Question tags are mini questions added to the end of sentences in spoken English using an auxiliary or modal verb. There are two main types - negative tags after positive sentences and positive tags after negative sentences. Intonation can indicate whether the tag is seeking agreement or confirmation. Specific cases have tags like "shall we?" after "Let's" and "will you?" after imperatives. Pronouns like "they", "it", and "there" are used in tags depending on the subject of the main clause.

1. QUESTION TAGS

2. Structure (1) Question tags are mini questions that we often put at the end of a sentence in spoken English. We use an auxiliary verb or modal verb, the structure is: auxiliary verb or modal verb + personal subject pronoun + question mark (?): I shouldn’t have lost my temper, should I?

3. Structure (2) We use a negative question tag after a positive sentence: Mary plays the piano very well, doesn’t she? We use a positive question tag after a negative sentence: You didn’t lock the door, did you?

4. Intonation A question tag with a falling intonation is a way of making conversation by asking the listener to agree with the speaker: It’s a lovely day, isn’t it? A question tag with a rising intonation means that the speaker is asking for confirmation: She’d like to meet him, wouldn’t she?

5. Specific cases (1) There are some specific cases we have to take into account when using question tags, these are the following ones: After Let’s , the question tag is… shall we ?: Let’s go to a Chinese, shall we? After the i mperative (do, don’t), we can use will/would or can/can’t/could , being will the most common one: Don’t be late, will you?

6. Specific cases (2) After I’m late , we can use am I not ? or aren’t I ? : I’m right, aren’t I? After We’d better , we use had as it is the auxiliary of this construction: We’d better leave now, hadn’t we?

7. Specific cases (3) We use they to refer to somebody, anybody, everybody and nobody : Everybody likes being on holiday, don’t they? We use it after anything, nothing, something, everything : Nothing has been done about it, has it?

8. Specific cases (4) We use a positive question tag after never, hardly, little, seldom, rarely : He’d never met her before, had he? After there is/are/was/were , there has to be in the question tag: There is someone in the garden, isn’t there?

9. Specific cases (4) After this/that/ these/those , we use either it as singular subject pronoun or they as plural subject pronoun: This picture is a Picasso, isn’t it?