Question Tags with the do verb (I)

We have examined the common problems that students of English face with the do verb. The last of these arises in the use of question tags. Objective: Form question tags in sentences with no auxiliary verb Prerequisite: Knowledge of tag formation This lesson would ordinarily come after a thorough grounding of question tag formation. Here it has been brought forward to make you completely comfortable with the ‘do’ verb. 1) The basic rule of forming question tags is that when the statement is in the positive then the tag is in the negative. Similarly, when the statement is negative, the tag is in the positive. 2) The second rule is that the question tag is formed using the auxiliary verb appearing in the statement. We shall begin this lesson with sentences that have the do verb in them. 1) You do not trust me. 2) You did not ask for a soda. Both these statements are in the negative. Further they each have an auxiliary verb: do. The following are the correct question tags for the two statements: 1) You do not trust me, do you? 2) You did not ask for a soda, did you? Notice that a comma appears between the statement and the tag. Further, the tag begins in the lower case. Finally that the tag ends with a question mark. These are very important elements of punctuation that students generally ignore. Now what happens when you have a statement that has no auxiliary verb? e.g. She reported to school late. The general rule is that when a statement does not have an auxiliary verb then the question tag is formed using the appropriate form of the ‘do’ verb. Appropriate here is in relation to the tense of the statement. The verb in our statement is ‘reported’. Therefore the statement is in the past tense. The past tense of the ‘do’ verb is did. Finally, the statement is in the positive therefore the tag should be in the negative. Our answer then is “She reported to school late, didn’t she?” Now try your hand at these: 1) He told you the truth. 2) She offered you a soda. 3) They spoke a lot about their school. 4) Jane played football. 5) You liked your teachers. Now find out whether you are on the right track. 1) He told you the truth, didn’t he? 2) She offered you a soda, didn’t she? 3) They spoke a lot about their school, didn’t they? 4) Jane played football, didn’t she? 5) You liked your teachers, didn’t you? I deliberately gave you sentences in the past tense because they are easier to construct. Now create 10 statements of your own that have no auxiliary verbs and then create the question tags. The trick is to talk about things that happen in your life. In the next post we shall look at sentences in the present tense.