Interjections and question tags
Spot interjections and form correct question tags, including tricky ones.
Spoken English is full of quick bursts of feeling and little questions added at the end of sentences. This lesson shows you how to use interjections and how to build question tags from the auxiliary verbs you already know.
An interjection is a word that bursts out with feeling, and a question tag is a short question added to a statement to check or confirm it.
Examples
- Wow! Look at that rangoli.
- Ouch! The pan is hot.
- Sameer can swim, can't he?
- They didn't call, did they?
- Close the door, will you?
How it works
Interjections show feeling
An interjection stands outside the grammar of the sentence and shows joy, pain, surprise, sorrow or disgust. A strong one takes an exclamation mark; a mild one can take a comma.
Oh, I forgot my wallet.
Flip the auxiliary
Copy the auxiliary from the statement and reverse it: a positive statement gets a negative tag, and a negative statement gets a positive tag. Use a pronoun in the tag, and use do, does or did when there is no auxiliary.
The shop opens at nine, doesn't it?
Hidden negatives
Words such as never, hardly, seldom, nobody, nothing make the statement negative, so the tag is positive. After nobody or everyone, the tag uses they.
Nobody noticed the mistake, did they?
Special tags
I am takes aren't I. Suggestions with Let's take shall we, and requests or orders usually take will you or won't you.
Let's order dosa, shall we?
Quick reference
| Statement | Tag | Why |
|---|---|---|
| She is a nurse, | isn't she? | positive is → negative tag |
| You can't drive, | can you? | negative can't → positive tag |
| Vijay plays chess, | doesn't he? | no auxiliary, simple present → does |
| They went to Goa, | didn't they? | no auxiliary, simple past → did |
| I am right, | aren't I? | special form for I am |
| He seldom complains, | does he? | seldom is negative in meaning |
| Let's start, | shall we? | suggestion with Let's |
Common mistakes
✕You are new here, isn't it?
✓You are new here, aren't you?
The tag must repeat the statement's own auxiliary and pronoun; isn't it is not a tag for every sentence.
✕She never eats meat, doesn't she?
✓She never eats meat, does she?
Never makes the statement negative, so the tag is positive.
✕Hurray. We got the tickets.
✓Hurray! We got the tickets.
A strong interjection takes an exclamation mark.
Worked example
Exercise 1
Tap the interjection.
Hurray! India won the series.
✓Hurray!
Hurray! expresses sudden joy, so it is an interjection.
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