Question Tags with the verb "is"

Welcome to another English grammar class, as promised we shall look at question tags with the verb “is”. Objective: Make question tags with the verb “is”. Isn’t it? Without a doubt the most abused phrase in Kenya. I have sat and listened to Kenyans of great learning punctuate every sentence with the phrase “isn’t it?” There are strict rules of English grammar that if one follows, then one will avoid this mistake. To begin with, it is the auxiliary (helping) verb in a sentence that is used to make the question tag. This means that a sentence must contain the verb “is” for one to use the question tag “isn’t it?”. This brings us to the second rule: if the verb “is” is not used in a sentence then do not use the tag “isn’t it?”. The third and most important rule is about the positive tag for a negative sentence, and a negative tag for a positive sentence. We shall begin our journey with negative sentences. Supply question tags for the following statements. 1) This is not a big challenge. 2) This is not your pen. 3) This is not your first question tag class. 4) This is not your last question tag class. 5) This is not your cup of tea. Now let us find out how you fared. 1) This is not a big challenge, is it? 2) This is not your pen, is it? 3) This is not your first question tag class, is it? 4) This is not your last question tag class, is it? 5) This is not your cup of tea, is it? A very interesting problem does present itself, though. Not all our sentences have just one verb. Supply a question tag for the following sentences. 1) It is not easy to win a marathon race. 2) It is not your birthday we are celebrating. 3) It is not your horse that won the race. 4) It is not your glass I broke. 5) It is not your house I visited last. Well, find out whether you are on the right track. 1) It is not easy to win a marathon race, is it? 2) It is not your birthday we are celebrating, is it? 3) It is not your horse that won the race, is it? 4) It is not your glass I broke, is it? 5) It is not your house I visited last, is it? Each of these sentences has two verbs, so why did we choose on is to construct the question tag? The answer is simple. Do you remember the rule that we use the auxiliary verb in the sentence to construct the question tag? Well, that is the rule that applies in such sentences. I hope that you are now confident with this aspect of English grammar. In the next post we shall look at positive sentences with the verb “is”.