
question (Question Tags).

NOTES
Question Tags are formed from to be, modal auxiliaries, and other Auxiliary Verbs (is, am,
are, does, do, did, can, have, may, must, will, shall, etc) combined with a Personal Pronoun
(Personal Pronouns) namely I, we, you, they, he, she, it.

C. Rules for Making Tag Questions

1. Positive Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with positive statements, positive/negative. Usually, if the main
clause is positive, the question tag is negative, and if the main clause is negative, the tag
question is positive. The auxiliary verb from the positive statement is repeated in the tag and
changed to negative.

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 No POSITIVE SENTENCE QUESTION TAG (NEGATIVE)
1 Subject + V1/ Vs, Your parents fly don’t/ doesn’t + Pronoun? don’t they?
to Jakarta,
2 Subject + V2, Your parents flew didn’t + Pronoun? didn’t they?
to Jakarta,
3 Subject + am/ is/ are + Ving, Your isn’t/ aren’t + Pronoun? aren’t the
parents are flying to Jakarta,
4 Subject + was/were + Ving, Your wasn’t/ weren’t + Pronoun? weren’t they?
parents were flying to Jakarta,
5 Subject + have/ has + V3, Your haven’t/ hasn’t + Prnonoun? haven’t they?
parents have flown to Jakarta,
6 Subject + had + V3, Your parents hadn’t + Pronoun? hadn’t they?
had flown to Jakarta,
7 Subject + will + V1, Your parents won’t + Pronoun? won’t they?
will fly to Jakarta,

(+) positive statement (-) negative tag

Subject Auxiliar Main Auxiliar Not personal pronoun

y Verb y same as subject

You Are studying, Are n't you?

We Have closed, Have n't we?

They Will help, Wo n't they?

I Can come, Can 't I?

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We must go, must n't we?

He should Try harder, should n't he?

John Was there, Was n't he?

Positive sentences with negative tags:

Present simple 'be' he's Italian, isn't he?
Present simple other verbs They live in London, don't they?
Present continuous We're studying tomorrow, aren't we?
Past simple 'be' It was hot yesterday, wasn't it?
Past simple other verbs He went to the party last night, didn't he?
Past continuous We were waiting at the station, weren't we?
Present perfect They've been to Pematangsiantar, haven't they?
Present perfect continuous She's been studying a lot recently, hasn't she?
Past perfect He had forgotten his wallet, hadn't he?
Past perfect continuous We'd been working, hadn't we?
Future simple She'll come at nine, won't she?
Future continuous They'll be arriving soon, won't they?
Future perfect They'll have finished before nine, won't they?
Future perfect continuous She'll have been cooking all day, won't she?
Modals He can help, can't he?
Modals She must stay, mustn't she?

2. Negative Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with negative statements. Notice that the negative verb in the
original statement is changed to positive in the tag.

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No NEGATIVE SENTENCE QUESTION TAG (POSITIVE)
1 Subject + don’t/ doesn’t + V1, Rick do/ does + Pronoun? does he?
doesn’t do his task,
2 Subject + didn’t + V1, Rick didn’t do did + Pronoun? did he?
his task
3 Subject + am not/ isn’t/ aren’t + Ving, am/ is/ are + Pronoun? is he?
Rick isn’t doing his task,
4 Subject + wasn’t/weren’t + Ving, Rick was/ were + Pronoun? was he?
wasn’t doing his task,
5 Subject + wasn’t/weren’t + Ving, Rick have/ has + Prnonoun? has he?
wasn’t doing his task,
6 Subject + hadn’t + V3, Rick hadn’t had + Pronoun? had he?
done his task,
7 Subject + won’t + V1, Rick won’t do will + Pronoun? will he?
his task

Examples;

(-) negative statement (+) positive tag

Subject auxiliar main auxiliar personal

y verb y pronoun same as
subject

It Is n't raining, is it?

We Have never seen that, have we?

You Do n't like milk, do you?

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They Will not help, will they?

They Wo n't report us, will they?

I Can never do it can I?

right,

He should n't drive so should he?

fast,

You wo n't be late, will you?

John was not there, was he?

Negative sentences with positive tags:

Present simple 'be' We aren't late, are we?
Present simple other verbs She doesn't have any books, does she?
Present continuous The bus isn't coming, is it?
Past simple 'be' She wasn't at home yesterday, was she?
Past simple other verbs They didn't go out last Sunday, did they?
Past continuous You weren't sleeping, were you?
Present perfect She hasn't eaten all the cake, has she?
Present perfect continuous He hasn't been running in this weather, has he?
Past perfect We hadn't been to London before, had we?
Past perfect continuous You hadn't been sleeping, had you?
Future simple They won't be late, will they?
Future continuous He won’t be studying tonight, will he?
Future perfect She won't have left work before six, will she?
Future perfect continuous He won't have been travelling all day, will he?
Modals She can't speak Arabic, can she?

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Modals They mustn't come early, must they?

Notice:

 won't is the contracted form of will not

 the tag repeats the auxiliary verb, not the main verb. Except, of course, for the
verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple.

3. Answering Tag Questions

How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may
repeat the tag and reverse it (They don't live here, do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful
about answering tag questions. In some languages, an opposite system of answering is used,
and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot
of confusion!
Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real
facts, not (necessarily) the question.

In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes"
(meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English!

Here are some more examples, with correct answers:

 The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.

 The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.

 The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!

 Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!

 Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!

 The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

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 D. Forming and Using Question Tags in Sentences
While question tags can look pretty easy to use, there are a few things you have to be
mindful of when using them. Take a look at the following points to learn how to use a
question tag accurately in a sentence.

 A sentence with a question tag takes the form – Statement, question tag?
 The punctuation of a sentence with a question is as follows – Capital letter to begin
the sentence, a comma at the end of the statement, followed by the tag question and
a question mark.
 The use of pronouns in question tags is another thing you need to focus on. If a
pronoun is used as the subject, use the same pronoun in the question tag. On the other
hand, if a noun (name of a person/place/animal/thing/idea) or a noun phrase acts as
the subject in the statement, use a pronoun based on the gender/number in the
question tag.
 If the statement is positive or affirmative, the question tag should be negative, and if
the statement is negative, the question tag used should be positive.
For example:

positive statement negative tag

Sir Mungkap is a good lecturer, isn't he?

negative statement positive tag

You don't like me, do you?

 When a statement expresses emotions of anger, surprise or interest, the question tag
used has to be positive even though the statement is positive. For example: You think
it is something to be proud of, do you?
 When there are two verbs (a main verb and an auxiliary/helping verb) in a sentence,
the question tag should be formed using the auxiliary verb. For example: They were
waiting for her, weren’t they?

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  If the sentence contains a modal auxiliary verb, the question tag has to be formed
using the modal verb. For example: The students should bring their parents for the
meeting, shouldn’t they?
 Sentences with ‘have’, ‘has’ and ‘had’ as the main verb use the positive and negative
form of ‘do’ as the question tag. For example: You have a pair of shoes, don’t you?
 Sentences with pronouns such as ‘nothing’ and ‘nobody’ should be considered
negative statements and a positive tag has to be used. For example, Nothing is
working, is it?
 Sentences with action verbs in the simple present tense form a question tag using the
verb ‘do/does’ and its corresponding negative form. For example: He teaches
Chemistry, doesn’t he?
 A sentence in the past tense will have question tags formed using the verb ‘did’. For
example: Harry and Ron played tennis, didn’t they
 If the main sentence has an auxiliary verb (or non-auxiliary be), this is repeated in the
question tag.
 If the main sentence has no auxiliary, the question tag has do. Non-auxiliary has may
have both forms. Examples: John has passed the exam, hasn’t he? You smoke, don’t
you? Linda has a set of blue eyes, hasn’t she? You have a car, don’t you?

E. Tag Question Special Cases

1. Negative adverbs

The adverbs never, rarely, seldom, hardly, barely and scarcely have a negative sense.
Even though they may be in a positive statement, the feeling of the statement is negative. We
treat statements with these words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally
positive. Look at these examples:

positive statement positive tag

treated as negative statement

He never came again, did he?

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 She can rarely come these days, can she?

You hardly ever came late, did you?

I barely know you, do I?

You would scarcely expect her to know that, would you?

Some more special cases

Example Notes

I am right, aren't I? aren't I (not amn't I)

You have to go, don't you? you (do) have to go...

I have been answering, haven't use first auxiliary

I?

Nothing came in the post, did it? treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative
statements

Let's go, shall we? let's = let us

He'd better do it, hadn't he? he had better (no auxiliary)

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 2. Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With
rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like
a statement that doesn't require a real answer.
 When we are sure of the answer and we are simply encouraging a response, the
intonation in the question tag goes down:
 This is your car, isn't it?
(Your voice goes down when you say isn't it.)

 When we are not sure and want to check information, the intonation in the question
tag goes up:
 He is from France, isn't he?
(Your voice goes up when you say isn't he.)

Intonation

You don't know where my wallet is, do you? / rising real question

It's a beautiful view, isn't it? \ falling not a real question

3. Imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the
sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for
invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.

imperative + question tag Notes

Take a seat, won't you? polite invitation

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Help me, can you? quite friendly

Help me, can't you? quite friendly (some irritation?)

Close the door, would you? quite polite

Do it now, will you. less polite

Don't forget, will you. with negative imperatives only will is possible

After imperatives, won’t you? is often used to invite people to do things, and
will/would/can/can’t/could you? to tell or ask people to do things.
Do sit down, won’t you?
Shut up, can’t you?
After a negative imperative, we use will you?
Don’t forget, will you?
Let’s have a party, shall you?
There’s something wrong, isn’t there?
There weren’t any problem, were there?

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 CHAPTER III
CLOSING
A.CONSLUSION

In conclusion, tag questions are a unique and important aspect of English grammar
that serve various communication purposes. They are short interrogative phrases or sentences
added to the end of a statement. Tag questions can be used to seek confirmation, emphasize a
point, or express uncertainty. Understanding the rules for forming and using tag questions is
essential for effective communication in English.
We have discussed the definition of tag questions and their formation. Positive
statement tag questions are typically followed by negative tags, and negative statement tag
questions are typically followed by positive tags. The choice of pronouns and the use of
auxiliary verbs in tag questions are important considerations.
Additionally, we've explored the role of intonation in tag questions, which can change
the meaning and purpose of the question. Rising intonation makes a tag question sound like a
real question, while falling intonation makes it more of a statement.We've also addressed
special cases, such as tag questions with negative adverbs, imperatives, and other unique
situations. These cases require specific tag question forms.

B. SUGGESTION

For further understanding of tag questions, it would be beneficial to explore the cultural
and situational aspects that influence the use of tag questions. Additionally, a study of the
pragmatic functions of tag questions in various contexts would provide valuable insights into
their role in communication.
Moreover, it's essential to continue research on the evolving patterns and usage of tag
questions in contemporary English, considering the impact of digital communication and
social media on language. We hope it serves as a valuable resource for English learners and
educators alike.

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 REFERENCES

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/question-tag
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/question-tag
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/question-tags
https://www.ef.co.id/englishfirst/kids/blog/tag-questions-dalam-bahasa-inggris/
https://www.eslbase.com/grammar/tag-questions
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/tag-questions.html

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