QUESTION TAGS (EXPLAINED IN HINDI)

1. Question Tag क्या होता है?

Question Tag एक short phrase होता है जो दी हुई किसी statement के अंत में ये जानने के लिए add किया जाता है कि कोई व्यक्ति दी हुई statement से agree करता है अथवा नहीं. इस sentenceको देखिये

In the sentence ‘It’s green, isn’t it?’, ‘isn’t it’ is a question tag.

2. किसी Question Tag की खास-खास बातें 

i) पहली बात है कि किसी भी Question Tag का subject हमेशा कोई pronoun होती है. इसका subject कोई noun हो ही नहीं सकती. इस sentence को देखिये

INCORRECT: Ritu has a watch, hasn’t Ritu?
CORRECT: Ritu has a watch, hasn’t she?

[इसमें पहले sentence के Question Tag का subject Ritu noun है, इसलिए ये गलत है, दूसरे sentence के Question Tag का subject She pronoun है, इसलिए ये सही है.l

ii) ध्यान रखिये ( ‘s ) = is अथवा has, और ( ‘d ) = had अथवा would होता है; e.g.

a) Aman’s written the letter, hasn’t he?

इस sentence में main verb ‘written’ क्योंकि verb की 3^rd form है इसलिए (‘s) का मतलब ‘has’ हैl यहाँ इसका मतलब would नहीं हो सकता क्योंकि ‘would’ के साथ हमेशा main verb कि 1^st form का use होता है

b) He’s in the library, isn’t he?

इस sentence में (‘s) के अलावा कोई verb ही नहीं है इसलिए (‘s) का मतलब has भी हो सकता है और  is भी लेकिन हम समझ सकते हैं कि इसका मतलब यहाँ is है.

iii) दी गयी statement और question tag का tense हमेशा एक ही होता है, इस point को यहाँ clear करने की आवश्यकता नहीं, आगे आने वाले sentences में आप ये सब देखेंगे.

iv) यदि किसी question tag कि helping verb negative हो तो उस helping verb की form contracted form (short form) होनी चाहिए, ये आवश्यक है जैसे

INCORRECT: Vishal lives here, does he not?
CORRECT: Vishal lives here, doesn’t he?

NOTE: कभी-कभी Question Tag में उसकी helping verb की contracted form use नहीं की जाती है; लेकिन ऐसे में फिर word ‘not’ को Question Tag के अंत में रखा जाता है. ऐसा हम तब करते हैं जब हमें वाक्य की statement के बारे में हमें अविश्वास अथवा संदेह होता है; जैसे

You saw him stealing the purse, did you not?

v) किसी interrogative sentence के साथ ‘Tag-question’ use नहीं किया जाता; जैसे

INCORRECT: Are you the new clerk, aren’t you?
CORRECT: You are the new clerk, aren’t you?

3. Question Tag के नियम 

A) वाक्य जब कोई कथन (statement) हो

Question Tag का sentence अगर एक statement हो, और वह statement अगर सकारात्मक  (affirmative) हो तो Question Tag नकारात्मक (negative होता है), और sentence अगर negative हो तो Question Tag affirmative होता है, जैसे

यह sentence देखिये

i) Mohan ran very fast in the race, didn’t he?

आप देख रहे हैं कि यह sentence ‘Mohan ran very fast in the race’ एक statement है, और ये statement सकारात्मक (affirmative) है, ऊपर बताये गये rule के अनुसार इसलिए इसका Question Tag ‘didn’t he’ negative है.

ii) Aman wasn’t there, was he?

आप देख रहे हैं कि यह sentence ‘Aman wasn’t there’ एक statement है, और ये statement negative है, ऊपर बताये गये rule के अनुसार इसलिए इसका Question Tag ‘was he’’ affirmative है.

ऐसे ही कुछ और example

i) You did not write the letter, did you?
ii) Reena can’t climb a tree, can she?
iii) That isn’t Rahul, is it?

NOTE: कभी-कभी वाक्य की statement सकारात्मक (affirmative) होते हुए भी Question Tag की helping verb को सकारात्मक (affirmative) ही रखा जाता है, जब हम ऐसा करते हैं तो हमारा तात्पर्य ‘सचमुच में?’ होता है; जैसे

a) You saw him going, did you? (= Oh, so you saw him going.)
b) You’ve found a job, have you? (= Ah, finally you got a job!)

B) किसी sentence की verb अगर BE (is/am/are/was/were) हो, चाहे ये main verb हो या फिर helping verb, तो question tag की helping verb, verb ‘be’ की ही कोई form होती है, अर्थात is/am/are/was/were में से ही कोई होती है, जैसे

i) You are from China, aren’t you?
ii) Reshma is here, isn’t she?
iii) I am not surprised, am I?
iv) Mohan and Sohan aren’t rich, are they?
v) That isn’t Raman, is it?
vi) Mohan is reading a book now, isn’t he?

NOTE: लेकिन वाक्य में यदि ‘I am’ दिया गया हो तो question tag ‘aren’t I’ होता है. और यदि ‘I am not’ हो तो question tag ‘am I’ होता है; e.g.

a) i) I am your friend, aren’t I?
ii) I am not your friend, am I?

b) i) I’m typing your document, aren’t I?
ii) I’m not typing your document, am I?

Passive Voice में भी ऐसा ही होता है, जैसे

i) I am liked, aren’t I?
ii) I am not liked, am I?

C) किसी sentence की verb अगर ‘have/has’ हो तो question tag की helping verb, do/does होती है, जैसे

i) They have a garden, haven’t they? Or don’t they?
ii) I have two cars, haven’t I? Or don’t I
iii) She has a nice dog, hasn’t she? Or doesn’t she?
iv) Reena doesn’t have a car, does she?

D) Question Tag में ‘have to/has to’ की helping verb ‘do/does’ और ‘had to’ की helping verb ‘did’ होती है; जैसे

i) My mother has to see the doctor in the evening, doesn’t she?
ii) Ram and Mohan don’t have to come early, do they?
iii) We had to arrange some chairs for the visitors, didn’t we?
iv) They didn’t have to attend the classes today, did they?

E) किसी sentence में अगर कोई modal verb हो तो question tag की helping verb भी वही modal verb होती है, जैसे

i) You should obey your parents, shouldn’t you?
ii) You wouldn’t go there, would you?
iii) We must help him read this paper, mustn’t we?

F) यदि किसी sentence की helping verb ‘will/will not’ हो तो उस sentence के question tag helping verb आमतौर पर ‘will/will not’ ही होती है, लेकिन question tag का subject agar first person में हो तो की question tag की helping verb will/will not’ भी हो सकती है और ‘shall/shan’t’ भी, जैसे

He will help you, won’t he?

I will clean the room, won’t I?
= I will clean the room, shan’t I?

NOTE: If the helping verb is ‘shall’, we can use either ‘shall’ or ‘will’ in the question tag.

I shall clean the room, won’t I?
= I shall clean the room, shan’t I?

G) अगर किसी sentence की helping verb ‘used to’ हो तो उस sentence के question tag की helping verb ‘didn’t’ होती है, जैसे

You used to work here, didn’t you?

H) अगर किसी sentence की helping verb ‘ought’ हो तो उस sentence के question tag की helping verb oughtn’t भी हो सकती है और shouldn’t भी, जैसे

I ought to clean the room, oughtn’t I?
= I ought to clean the room, shouldn’t I?

I) अगर किसी sentence की helping verb ‘must’ हो तो उस sentence के question tag की helping verb ‘must’ अथवा ‘’have to’ में से कोई भी हो सकती है, लेकिन must का अर्थ जब obligation (दायित्व) हो तो question tag की helping verb ‘should’ अथवा ‘ought’ होती है, जैसे

i) I must clean the room, mustn’t I?
= I must clean the room, have to I?

ii) I must obey my elder brother, shouldn’t I?
= I must obey my elder brother, oughtn’t I?

NOTE: परन्तु ‘don’t have to’ का Question Tag ‘do’ से बनता है; e.g.

i) I don’t have to do anything, do I?
ii) He doesn’t have to do anything, does he?

J) अगर किसी sentence की helping verb ‘may’ हो और इसका अर्थ permission हो तो उस sentence के question tag की helping verb ‘mayn’t’ होती है, लेकिन ‘may’ का अर्थ जब probability हो तो question tag की helping verb ‘mightn’t’ होती है, जैसे

i) I may use your book, mayn’t I? (request for permission)
ii) I may not use your book, may I?
iii) I may reach the station in time, mightn’t I? (= possibility— it’s probable that the train may be delayed.)
iv) I may not reach the station in time, might I? (= possibility—-it’s probable that the train is left by the time I reach at the station.)

K) किसी भी आज्ञासूचक वाक्य (Imperative Sentence) के question tag की helping verb इनमें से कोई भी हो सकती है, ये affirmative  भी हो सकती है और negative भी, ये हमारी मरजी होती है: Will, Won’t, Would, Can, Can’t, Could और question tag का subject हमेशा ‘you’ होता है, जैसे

i) Bring me your notebooks, will you?
ii) Give me your pen, will you?
iii) Hurry up, won’t you?
iv) Close the window, would you?
v) Give him a lift, can you?
vi) Keep quiet, can’t you?
vii) Lend me your hat for today, could you?

NOTE: लेकिन Imperative Sentence अगर negative है तो question tag में helping verb हमेशा ‘will’  होती है, जैसे

a) Don’t make a noise, will you?
b) Don’t wake me up early in the morning, will you?

L) किसी sentence में अगर कोई negative word हो तो उस sentence के question tag की helping verb हमेशा affirmative  होती है, जैसे

Never	Seldom	Hardly	Hardly ever	Rarely	Barely
Scarcely	Nobody	No one	None	Nothing	No

i) Nobody goes to her for help, do they?
ii) You have never come on time, have you?
iii) We can hardly hear your song, can we?
iv) It makes no sense, does it?
v) No-one came to see me at the station, did they?
vi) None of them can help, can they?
vii) No salt is allowed, is it?
viii) Nothing was lost, was it?
ix) Shweta hardly worked, did she?
x) Sarah seldom visits us, does she?

M) अगर किसी sentence का subject निम्नलिखित में से कोई हो तो उस sentence के question tag का subject हमेशा IT होता है, जैसे

It	That	Anything	Singular/Uncountable non-living thing
This	Everything	Nothing

i) All the day has been wasted, hasn’t it? (‘All the day’ singular है)
ii) Everything has been completed, hasn’t it?
iii) Nothing is different, is it?
iv) That is the sort of problem we can’t solve, isn’t it? (not ‘isn’t they’)

N) अगर किसी sentence का subject निम्नलिखित में से कोई हो तो उस sentence के question tag का subject हमेशा ‘they’ होता है, जैसे

None	Somebody/Someone	Nobody	Countable non-living thing in plural
Each	Anybody/Anyone	No one	Neither
These/Those	Everybody/Everyone

a) Everyone wants comfort, don’t they?
b) Nobody is going to be spared, are they?
c) Those were the words he wrote, weren’t they? (not ‘weren’t those’)
d) The books have not been read yet, have they?
e) Each of the students has done well in the examination, haven’t they?

O) अगर किसी sentence का subject ‘there is’ हो तो उस sentence के question tag का subject हमेशा स्वयं ‘there’ ही होता है, जैसे

There is a snake in the bucket, isn’t there?

P) अगर किसी sentence की शुरुआत ‘let’s’ से हो तो उसके question tag में ‘shall we’ use होता है चाहे sentence affirmative हो या negative, जैसे

Let’s go to the market, shall we?

Q) किसी sentence कि शुरुआत अगर निम्नलिखित में से किसी clause से हो तो इस clause का उस sentence के question tag पर कोई भी प्रभाव नहीं पड़ता है और question tag की helping verb उस sentence के दूसरे clause की helping verb के अनुसार प्रयोग कि जाती है. लेकिन शुरू वाला clause अगर negative हो तो  question tag की helping verb हमेशा positive होती है, जैसे

I am afraid	I think	I am sure	I suppose
I believe	I suspect	I don’t know	It appears that
It seems that	It looks as if	As far as I remember	As far as I can see

i) I suppose she is not serious, is she?
ii) I don’t suppose you are serious, are you?
iii) I think my mother washed my clothes, didn’t she?
iv) I don’t believe you have paid for it yet, have you?
v) I don’t think anyone will help you, will they?
vi) I hope he won’t object to our plan, will he?
vii) It appears that she is enjoying herself, isn’t she?
viii) As far as I can see, Atul is the best, isn’t he?

NOTE: लेकिन शुरू वाले clause और दूसरे clause का subject अगर एक ही हो तो question tag की helping verb शुरू वाले clause के अनुसार प्रयोग की जाती है, जैसे

i) You know that you can do it, don’t you?
ii) You know that you cannot do it, don’t you?
iii) She pretends as if she has never in her life, told a lie, doesn’t she?

R) कोई भी collective noun singular में भी प्रयोग कि जा सकती है और plural में भी. किसी collective noun की verb अगर singular दी हुई है तो उसके question tag का subject ‘it’ होता है, और इसकी verb अगर  plural दी हुई है तो उसके question tag का subject ‘they’ होता है.

और यदि collective noun  की verb न तो singular है और न ही plural, तो question tag का subject ‘it’ होता है यदि collective noun को singular माना गया है और question tag का subject ‘they’ होता है यदि collective noun को plural माना गया है, जैसे

i) The crew has not come yet, has it?
ii) The crew were occupied in repairing the ship, weren’t they?
iii) The Indian team should fare well, shouldn’t it?

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QUESTION TAGS (EXPLAINED IN ENGLISH)

1. What is a Question Tag?

A question tag is a short phrase that is added to the end of a statement to ask whether or not someone agrees with it, e.g.

In the sentence It’s green, isn’t it?”, ‘isn’t it’ is a question tag.

2. Features of a Question Tag

i) The subject of the question tag is always a pronoun, never a noun; e.g.

INCORRECT: Ritu has a watch, hasn’t Ritu?
CORRECT: Ritu has a watch, hasn’t she?

ii) Remember ( ‘s ) = is or has, and ( ‘d )= had or would. But the problem is how to know whether ( ‘s’ ) is ‘is’ or ‘has’; and whether ( ‘d’) is ‘had’ or ‘would’. It’s in fact very simple. If the other part of the verb  is in ‘ing form’, we mean ‘is’; but if the other part of the verb is V³, we mean ‘has’. And the same is the case with ( ‘d’ ) too. If the other part of  the verb is V³ form, we mean ‘had’, and if the other part is V¹ form, we mean ‘would’; e.g.

a) Prem’s going home, isn’t he?

(The other part of the verb (going) is in ‘ing form’, so here ( ‘s’ ) means ‘is’.)

b) Prem’s gone mad, hasn’t he?

(The other part of the verb (gone) is V³ form, so here ( ‘s’ ) means ‘has’.)

c) He’d written the report before you called him, hadn’t he?

(The other part of the verb (written) is V³ form, so here ( ‘s’ ) means ‘had’.)

d) He’d like to have some rest, wouldn’t he?

(The other part of the verb (like) is V¹ form, so here ( ‘s’ ) means ‘would’.)

iii) The tense of both the statement and the question tag is always the same.

iv) If the helping verb of the Question Tag is in the negative, it must be contracted; e.g.

INCORRECT: Vishal lives here, does not he?
CORRECT: Vishal lives here, doesn’t he?

NOTE: Negative interrogative without contraction is sometimes possible in the Question Tags, but the word ‘not’ is placed at the end of the Question Tag then. This type of construction is used to show disbelief or doubt or even to give more force to the expression; e.g.

You saw him stealing the purse, did you not?

v) A ‘Tag-question’ is not used with an Interrogative Sentence which is already a question; e.g.

INCORRECT: Are you the new clerk, aren’t you?
CORRECT: You are the new clerk, aren’t you?

vi) Sometimes general rules are found to be altered, especially in imperative sentences, as it depends on the intention of the speaker what type of confirmation (positive or negative) he wants.

3. Rules of forming a Question Tag

A) When the first clause is a statement

If the clause is affirmative; the question in tag is negative; and if the clause is negative, the question in tag is affirmative.

i) Mohan ran very fast in the race, didn’t he?
ii) Aman wasn’t there, was he?
iii) You did not write the letter, did you?
iv) Reena can’t climb a tree, can she?
v) That isn’t Rahul, is it?

NOTE: Sometimes we use affirmative verb in the Question Tag even if the verb in the main part of the sentence is affirmative. When we do this we almost mean ‘really’ or ‘indeed!’; e.g.

a) You saw him going, did you? (= Oh, so you saw him going.)
b) You’ve found a job, have you? (= Ah, finally you got a job!)

B) If the statement has BE (is/am/are/was/were) as the main verb or helping verb, we use a form of BE in the tag; e.g.

i) You are from China, aren’t you?
ii) Reshma is here, isn’t she?
iii) I am not surprised, am I?
iv) Mohan and Sohan aren’t rich, are they?
v) That isn’t Raman, is it?
vi) Mohan is reading a book now, isn’t he?

NOTE:  If ‘I am’ is in the first clause, the question tag is ‘aren’t I’. And if ‘I am not’ is there in the first clause, the question tag is ‘am I’; e.g.

a) i) I am your friend, aren’t I?
ii) I am not your friend, am I?

b) i) I’m typing your document, aren’t I?
ii) I’m not typing your document, am I?

In the Passive Voice also it happens exactly like that; e.g.

a) I am liked, aren’t I?
b) I am not liked, am I?

C) If the main verb of the statement is ‘have’ or ‘has’, the verb in the question tags can either be ‘have/has’ or ‘do/does’; e.g.

i) They have a garden, haven’t they? OR don’t they?
ii) I have two cars, haven’t I? OR don’t I
iii) She has a nice dog, hasn’t she? OR doesn’t she?
iv) Reena doesn’t have a car, does she?

D) ‘Have to’ or ‘has to’ is considered the Present Simple Tense and ‘had to’ is considered the Past Simple Tense. Therefore the verb of the question tag for ‘have to’ or ‘has to’ is ‘do/does’, and for ‘had to’ is ‘did’; e.g.

i) My mother has to see the doctor in the evening, doesn’t she?
ii) Ram and Mohan don’t have to come early, do they?
iii) We had to arrange some chairs for the visitors, didn’t we?
iv) They didn’t have to attend the classes today, did they?

E) If the statement has a modal verb, it is repeated in the question tag; e.g.

i) You should obey your parents, shouldn’t you?
ii) You wouldn’t go there, would you?
iii) We must help him read this paper, mustn’t we?

F) If ‘will/will not’ is the helping verb in the clause, we usually use ‘will/won’t’ in the question tag, however we can also use ‘shall/shan’t’ when the subject is the first person.

He will help you, won’t he?

I will clean the room, won’t I?
= I will clean the room, shan’t I?

NOTE: If the helping verb is ‘shall’, we can use either ‘shall’ or ‘will’ in the question tag.

I shall clean the room, won’t I?
= I shall clean the room, shan’t I?

G) With ‘used to’, we use ‘didn’t’ in the tag.

You used to work here, didn’t you?

H) ‘Ought’ tag questions are not very common for the difficulty of using oughtn’t; so we can use ‘should/shouldn’t’ also; e.g.

I ought to clean the room, oughtn’t I?
= I ought to clean the room, shouldn’t I?

I) ‘Must’ forms questions tags with both ‘must’ and ‘have to’. Also, where ‘must’ means obligation, questions tags can be formed with both ‘should’ and ‘ought’.

i) I must clean the room, mustn’t I?
= I must clean the room, have to I?

ii) I must obey my elder brother, shouldn’t I?
= I must obey my elder brother, oughtn’t I?

NOTE: But for ‘don’t have to’ the question tag is formed with ‘do’; e.g.

i) I don’t have to do anything, do I?
ii) He doesn’t have to do anything, does he?

J) Where ‘may’ means permission, ‘mayn’t’ is used for the tag. Where ‘may’ means probability, ‘mightn’t’ is usually used for the tag.

i) I may use your book, mayn’t I? (request for permission)
ii) I may not use your book, may I?
iii) I may reach the station in time, mightn’t I? (= possibility— it’s probable that the train may be delayed.)
iv) I may not reach the station in time, might I? (= possibility—-it’s probable that the train is left by the time I reach at the station.)

K) Imperatives are often tagged with Will, Won’t, Would, Can, Can’t, Could depending on the intention of the speaker, and the subject of the question tag is always ‘you’; e.g.

i) Bring me your notebooks, will you?
ii) Give me your pen, will you?
iii) Hurry up, won’t you?
iv) Close the window, would you?
v) Give him a lift, can you?
vi) Keep quiet, can’t you?
vii) Lend me your hat for today, could you?

NOTE: But a negative imperative is normally followed by ‘will you’; e.g.

a) Don’t make a noise, will you?
b) Don’t wake me up early in the morning, will you?

L) We use an affirmative question tag after a sentence containing a negative word such as:

Never	Seldom	Hardly	Hardly ever	Rarely	Barely
Scarcely	Nobody	No one	None	Nothing	No

i) Nobody goes to her for help, do they?
ii) You have never come on time, have you?
iii) We can hardly hear your song, can we?
iv) It makes no sense, does it?
v) No one came to see me at the station, did they?
vi) None of them can help, can they?
vii) No salt is allowed, is it?
viii) Nothing was lost, was it?
ix) Shweta hardly worked, did she?
x) Sarah seldom visits us, does she?

M) When the subject of the first clause is any of the following, we use ‘it’ in the question tag:

It	That	Anything	Singular/Uncountable non-living thing
This	Everything	Nothing

i) All the day has been wasted, hasn’t it? (‘All the day’ is singular)
ii) Everything has been completed, hasn’t it?
iii) Nothing is different, is it?
iv) That is the sort of problem we can’t solve, isn’t it? (not ‘isn’t that’)

N) When the subject of the first clause is any of the following, we use ‘they’ in the question tag:

None	Somebody/Someone	Nobody	Countable non-living thing in plural
Each	Anybody/Anyone	No one	Neither
These/Those	Everybody/Everyone

i) Everyone wants comfort, don’t they?
ii) Nobody is going to be spared, are they?
iii) Those were the words he wrote, weren’t they? (not ‘weren’t those’)
iv) The books have not been read yet, have they?
v) Each of the students has done well in the examination, haven’t they?

O) When we use ‘there is’ in structure, the subject of the question tag is ‘there’ itself.

There is a snake in the bucket, isn’t there?

P) With LET’S, the question tag is ‘shall we’. (For both affirmative and negative)

Let’s go to the market, shall we?

Q) The following introductory clauses don’t affect the question tags and the verb of the question tag is according to the other clause of the statement. However, if the introductory clause is negative, the verb of the question tag is positive always.

I am afraid	I think	I am sure	I suppose
I believe	I suspect	I don’t know	It appears that
It seems that	It looks as if	As far as I remember	As far as I can see

i) I suppose she is not serious, is she?
ii) I don’t suppose you are serious, are you?
iii) I think my mother washed my clothes, didn’t she?
iv) I don’t believe you have paid for it yet, have you?
v) I don’t think anyone will help you, will they?
vi) I hope he won’t object to our plan, will he?
vii) It appears that she is enjoying herself, isn’t she?
viii) As far as I can see, Atul is the best, isn’t he?

NOTE: But if the subject of the introductory clause and the other clause is the same the helping verb of the question tag is according to the introductory clause; e.g.

i) You know that you can do it, don’t you?
ii) You know that you cannot do it, don’t you?
iii) She pretends as if she has never in her life, told a lie, doesn’t she?

R) A collective noun may be used both in the singular and plural. If its verb is singular, the subject of the question tag is ‘it’, if in the plural the subject of the question tag is ‘they’.

When the verb is neither singular or plural, a collective noun takes ‘it’ when the group is thought of a single unit. But when individual members of the group are thought of, it’s ‘they’ in the question tag; e.g.

i) The crew has not come yet, has it?
ii) The crew were occupied in repairing the ship, weren’t they?
iii) The Indian team should fare well, shouldn’t it?

For more chapters/topics on English Grammar read the following book authored by me.

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For English Practice Sets on various topics read the following book authored by me.

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