This document discusses the use of negative yes/no questions and tag questions in English. It provides examples of how to form negative yes/no questions and tag questions, and how intonation differs depending on whether the speaker expects agreement or wants to confirm information. It also gives guidelines for answering negative yes/no questions and tag questions, and provides exercises for students to practice forming dialogues using these question types.

1. Negative Yes/No
3 Questions and
Tag Questions
This Isn’t Dangerous,
Is It?
Focus on Grammar 4
Part III, Unit 7
By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells
Copyright © 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. “This isn’t dangerous, is
it?”
These parachutes You haven’t done this
work, don’t they? before, have you?
Isn’t this fun?
We won’t get
hurt, will we?

3. Use
Use negative yes/no questions and tag questions to:
check information you believe to be true OR comment
on a situation.
Don’t I pull the Isn’t the
I pull the blue view great?
blue cord? In both
cord, don’t I?
In both sentences the
sentences the speaker believes
speaker is that he should
commenting The view is great,
pull the blue
on the view. isn’t and wants
cord it?
to check this
information.

4. Negative Yes/No Questions
Like affirmative yes/no questions, negative yes/no
questions begin with a form of be or an auxiliary
verb, such as have, do, will, can, or should.
Haven’t you Can’t you swim
had lunch somewhere else?
yet?
Didn’t you
Aren’t sharks see the
vegetarians? shark
warning
sign?

5. Tag Questions 1
Form tag questions with statement + tag. The
statement expresses an assumption. The tag means
Right? OR Isn’t that true?
Tag
It’s a long way down, isn’t it? Tag
Statement I went the wrong way, didn’t I?
Statement

6. Tag Questions 2
If the statement verb is affirmative, the tag verb is
negative. If the statement verb is negative, the tag verb
is affirmative.
Negative Affirmative
You won’t talk for too This rope will hold me,
long,
will you? won’t it?
Affirmative Negative

7. Tag Questions 3
Form the tag with a form of be or an auxiliary verb,
such as have, do, will, can, or should. Use the same
auxiliary that is in the statement.
He has done
You He isn’t
this before,
bought life hasn’t he? he?
joking, is
insurance,
didn’t
you?

8. Be Careful!
In the tag, only use pronouns. When the subject of the
statement is that, the subject of the tag is it.
Tom isn’t enjoying
he?
this, is Tom?
That wasn’t my
parachute, was it?

9. Complete the tag
Practice 1 questions with the correct
tag.
Example: You can swim, …
can’t you?
1. This is high enough, isn’t it?
…
2. The rope won’t break, will it?
…
3. We don’t have enough food, do we?
…
4. He didn’t bring the helmets, did he?
…
5. She hasn’t given us the right parachutes, has she?
…
6. We should check the map, shouldn’t we?
…
7. Our guide, Bob, does this all the time, doesn’t he?
…

10. Intonation 1
Use tag questions in conversations when you expect the
other person to agree with you. In this type of tag question,
the voice falls on the tag.
You’re
That hurts, doesn’t it? You didn’t wear a
right. I
didn’t seatbelt, did you?
wear a
seat belt.
This type of tag question is
more like a statement than a The speaker is checking
question. The listener can information he believes
just nod or say uh-huh to is correct. He expects
Uh-
show that he or she is the listener to answer
listening and agrees. huh.
(and agree).

11. Intonation 2
Tag questions can be used to get information. This type of tag
question is more like a yes/no question. Like a yes/no question,
the voice rises at the end, and you usually get an answer.
This isn’t
dangerous,
That’s is it? they
what
told us in the
skydiving class.
The speaker wants to Well,
Thissometimes
parachute
confirm his information
because he is not sure
will open before
there are
it is correct. we land, won’t it?
sharks.

12. Answers
Answer negative yes/no questions and tag questions
the same way you answer affirmative yes/no questions.
The answer is no, if
There’s
the information is a hospital nearby,
not correct.
isn’t there?
No, it doesn’t. Yes, there is.
Doesn’t your
The answer is yes, if
parachute work? the information is
correct.

13. Write dialogues for each picture using
Practice 2 tag questions or negative yes/no
questions, and answers for each
picture.
Example:
Eels don’t bite,
No, we don’t. We do they?
just like to hug.
1. 2.

14. References
Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education and
its licensors. All rights reserved.