Asking and answering questions
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Using tag questions | page 6 of 6 |
Problematic tag questions for students
The forms of the following types of tag question do not seem to follow "expected rules" and may therefore create problems for learners.
After let's, we use shall we? in the tag:
Let's draw a thin walled vessel, shall we? (Bank of English)
After used to, we use a form of do and omit to in the tag:
And she used to do a bit of watering for us, didn't she? (Bank of English)
After ought to, we omit to in the tag:
Well he ought to find out then, oughtn't he? (Bank of English)
After negative words such as never, seldom, nobody, and nothing, the tag is positive:
He's never married again, has he? (Bank of English)
Pronouns such as somebody and nobody tend to be picked up by they in the tag:
But unfortunately somebody set fire to them, didn't they? (Bank of English)
Nobody followed us, did they? (Bank of English)
The word there is the subject 
in clauses like:
There's something funny about it, isn't there? (Bank of English)
Note that because there is a pronoun, it is picked up in the tag.
Introduction
Problematic tag questions for students
