5

Question tags on firm

Verb in statement	Verb in tag		examples
be	be		This is yours, isn’t it?
have (possess)	do		You don’t have a watch, do you?
have got	have		You haven’t got a brother, have you?
have (auxiliary)	have		You haven’t seen Joe, have you?
do	do		You do aerobics, don’t you?
can	can		She can swim, can’t she?
could	could		We could do better, couldn’t we?
may	might		It may rain, mightn’t it?
will	will		You won’t tell him, will you?
would	would		He’d like that, wouldn’t he?
needn’t	need		We needn’t come, need we?
must	must		We mustn’t make a noise, must we?
have to	do		We have to work harder, don’t we?
need to ought to shouldn’t	do oughtn’t should		She needs to be there, doesn’t she? I ought to have done it, oughtn’t I? It shouldn’t cost that much, should it?
	Special cases
	I’m on duty tomorrow, aren’t I?		I’m not late, am I?
	Let’s surprise them, shall we?
	Turn the sound down, will you?
	There isn’t any danger, is there?
Somebody/someone, anybody/anyone, nobody/no one, everybody/everyone,	Everybody is sleeping, aren’t they?
Nothing, something, everything, neither, no, none, no one, scarcely, barely(едва), hardly, hardly ever, seldom	Nothing happened, did it? No salt is allowed, is it? Nothing was said, was it? Peter hardly ever goes to parties, does he?
Uses:	To get agreement from the person we’re speaking to.	You don’t come from Spain, do you? You come from Italy, don’t you?
	To ask politely	You couldn’t give me a hand with this box, could you? You don’t know anything about computers, do you?
	To order people to do things politely (The tag is usually positive)	Be careful, won’t you? Clear the table, will you?
	To make an informal offer	Have a drink, won’t you?
	To make a polite suggestion	Let’s go to the beach, shall we?

1. Fill in the spaces with the correct tag.

Your dad does the cooking, .............................................? Yours never does the housework, ....................................? There’s not much we can do about it, ..............................? It’s a beautiful day, ..........................................................? Yes, let’s go for a walk, ...................................................? You’ve got a bicycle, .......................................................? Yes, you no longer have yours, ........................................?

You weren’t cheating in the test, .....................................? No, I’d never cheat, ..........................................................? You don’t know his secret, ..............................................? You could take up tennis, ................................................? You’d rather carry on with volleyball, .............................? She lost her temper, .........................................................? 10 Yes, but she shouldn’t have , ...........................................?

1. doesn’t he…does he 2 is there 3 isn’t it…shall we 4 haven’t you…do you 5 were you…would I 6 do you 7 couldn’t you 8 wouldn’t you 9 didn’t she 10 should she