How to ask a dividing question in English. What is a tag question in English? Dividing question where both sides are positive

In the case when the speaker wants to receive confirmation of any fact or his words, wants to find out whether the interlocutor agrees with him, expresses bewilderment or doubt, English language the so-called is usually used. dividing question (Disjunctive Question or Tag Question).

In Russian, in these cases, sentences are used with the phrases “isn’t it true?”, “isn’t it?”, “yes?”, “right?”, “isn’t it true?” and so on.

Unlike other types of English questions, which are characterized by reverse order words, the dividing question in its first part retains the direct word order, i.e. it looks like an ordinary declarative or negative sentence. Only in the second part the word order will be reversed - as in the question.

The second part of the disjunctive question consists of an auxiliary (or modal) verb, grammatically corresponding to the first part, and equivalent to the subject pronoun (the table - it, my friends - they, etc.).

In this case, the following principle is observed: If the first part of the question is an affirmative sentence, then the auxiliary (or modal) verb in the second part will be in negative form(usually abbreviated). And, conversely, if the first part of the question is negative, the verb in the second part will be in the affirmative form.

He is a chemist, isn't he? - He's a chemist, right?
He isn't a chemist, is he? - He's not a chemist, right?

You like fish don't you? - You love fish, right?
You don't like fish, do you? - You don't like fish, do you?

A question with an affirmative first part (and, accordingly, a negative second) is used when the speaker expects to receive an affirmative answer. If a negative answer is expected, the first part will be negative, and the second part will be affirmative.

It should be remembered that dividing questions containing in the first part the words nothing, nobody, no one, no, neither, never, scarcely, hardly, barely etc., will be negative, so their second part must be affirmative:

So, they did nothing, did they? - So they didn't do anything, right?

In dividing questions with a revolution, the pronoun in the second part is there:

There is a toilet on the train, isn't there? - There is a toilet on the train, right?

In dividing questions with the words anybody, anyone, these, those, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, no one, nobody, the pronoun in the second part is they.

Everybody knew it, didn’t they? - And everyone knew about it, right?

Attention: For everything the pronoun is it.

In colloquial speech, the rule of grammatical correspondence between the first and second parts of a dividing question may be violated. Thus, the negative second part usually contains the verb in an abbreviated form: isn't, aren't, don't, can't, haven't, etc. Since am not has no abbreviation, either the full form is used with the pronoun I (Am I not?), or (much more often) the form aren't I?

I am late, am I not? - I'm late, right?
I am late, aren't I? - I'm late, right?

Separated question may take the form of a request, proposal or prohibition (see also Imperative). In this case, if the first part is affirmative, the second can contain the following forms (both affirmative and negative): will you?/won’t you? can you?/can’t you? Could you?/couldn't you?

Be quiet, can't you? - Be quiet, okay?

If the first part is negative, the second part usually uses the form will you?

Don"t touch this, will you? - Don’t touch this, okay?

In dividing questions expressing an invitation to some action and beginning with let's, the second part uses the form shall we?

Let's go to the theatre, shall we? - Let's go to the theater, shall we?

When the speaker really does not know the answer and wants information, the second part of the disjunctive question is pronounced with a rising tone. If only confirmation of a fact or the words of the speaker is required, the second part of the question is pronounced with a lower tone.

In writing, the second part of the separating question is separated by a comma.

The second part of the separating question can be a separate sentence, when the interlocutor simply asks again: “Yes?”, “Really?” etc. In this case, a statement corresponds to an affirmative question, and a negation corresponds to a negative question:

I like snakes. - I love snakes.
- Do you? - Is it true?

I haven't seen this film yet. - I haven't watched this film yet.
- Haven't you? - Really?

The answer to the dividing question is based on the following principle. If the first part of the question is affirmative, then Yes will mean agreement, and No will mean disagreement. If the first part of the question is negative, then No will mean agreement, and Yes will mean disagreement. For example:

You like vegetables, don't you? - You like vegetables, right?
- Yes, I do. - I really love (agreement) / No, I don't - On the contrary, I don’t like (disagreement).

You don"t like vegetables, do you? - You don’t like vegetables, right?
- No, I don"t - I really don’t like (agreement) / Yes, I do. - On the contrary, I love (disagreement).

With direct word order.

You speak English... You speak English...
You don’t speak English...
You can’t speak French... You don’t speak French...

The second part is a short general question, consisting of an auxiliary or modal verb and a pronoun in the nominative case.

…don’t you?…isn’t that right?
…do you?…really (yes)?
…can you?…really (isn’t it)?

If the first part of the question is affirmative, then the second part is negative. The auxiliary verb is placed in the tense in which the predicate verb appears. For example:

He is a part time student, isn't he?
He is an evening (correspondence) student, isn't he?

They are twins, aren't they?
They are twins, aren't they?

He had many foreign stamps, didn't (didn't) he?
He had a lot of foreign brands, didn't he?

My sister can speak English very well, can't she?
My sister speaks English very well, doesn't she?

You go to the swimming pool, don't you?
You go to the pool, don't you? (Truth?)

He reads newspapers every day doesn't he?
He reads newspapers every day, doesn't he?

His sister went abroad, didn't she?
His sister went abroad, didn't she?

Ann, you have told them about our departure, haven't you?
Anna, you told them about our departure, didn't you?

If the first part of the question is a negative sentence, then the second part will be in the affirmative form.

The auxiliary or modal verb in the second part is put in the affirmative form.

You don't go to the swimming-pool, do you?
You don't go to the pool, do you?

His sister didn't ‘ t go abroad, did she?
His sister didn't go abroad, did she?

They aren't twins, are they?
They're not twins, are they?

She couldn't skate last year could she?
She couldn't skate last year, could she?

The intonation of dissected questions can be twofold - depending on what answer the speaker expects to his question. If he wants to receive confirmation of the assumption he has made, then both parts of the question are pronounced with a descending tone. If the question makes no assumption about the nature of the answer, then the first part of the question is pronounced with a descending tone, and the second with a rising tone.

In Russian, divided questions (the second part in the form of a general question) correspond to interrogative phrases isn't it?, isn't it?, really?, yeah?, really? or an intensifying particle is part of an interrogative sentence.

It's a nice picture, isn't it?
(It's) a beautiful picture true (isn't it)?

You could have telephoned me, couldn't you?
You could call me is not it?

Mary didn't know that, did she?
Mary didn't know this.

NOTE:

1. In dissected questions, auxiliary and modal verbs, as a rule, merge with the negation not, forming the abbreviated forms isn’t, aren’t, weren’t, hasn’t, won’t, can’t, etc.

But with the form of the verb to be in the 1st person singular. am the abbreviated form is not used - the abbreviated form is used instead aren't.

I’m late, aren’t I? I'm late, right?

2. The first part of a dissected question is always separated by a comma from its second part. Answers to disjunctive questions are usually brief and express either agreement with or disagreement with the speaker. Both parts of the answer must contain either an affirmation or a negation, i.e. be either in an affirmative form or in a negative form. For example: Yes, I do. or No, I don't.

It is necessary to be very careful when answering dividing questions, since there is a discrepancy in the use of Yes and No in English and Yes And No In russian language.

Dividing question, or in other words Question Tag (Dijunctive Question) is another of the main five types of questions in English grammar. In my opinion, it is the most interesting and diverse. Essentially, this type is a variation of general questions. As you probably already understood, general questions are the basis that you can’t do without. For general information about all five types of questions, see the article “Types of questions in English". And now I invite you to consider in detail the separation issue.

What are Dividing Questions and what are they for?

Dividing Questions, or Question Tags, are questions that are used to express doubt, surprise, and require confirmation or refutation of what has been said. When asking disjunctive questions in English, the speaker does not seek to obtain additional information, but simply seeks agreement or disagreement with what was said.

Question Tags get their name from the fact that they are always separated into two parts by a comma. The first part always consists of a declarative sentence, and the second is a short general question(Tag). The tail question at the end of a sentence, or Tag, is translated into Russian in different ways: “isn’t it?”, “isn’t it true?”, “yes?”, “good?”. Example of a Dividing Question

The declarative sentence in the first part of the question is always pronounced with falling intonation. If the speaker asks a dividing question in order to obtain confirmation or refutation (i.e. the question is really a question), then the second part of the question will have a rising intonation. If the question is rhetorical in nature, then in the second part the intonation will decrease.
Dividing questions are very often used in colloquial speech.

As we already know, the separation question consists of two parts. In order to formulate a dividing question, you first need to create a simple narrative sentence in an affirmative or negative form, then put a comma and add a short general question to this sentence, or in other words “Tag”.

Remember the basic rule of Dividing Questions:

If the first part of the question is affirmative, then “Tag” is negative. And vice versa: if the first part of the question is negative, then “Tag” is positive.

• V (+) …, tag (-) ?
• V (-) …, tag (+) ?

For example:

• She is at home, isn’t she?
• (+) (-)
• She isn’t at home, is she?
• (-) (+)

"Tag" consists of an auxiliary or modal verb from the first part of the sentence and a personal pronoun. Everything is quite simple. The main difficulty of dividing questions lies in the correct composition of this small tail (“Tag”). To avoid confusion, remember a few simple rules:

1. If the first part of the sentence contains auxiliary or modal verbs (is, are, has got, have got, can. must, should, ought to, will, shall), as well as verbs to be or to have (meaning “to have” "), then in the “tail” these same verbs will be used, but with the opposite sign.

• My sister is a very good dentist, isn’t she? — My sister is a very good dentist, isn’t she?
• They are not writing now, are they? “They’re not writing now, are they?”
• Jim has got much money, hasn’t he? — Jim has a lot of money, doesn't he?
• Olga can’t swim fast, can she? - Olga can’t swim fast, right?
• Students must come to University in time, mustn’t they? — Students should come to university on time, right?
• You will cross the street at the green light, won’t you? - You will cross the road when the light is green, right?

2. If in the first part of the sentence there are no auxiliary or modal verbs, then the auxiliary verb do will be used in the “tail”. If the main verb in the first part of the sentence is in Present Simple tense, then the verb do in the “tail” will have the form do (don"t) or does (doesn"t). If the main verb is in the Past Simple, then in the “tail” it is did (didn"t).

• Olga met her boy-friend yesterday, didn’t she? — Olga met her boyfriend yesterday, didn’t she?
• Father didn’t buy a car last week, did he? — Dad didn't buy a car last week, did he?
• I go swimming every Friday, don’t I? — I want to go swimming every Friday, don’t I?
• Your brother doesn’t like vegetables, does he? -Your brother doesn't like vegetables, does he?
• They worked faster two days ago, didn’t they? — They worked faster two days ago, right?

Exceptions

1. If in the first part of the sentence “I am” act as the subject and predicate, then the “tail” will look like this: “aren"t I?”, no matter how strange it may seem.

• I am right, aren’t I? - I'm right, aren't I?
• I am playing well, aren’t I? - I play well, don’t I?

2. If the verb to have has an idiomatic meaning, then the auxiliary verb do will be used in the “tail”. You will understand what idiomatic meaning is from the following examples:

• My parents have dinner in the cafe, don’t they? (the expression “to have dinner” has a figurative, i.e. idiomatic meaning)
• I have a good idea, don’t I? (An idiom again! The expression “to have an idea” means “come to mind”)
• They had a lot of time last year, didn’t they? (And one more idiom! The expression “to have time” means “to have time”)

3. “Tails” to dividing questions with an incentive coloring are special. Remember the following cases:

a) A dividing question expressing a request, order, instruction can have any of the following “tails” - will you, won’t you, can you, could you.

• Please, open the window, will you? — Please open the window, okay?
• Speak Russian, can you? — Speak Russian, okay?
• Come up to the blackboard, won’t you? — Come to the board, okay?

b) A dividing question calling not to do something has a “tail” - “will you?”.

• Don't go there, will you? - Don't go there, okay?
• Don’t shout at parents, will you? - Don't yell at your parents, okay?
• Don't move, will you? - Don't move, okay?

c) Dividing questions that begin with “Let's ...” have a “shall we” tail.

• Let’s have breakfast, shall we? - Let's have breakfast, okay?
• Let's begin it, shall we? - Let's get started, okay?
• Let's go there, shall we? - Let's go there, okay?

d) Dividing questions that begin with “Let me / him ...” have the tail “will you” or “won’t you”.

• Let him have a rest, will you? (won't you?) - Give him a rest, okay?
• Let me decide, will you? (won't you?) - Let me decide, okay?

Traps for the inattentive

1. In English there are no two negatives in one sentence. In order not to fall into the trap, you need to remember that if in the first part of the dividing question there are words with negative value(none, no one, nobody, nothing, never, scarcely, hardly, hardly ever, barely, rarely), then the “tail” will be positive.

• We've never been there, have we? - We've never been there, have we?
• They found nobody, did they? “They didn’t find anyone, did they?”

2. If in the first part of the dividing question the following words are used as the subject: these, those, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, nobody, no one, then the pronoun they will be used in the tail.

• These are yours, aren’t they? - They're yours, aren't they?
• Everybody took the test, didn’t they? — Everyone takes the test, right?
• Somebody has come, haven’t they? - Someone came, didn't they?
• No one knows this young writer, do they? - Nobody knows this young writer, do they?

Answers to Separation Questions

Disjunctive questions usually have short affirmative or negative answers.

• Today is Friday, isn’t it? − Yes, it is. (Today is Friday, isn’t it? - Yes.)
• She doesn’t like coffee, does she? − No, she doesn’t. (She doesn't like coffee, does she? - Yes, she doesn't.)

In answers to dividing questions in which the first part is affirmative, the following expressions are often used: “That"s right.", "That"s so.", "Quite so.", "Quite right."

• They’ve been there before, haven’t they? −That's right. (They were there before, weren't they? - That's right.)
• They returned from the trip yesterday, didn’t they? − That's so. (They returned from a trip yesterday, didn’t they? - That’s true.)

In English, “yes” is always used for an affirmative answer, and “no” for a negative answer. Compare with the answers in Russian.

Disjunctive Questions in English seem at first glance to be the simplest of the rest. In fact, all sorts of hidden difficulties await you here, sometimes not indicated even in the best English grammar textbooks. We tried to put together this big puzzle without missing a single piece.

Let's start with the fact that dividing questions in English are asked to express bewilderment or doubt, to find confirmation of a fact, to find out whether the interlocutor agrees with us or not. They consist of two parts, and the first one is the original sentence to which you are asking a question. You repeat it unchanged. Yes, yes, that's true. No question words or auxiliary verbs are needed. The whole point is in the second part, which is a small “tail” with a whole set of changing words. It’s good at least that it is always translated the same way: isn’t it? is not it? Yes? Truth? right? OK? Fine? and so on.

Question construction

Remember that the construction of the question depends solely on the type of sentence.

• If you are convinced that you are dealing with an affirmative phrase, then the auxiliary verb, particle will successively replace each other in the tail not and a pronoun equivalent to the subject:

You will cook spaghetti and bacon for dinner, won't you? — You'll cook spaghetti and bacon for dinner, right?

• If you come across a negative sentence, then the tail will consist of an auxiliary verb and a pronoun replacing the subject:

They were not playing hide-and-seek at that time yesterday, were they? “They weren’t playing hide and seek at this time yesterday, were they?”

Keep in mind that words nothing, nobody, no one, no, neither, never, scarcely, hardly, barely etc. automatically make the sentence negative:

Nothing was mentioned about it at the meeting, was it? — Nothing was mentioned about this at the meeting, right?

You never visit your aunt, do you? -You never visit your aunt, do you?

Verbs in the tails of separating questions in English

As you can guess, there are plenty to choose from:

• When meeting with to be and we use it. And in sentences with there is / there are these two comrades need to be swapped. Be careful with numerous forms:

Jane was so happy last Friday, wasn't she? — Jane was so happy last Friday, wasn't she?

We are not talking about Nora, are we? “We're not talking about Nora, are we?”

Jack is back home, isn't he? - Jack's back home, right?

There are flowers in all the rooms, aren't there? — There are flowers in all the rooms, aren’t there?

• WITH other verbs in all tense forms, the corresponding auxiliary verbs are used in the tail:

Nelly has lost her laptop hasn't she? — Nellie lost her laptop, right?

Your cat purrs so sweetly, doesn't it? — Your cat purrs so sweetly, doesn’t it?

We will be knitting tomorrow at 3 o’clock, won't we? — We will knit tomorrow at 3 o’clock, right?

• If you get caught modal verb, then we will need it for the tail:

Jerry can speak French, can't he? — Jerry can speak French, right?

You must leave immediately mustn't you? “You have to leave immediately, right?”

• If you need to defuse an offer in imperative mood, That:

1. When making a request or order, use will you? won't you? can you? can't you? could you? couldn't you?

Please, buy some apples and bananas, will you? — Please buy some apples and bananas, okay?

Sit down can't you? - Sit down, okay?

2. Suitable in negative phrases will you:

Don’t touch my books in the living-room, will you? - Don't touch my books in the hall, okay?

3. If a sentence begins with let's- come on (those), then you need to use shall we:

Let's have a party, shall we? - Let's have a party, okay?

4. Do not confuse the previous candidate with words let+ pronoun in objective case. Here, focus on the tail won't you or will you:

Let me explain to you how to get to the station, won't you? - Let me tell you how to get to the station, okay?

Nuances of use

• If you come across this form to be, How am, then you will have to use aren't I or are I in the tail, although we admit that it sounds unusual:

I am late for the class, aren't I? — I'm late for class, aren't I?

• Words anybody, anyone, these, those, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, no one, nobody can easily mislead you. The fact is that if they are present, any question will end with they rather than any other option:

Everybody is so nice out there, aren't they? - Everyone there is so nice, right?

Someone has knocked on my door, haven't they? — Someone knocked on my door, right?

Similarly, we change that, this and everything to it:

Everything is so bright in Christmas Prague, isn't it? — Everything is so bright in Prague at Christmas, isn’t it?

And finally, let's learn how to answer such questions.

• If the first part is affirmative, then you can agree using Yes, express disagreement with No:

You like mineral water with juice, don’t you? - Yes, I do / No, I don’t. - You like mineral water with juice, right? - Not really.

• If it is negative, then No will help you agree, and Yes- to disagree:

You didn’t go to London last year, did you? - No, I didn’t/Yes, I did. — You didn't go to London last year, did you? - Not really.

Disjunctive Questions or Tag-Questions do not pose a threat to the exam grade or your ego, if you push yourself and learn all the possible tails and exceptions, you can consider yourself lucky, if only because the first part of the question does not need to be changed. Therefore, keep your nose up!

Dividing questions have several names. You may come across the following options for the name of this type of question:

• Disjunctive question;
• Question with a tail – Tag question or Tail question

Tag questions: rules of education.

What are they? dividing questions in English? They consist of 2 parts. The first is affirmative or negative, the second is the “tail” - a short general question. Parts of a separating question are separated by a comma. The tail of the question is translated into Russian isn't it?, isn't it? , it is so?, is not it?

Greg knew that before, didn't he? - Greg knew about this before, right?

Lora hasn’t come yet, has she? “Laura hasn’t arrived yet, has she?”

• If the first part of the Disjunctive question is affirmative, then the tail will be negative:

Paulin visited her grandma, didn’t she? – Pauline visited her grandmother, didn’t she?

• If the main part is negative, then the “tail” will be positive:

Paulin didn't visit her grandma, did she? - Paulin didn't visit her grandma, did she?

If the affirmative first part of a sentence contains words that give the sentence a negative connotation, then the entire part will be considered negative and, therefore, the tail will be positive. Here is a list of some of these words:

No, never, no one, nobody, scarcely, rarely, hardly, refuse, etc.

They never enjoy their holidays, do they ? – They never enjoy their holidays, do they?

Nobody was there, were they? – There was no one there, was there?

Pronouns ending in one and body will change to they at the end of the question.

Everybody is present, aren’t they ? – Everyone is present, isn’t it?

How to construct the “tail” of a dividing question?

The most difficult thing in the theory of Tag Questions is to correctly construct this very tag - a short question, that is, the tail.

In a dividing question, the short question consists of:

• auxiliary verb
• not particles, if we need a negative tail with an affirmative main part;
• subject, expressed.

The main thing here is to choose the right auxiliary verb. The following table will help you with this.

Question tags table.

This is what your dividing questions will look like if they clearly contain an auxiliary verb. I hope these are numerous examples of questions with a tail will be useful.

In two cases you will not be able to find the auxiliary verb in the first part. What are these cases?

• The affirmative part in .

If your main part is affirmative and is in the Present Simple, then you will see either just a semantic verb, or a semantic verb with the ending –s/es. In this case, use don’t / doesn’t.

I roll the bones very well, don’t I? – I play backgammon well, don’t I?

Greg rolls the bones well, doesn’t he? Greg is good at backgammon, isn’t he?

• The affirmative part in .

If the main part of your dividing question is affirmative and is in the Past Simple, then you will see the semantic verb in the past tense form (irregular verb or verb ending in –ed). In this case, use didn't.

Molly came late on Thursday, didn’t she? – Molly was late on Thursday, wasn’t she?

Molly rolled the bones well in her childhood, didn’t she? — Molly played backgammon well as a child, didn’t she?

Special cases of constructing dividing questions in English.

There are a few special cases of constructing Tag questions that I want to focus on.

• If in the main part you see I am, then in the tail there will be "t I?

I am 29 years old, aren’t I?

• If there is a phrase in the main part, then it will need to be used in the tail, according to the basic rules:

Table of dividing questions with the turn there is. Question tags table 2.

There are twenty chairs in the assembly hall, aren’t there ?

• If in the main part you see this is or that is, then at the end of the separating question there will be “isn’t it?”

This is Greg’s brother, isn’t it?

• If in the main part you see a sentence starting with Let’s (Let us) - in a short question you need to use shall we? The tail in such sentences is not translated.

Let's change the kitchen design, shall we? - Let's change the kitchen design? / Why don’t we change the kitchen design?

• If the first part of the dividing question begins with Let me, Let him, Let her, Let them, then the tail will be will you? or won't you?

Let Molly explain her position, will you ?

• If the first part of the disjunctive question is an imperative mood, then the short question will be will you? In the affirmative form of the imperative mood, you can use and won't you?

Lend me some money, will you?

Don’t shout at me, will you?

Intonation design of dividing questions.

Usually the short question at the end of the Tag question is pronounced with a rising tone. However, if the speaker does not doubt the answer at all, and the entire sentence is rather in the nature of a statement, then the tone in the tail decreases.

Now you can practice and perform.

You may also need the following information: