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  • 2 days ago
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00:00first of all what are tag questions a tag question is a statement followed by a question
00:07tag questions are often used to confirm information or seek agreement to form a
00:14tag question you start with a declarative statement and then add a tag that turns the
00:19statement into a question the tag is usually an auxiliary verb and a pronoun for example
00:26he is intelligent this is a statement however if we add isn't he at the end now we have a
00:35tag question
00:36he is intelligent isn't he in this case we add isn't he because we want agreement i think he's
00:46intelligent do you think he's intelligent i want you to agree with me we also use tag questions to
00:53confirm information for example you're a doctor this is a statement if i say you're a doctor
01:01i'm quite certain that you are a doctor but what if i'm not quite sure you're a doctor aren't you
01:08in this case i want to confirm information i'm pretty sure you're a doctor i just want you to
01:16confirm that you're a doctor so how do we form tag questions well the formula for making a tag question
01:24is we have a declarative statement plus the auxiliary verb plus a pronoun so the auxiliary verb and
01:33pronoun in the tag question should match the subject of the declarative statement in terms of tense and
01:40number so what that means for example donald lives in paris doesn't he here we have donald is the subject
01:51and so we have to say doesn't he at the end not doesn't she because donald is a he and
01:59we also don't say
02:01donald lives in paris don't he because we use doesn't with he joe and dan speak french don't they in
02:12this
02:12example we use the pronoun they because we have joe and dan there is more than one person so we
02:21use
02:21they and don't goes with they not doesn't so why are tag questions often formed using the negative form
02:33of the auxiliary verb tag questions are often formed using the negative form of the auxiliary verb to
02:40make a statement into a question and this is because the purpose of a tag question is to confirm or
02:46seek
02:46agreement with the statement being made and by using the negative form of the auxiliary verb
02:52it creates a sense of uncertainty or doubt so if i say we are going to the cinema on saturday
03:01that is a declarative sentence this statement is factual that is what is happening on saturday we are
03:09going to the cinema however if we make this into a tag question we are going to the cinema on
03:15saturday
03:16aren't we having the auxiliary verb in the negative form creates that sense of certainty or doubt because
03:23it contrasts this statement now let's say you don't think you're going on saturday you could also write
03:32this tag question as we aren't going to the cinema on saturday are we so how do you punctuate tag
03:42questions
03:43well a tag question is usually separated from the statement by a comma and begins with a lowercase letter
03:52you can drive can't you you see here that we separate the statement from the tag question you can drive
04:01comma can't you and we have a lowercase letter after the comma sarah is a lawyer comma isn't she
04:12they play golf on the weekends comma don't they
04:18let's look at some more tag question examples she's studying for her exams isn't she
04:24he's coming to the party isn't he they're going on a trip next week aren't they it's going to rain
04:32today isn't it lauren is watching tv isn't she you live alone don't you the concert was amazing wasn't it
04:44okay now it's time to do a quiz you have to add commas to the following sentences
04:51we have 10 different sentences and you need to add commas before the tag questions
04:57number one you're feeling better today aren't you
05:01number two they're planning to go on a trip next week aren't they
05:06number three you've been to paris before haven't you
05:11number four the wedding was beautiful wasn't it
05:14number five he's going to run the marathon next month isn't he
05:19number six you like to read in your free time don't you
05:24number seven they're going to buy a new car aren't they
05:28number eight the food was delicious wasn't it
05:32number nine you've never skydived before have you
05:36and finally number 10 she's going to study abroad next semester isn't she
05:45okay so let's correct these now this is quite simple you're just adding it after the declarative
05:51sentence so you're feeling better today comma aren't you and of course for all of these after the comma
05:59there is a space before the next word number two we have a comma after week aren't they you've been
06:08to
06:08paris before comma haven't you and before the wedding was beautiful comma wasn't it
06:17number five he's going to run the marathon next month comma isn't he
06:23number six you like to read in your free time comma don't you
06:28number seven they're going to buy a new car comma aren't they
06:33number eight the food was delicious comma wasn't it
06:39number nine you've never skydived before comma have you
06:44and finally number 10 she's going to study abroad next semester comma isn't she
06:50okay okay so let me know in the comment section how many you got correct out of 10
06:55okay so let me know in the comment section how many you got correct out of 10 you got correct
06:55out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of
06:5510 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you
06:56got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct
06:56out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of
06:5610 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you
06:56got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct
06:56out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of
06:5610 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you
06:56got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct
06:56out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of 10 you got correct out of
06:5610
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