Los tag questions son pequeñas frases o preguntas (mini-questions) que se colocan al final de una oración afirmativa o negativa y que generalmente tienen como objetivo confirmar o negar el contenido de la frase misma. Es el equivalente al ¿verdad? español o al ¿no? más utilizado en países de América.

TRES REGLAS BASICAS QUE DEBES RECORDAR
1.	Los tag questions utilizan siempre los verbos auxiliares.
2.	Con oraciones afirmativas utilizamos un tag question en NEGATIVO.
3.	Con oraciones negativas utilizamos un tag question en AFIRMATIVO o POSITIVO.

Analicemos ahora las diferentes alternativas que pueden presentarse:

a) ORACIONES AFIRMATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PRESENT SIMPLE O CONTINUO.

Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en NEGATIVO: aren't you? isn't he? isn't she? isn't it? aren't we? aren't you? aren't they? Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos:

It's a beautiful day, isn't it? (Es un día hermoso, ¿no?)
Martha is angry, isn't she? (Marta está enojada, ¿verdad?)
You are really tired, aren't you? (Estás muy cansado, ¿no?)
They're very nice people, aren't they? (Son personas muy agradables, ¿no?)
You are coming tomorrow, aren't you? (Vas a venir mañana, ¿verdad?)
Pedro's flying now, isn't he? (Pedro está volando en estos momentos, ¿no?)

Por favor recuerda que, en inglés americano y UNICAMENTE en este caso en particular, para la primera persona del verbo to be se utiliza aren't I? como equivalente de am I not?:

I'm late, aren't I? (Llego tarde, ¿no?)
I'm arriving late at night, aren't I? (LLegaré tarde por la noche, ¿no?)

b) ORACIONES NEGATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PRESENT SIMPLE O CONTINUO.

Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en AFIRMATIVO o POSITIVO: am I? are you? is he? is she? is it? are we? are you? are they? Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos:

I'm not late, am I? (No llego tarde, ¿no?)
It isn't a beautiful day, is it? (No es un día hermoso, ¿verdad?)
Martha isn't angry, is she? (Marta no está enojada, ¿no?)
You aren't really tired, are you? (No estás muy cansado, ¿verdad?)
They aren't very nice people, are they? (No son personas muy agradables, ¿no?)
You aren't coming tomorrow, are you? (No vas a venir mañana, ¿no?)
Pedro isn't flying now, is he? (Pedro no está volando en estos momentos, ¿no?)

c) ORACIONES AFIRMATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PAST SIMPLE O CONTINUO.

Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en NEGATIVO: wasn't I? weren't you? wasn't he? wasn't she? wasn't it? weren't we? weren't you? weren't they? Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos:

It was a beautiful day, wasn't it? (Fue un día hermoso, ¿verdad?)
Martha was angry, wasn't she? (Marta estaba enojada, ¿no?)
You were really tired, weren't you? (Estabas muy cansado, ¿verdad?)
You were studying at 6, weren't you? (Estuviste estudiando a las 6, ¿no?)
He was flying when I phoned, wasn't he? (Estaba volando cuando llamé, ¿no?)

d) ORACIONES NEGATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PAST SIMPLE O CONTINUO.

Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en AFIRMATIVO o POSITIVO: was I? were you? was he? was she? was it? were we? were you? were they? Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos:

It wasn't a beautiful day, was it? (No fue un día hermoso, ¿no?)
Martha wasn't angry, was she? (Marta no estaba enojada, ¿no?)
You weren't really tired, were you? (No estabas muy cansado, ¿verdad?)
You weren't studying at 6, were you? (No estuviste estudiando a las 6, ¿no?)
He wasn't flying when I phoned, was he? (No estaba volando cuando llamé, ¿no?)

e) ORACIONES AFIRMATIVAS CON OTROS VERBOS COMUNES O DEFECTIVOS.

Teniendo siempre en cuenta el TIEMPO VERBAL, se utiliza el auxiliar en NEGATIVO que corresponde a la persona de la oración: didn't she? hasn't she? won't she? shouldn't she? can't she? couldn't she? aren't there?, etc. Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos:

You went to Costa Rica in 1990, didn't you? (Fuiste a Costa Rica en 1990, ¿no?)
Elena has traveled a lot, hasn't she? (Elena ha viajado mucho, ¿no?)
Ann will be here soon, won't she? (Ana estará pronto aquí, ¿verdad?)
Tom should pass his exam, shouldn't he? (Tom debería aprobar su examen, ¿no?)
You can play the violin, can't you? (Sabes tocar el violín, ¿no?)
He could find a job, couldn't he? (Pudo encontrar trabajo, ¿verdad?)
There are twelve animals in the Chinese horoscope, aren't there?
(Hay doce animales en el zodíaco chino, ¿verdad?)

f) IMPERATIVOS Y SUGERENCIAS O INVITACIONES.

Después de la cláusula Let's... el tag question que corresponde es shall we? (en interrogativo AFIRMATIVO). Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos:

Let's go out for a walk, shall we? (Salgamos a dar una vuelta, ¿qué te parece?)
Let's study tomorrow morning, shall we? (Estudiemos mañana por la mañana, ¿sí?)

Después del imperativo (do/don't do something) el tag que corresponde es will you?(en interrogativo AFIRMATIVO). Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos:

Open the door, will you? (Abre la puerta, ¿sí?)
Don't smoke in this room, will you? (No fumes en esta habitación, ¿de acuerdo?)

Tag Question Special Cases

Negative adverbs

The adverbs never, rarely, seldom, hardly, barely and scarcely have a negative sense. Even though they may be in a positive statement, the feeling of the statement is negative. We treat statements with these words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally positive. Look at these examples:

positive statement treated as negative statement	positive tag
He never came again,	did he?
She can rarely come these days,	can she?
You hardly ever came late,	did you?
I barely know you,	do I?
You would scarcely expect her to know that,	would you?

Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:

	intonation
You don't know where my wallet is,	do you?	/ rising	real question
It's a beautiful view,	isn't it?	\ falling	not a real question

Imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.

imperative + question tag	*notes*
Take a seat, won't you?	polite invitation
Help me, can you?	quite friendly
Help me, can't you?	quite friendly (some irritation?)
Close the door, would you?	quite polite
Do it now, will you.	less polite
Don't forget, will you.	with negative imperatives only will is possible

Same-way tag questions

Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-negative or negative-positive, it is sometimes possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. We use same-way tag questions to express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to make real questions.

Look at these positive-positive tag questions:

So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!
She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!
So you think that's funny, do you? Think again.

Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:

So you don't like my looks, don't you? (British English)

Asking for information or help

Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example, instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the police station is, would you?" Here are some more examples:

You don't know of any good jobs, do you?
You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?
You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?

Some more special cases

example	notes
I am right, aren't I?	aren't I (not amn't I)
You have to go, don't you?	you (do) have to go...
I have been answering, haven't I?	use first auxiliary
Nothing came in the post, did it?	treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements
Let's go, shall we?	let's = let us
He'd better do it, hadn't he?	he had better (no auxiliary)

Mixed Examples of Tag Questions

Here is a list of examples of tag questions in different contexts. Notice that some are "normal" and others seem to break all the rules:

But you don't really love her, do you?
This'll work, won't it?
Oh you think so, do you?
Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
We'd never have known, would we?
Oh you do, do you?
The weather's bad, isn't it?
You won't be late, will you?
Nobody knows, do they?
You never come on time, do you?
You couldn't help me, could you?
You think you're clever, do you?
So you don't think I can do it, don't you? (British English)
Shut up, will you!
She can hardly love him after all that, can she?

Tag Questions

"Tag questions" son preguntas que se usan para confirmar lo que piensas que es verdad.

You speak Spanish, don't you?
(Con esta pregunta indico que pienso que hablas español pero quiero confirmar que es asi.)

Para formar un "tag question" empiezas con la oración que piensas que es verdad ("You speak Spanish" en el ejemplo arriba). El "tag" (la parte de la oración que hace que sea una pregunta) se forma usando un verbo auxiliar en el negativo si la oración fue afirmativa o un verbo auxiliar en el afirmativo si la oración fue negativa. Ve los ejemplos en la tabla abajo.

Oraciones Afirmativas (El verbo auxiliar en el "tag" es negativo.)	Oraciones Negativas (El verbo auxiliar en el "tag" es afirmativo.)
*to be*
You're a teacher, aren't you?	You aren't a teacher, are you?
He's tired, isn't he?	He isn't tired, is he?
*Tiempo Presente*
You speak English, don't you?	You don't speak English, do you?
He swims, doesn't he?	He doesn't swim, does he?
*Tiempo Pasado*
He went to school, didn't he?	He didn't go to school, did he?
*Presente Perfecto*
You have finished, haven't you?	You haven't finished, have you?
He has left, hasn't he?	He hasn't left, has he?
*Futuro*
She will cook, won't she?	She won't cook, will she?

*El único que no sigue el patrón arriba es la forma afirmativa de "am". El negativo, sin embargo, sigue el patrón. Ve los ejemplos abajo.

I'm tall, aren't I?
I'm not tall, am I?

PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH HERE

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domingo, 12 de febrero de 2017

UNIT 4 FIRST OF BACHILLERATO

Tag Questions

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