Question tags are repeated phrases placed at the end of a declarative statement that turn it into a question. They're usually used to express doubt, to confirm something, or to indirectly ask something. Here are some examples:
- This pizza is good, isn't it?
- You didn't take a bath, did you?
- Tasha has been to Solvang, hasn't she?
- He'll be back, won't he?
- Earl likes Madonna, doesn't he?
These questions are basically the same as these:
- Isn't this pizza good?
- Did you take a bath?
- Hasn't Tasha been to Solvang?
- Won't he be back?
- Doesn't Earl like Madonna?
See a pattern? There are probably different interpretations of those questions, but let's keep it simple for now.
Luckily, these types of questions are also asked in Spanish. Here's how you'd probably translate those sentences:
- La pizza es sabrosa, ¿no?
- Te bañaste, ¿no?
- Ha ido Tasha a Solvang, ¿no?
- Regresará, ¿no?
- A Earl le gusta Madonna, ¿no?
So the purpose of question tags isn't completely new, but the formation is probably new for ELLs.
To make question tags, you have to...
1. Locate the helping verb (be, have) or the modal verb (will, can, would, should, etc). If the sentence doesn't have a helping verb or a modal verb, use do and make sure the tense matches up.
2. Add negation. Contract it to helping verb/modal verb/do. If there already is negation attached, get rid of it. This is called switching polarity.
3. Locate the subject and turn it into a subject pronoun. You can't use proper or common nouns. They gotta be pronouns.
4. Stick both of them right at the end of the sentence (plus negation, if there is any). Don't forget the question mark.
Boom. You're done. That's pretty cool, isn't it?