Tag Question and Question Words

Menonimus

June 18, 2023

Tag Question

Tag Question refers to asking questions formed with any of the Auxiliary Verbs after a Statement. For example:

She plays on the guitar, doesn’t she?

He is not honest, is he?

Kamal played cricket nicely, didn’t he?

There are some general rules for forming Tag Questions, as:

(i) If the statement is Affirmative, the Tag will be a Negative one and if the statement is Negative then the Tag will be a Positive one:

He is tired, isn’t he?

She does not go there, does she?

(ii) The Subject of a Tag Question is always a Pronoun:

Shahin reads well, doesn’t he?

Kanaklata did not come here, did she?

(iii) In Negative Tag Question the contracted form of not (n’t) is used:

He likes to eat a guava, doesn’t he?

I can do it easily, can’t I?

(iv) If the main statement does not have an Auxiliary but a Principal Verb then the ‘Do’(did, does) verb is used according to the tense of the Principal Verb.

He ran much, didn’t he?

They fought boldly, didn’t they?

She plays with a toy, doesn’t she?

(v) The Tag Question of an Imperative Sentence is ‘Will you?”:

Open the window, will you?

Shut the gate, will you?

Post the letter, will you?

Do not do it, will you?

(vi) The Tag Question of an Imperative Sentence begun with ‘Let’ verb is ‘shall we?’:

Let us play there, shall we?

Let us go out for a walk, shall we?

Let us make friends, shall we?

Note: In Tag Question, some Auxiliary Verbs change their forms, as:

Cann’t —— can’t

Used not —— didn’t

Willn’t ——won’t

Amn’t ——aren’t

Tag Question and Question Words

Question Words

Mind the following sentences:

Who are you?

Why are you late?

Which was Tom’s book?

How big is your ambition?

What did you do?

When will he come?

Whose book is this?

Whom do you like?

The underlined words (Interrogative Pronouns or Interrogative Adjectives) in the above sentences are used at the beginning of the sentences and by using them something is enquired of. These are called Question Words.

The basic question words are: Who, What, Which, Whose, Whom, Where, When, Why and How. In addition to these the following words are used in asking question:

How many, How much, How far, How long, Since when etc.

Notice the uses of some Question Words in the following sentences:

What are they doing?

Which road shall we take?

How old is your child?

How long has he been playing?

How many members attended the seminar?

Who went to school with you?

What is the cause of your lamentation?

What is wrong with your friend?

Which one of these books belongs to you?

Whose pen is this?

Whom do you love most?

Where is your village?

Notice the Making of Question to an Answer, as:

Answer: He is Rajat.

Question: Who is he?

2. Answer: My mother is a house-wife.

Question: What is your mother?

3. Answer: He is an engineer.

Question: What is he?

4. Answer: I am speaking to Madab.

Question: Who are you speaking to?

Note: When a Preposition governs an Interrogative word then the Preposition is placed at the end of the sentence.

5. Answer: Shoes are made of leather.

Question: What are shoes made of?

6. Answer: He laughed at the old man.

Question: Who did he laugh at?

7. Answer: We are talking about the this?

Question: What are you talking about?

8. Answer: She listened to the music.

Question: What did she listen to?

9. Answer: I am writing to my mother.

Question: Who are you writing to?

10. Answer: She is looking at me

Question: Who is she looking at?

Tag Question and Question Words

11. Answer: Raja had put on a new dress.

Question: What had Raja put on?

12. Answer: The beggar asked for alms.

Question: What did the beggar ask for?

13. Answer: He has come from New York.

Question: Where has he come from?

14. Answer: He is looking for a car.

Question: What is he looking for?

15. Answer: I go to school at 9 o’clock.

Question: When do you go to school?

16. Answer: She bought many books?

Question: How many books did she buy?

17. Answer: He wants a kilogram of rice.

Question: How much rice does he want?

18. Answer: He went to the station.

Question: Where did he go?

19. Answer: This is my favourite game.

Question: Which is your favourite game?

20. Answer: I want to meet Himesh.

Question: Whom do you want to meet?

Tag Question and Question Words

21. Answer: His mother is seventy years old.

Question: How old is his mother?

22. Answer: His pen is blue.

Question: What colour is his pen?

23.Answer: This is my shirt.

Question: Whose shirt is this?

24. Answer: He has been ill since yesterday.

Question: Since when has he been ill?

25. Answer: The teacher punished Akash.

Question: Whom did the teacher punish?

Tag Question and Question Words

EXERCISE

Tag Question and Question Words

1. Complete the following sentences with Tag Questions:

(i) I am older than you, …………..? (ii)It is very cold this evening, …………….? (iii) He used to visit us every Monday, ……………? (iv) She has come early, ……………..? (v) I am happy, …………..? (vi) She broke the window, ………….? (vii) John knows me, ………….? (viii)Let us go out for a picnic, ……………..? (ix)They won’t come now, …………..? (x)Let us read the lesson, ………………….? (xi) Stop quarrelling, ………….? (xii)He loves horse riding, ………….? (xiii) We shall meet them tomorrow, ……………? (xiv) He used to live there, ………….? (xv) You are happy, ……?

Tag Question and Question Words

2. Write the questions to which the words in italics are the answers:

(i) My shoes are white. (ii) He is Mr William. (iii) My shirt is blue. (iv)The New Master comes tomorrow. (v) I am Menonimus. (vi) He plays ball in the evening. (vii) He is 13 years old. (viii) They live in Delhi. (ix)That man is an engineer. (x) He is my uncle. (xi)They want to go out. (xii) He plays football well. (xiii)Everybody says he is a good singer. (xiv)The teacher called me. (xv) Silpa wants a novel. (xvi) I went to the station to see my friend. (xvii) He punished the boy. (xviii) He gets up at 5 a.m. (ix) The girl wore a new gown. (x) Shila bought a pen. (xi) Diana is a beautiful girl. (xii) He has come here to play with his friends. (xiii) He wants to speak to you. (xiv) My name is Ranin. (xv) His father is a teacher. (xvi) Children play in the field.

Tag Question and Question Words

3. Write the Preposition at the end:

(i) He laughed at my remark. (ii) He smiled at the girl. (iii) The cow lives on grass. (iv) We are listening to the radio. (v) He is sitting on the chair. (vi)The tiger looked into the den. (vii) The Ganges rises from the Himalayas. (viii) She is writing to her mother. (ix) Leela is playing with her red pen. (x) Butter is made from milk. (xi) Mr, Pearle hails from Myanmar. (xii)I wash my clothes with surf. (xiii) The moon is like a silver-ball. (xiv) He asked for a glass of milk.

Tag Question and Question Words

4. Turn the following sentences into Questions:

(i) I have a new pen. (ii) He had done that well. (iii)He ate rice. (iv)He wrote a story book. (v)He broke the window. (vi)She was a good girl. (vii) I was late to go there. (viii) They are going to cinema. (ix) You will do that. (ix) We should do it. (x) I am a boy.

Tag Question and Question Words

5. Complete the following sentences by adding correct Question word:

(i)……….. is your brother? (ii)…… are you? (iii) ………. did the teacher call? (iv) ……….. is the way to the Post Office? (v)……….of you can do this? (vi)……….. do you want to see? (vii)…….. brother is he? (viii). ………is the best boy in the class? (ix) ………is this book? (x)……. do you want to speak to? (xi) …. is Meena? (xii) ………….. are you making noise? (xiii) ………… pen is that? (xiv)………… the girl crying for? (xv) …………. are you listening to? 0 0 0.

Tag Question and Question Words

N.B. The article ‘Tag Question and Question Words’ originally belongs to the book ‘School English Grammar Part- I‘ by Menonim Menonimus. Tag Question and Question Words

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Tag Question and Question Words