Kerala PSC General English Grammar - Question Tags

'Question Tag' questions are familiar for all candidates, Kerala PSC conducted examinations must have one question from 'Tag Question'. So every one definitely studies this simple English grammar. It is very easy to understand and quickly study all the rules within this lesson. I divide this lesson into different chapters because basic knowledge is very important.

Chapter #1
Must study the basic English knowledge like model auxiliary verbs, pronouns and negative words for question tag.

If everyone wants to study English grammar, please study the basic knowledge of English grammar very well, unless no one can continue for further grammars. So the below-given materials study well and repeat to read for the best result.

Auxiliary Verbs/Helping Verbs/Special Verbs

Total 24 Auxiliary verbs in English and they divided into two categories. They are Primary auxiliary verbs and modal auxiliary verbs.

Primary Auxiliary Verbs (11 Nos.)

Is, am, are, was, were, has, have, had, do, does, did.

Modal Auxiliary Verbs (13 Nos.)

Will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, must, need, dare, used to, ought to.

Pronouns

I, We, You, He, She, It, They.

Negative Words

No, Not, Nil, Never, None, None of, Neither...nor, Nobody, Nowhere, Nothing, No one, Hardly, Scarcely, Rarely, Barely, Few, Little, Seldom... etc.

Chapter #2

How to find the answer from 'question tag' questions?

1. First, find the auxiliary verb from the sentence.

2. If there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence, take it from the main verb. Example: if the verb is 'Dances', 'does' is the auxiliary verb.

Verb	Form
go	do
goes	does
went	V2
gone	V3
going	ing

3. If the sentence is positive(No negative word)add 'not' to the auxiliary verb (example: was+not=wasn't), If negative(Any negative word is present in the sentence it will be treated as a negative sentence, otherwise it is a positive sentence) does not add 'not'.

4. Next, find the subjective pronoun from the given sentence and add after the auxiliary verb (Eg: isn't he?)

Subject	Pronoun
Male	he
Female	she
Two or more persons	they
object/thing	it
you	you
we	we
I	I

5. Add a question mark (?). Done!

Chapter #3

Question Tag Workout Questions

1. Nisha was my friend, wasn't she?
2. Suresh has a pet dog, hasn't he?
3. Raju and Smitha were not friends, were they?
4. My mobile is very useful to me, isn't it?
5. You can help me, can't you?
6. He must have a dictionary, mustn't he?

Chapter #4 - Rules

Rule - 1: 
[am + not = aren't]
[will + not = won't]
[Shall + not = shan't]

Examples:

1. I am a candidate, aren't I?
2. She will come today, won't she?
3. I shall pass, shan't I?

Rule - 2
For a sentence begins with 'Let's' / 'Let us' give the tag "Shall we?"

Example:
Let's sit here, shall we?

Rule - 3
If the imperative sentence ( a sentence that begins with a verb) showing emergency action give the tag 'won't you?', otherwise (no emergency) give 'will you?'

Examples:

1. Save the life of the child, won't you?
2. Study well, will you?

Rule - 4
For a sentence that mentions an impatience, give the tag 'can't you?'

Example:
Don't insult me, can't you?

Rule - 5
A sentence's subject - pronoun conversion table is given below,

Subject/Begin with	Pronoun
no one	they
nobody	they
someone	they
somebody	they
everyone	they
everybody	they
anyone	they
anybody	they
neither	they
none	they
Some of you	you
none of you	you
Some of them	they
none of them	they
Some of us	we
none of us	we
This	it
That	it
You+I	We
One	One
There	There

Examples:

1. Nobody will help you, will you?
2. This cow is very precious, isn't it?
3. You and I are friends, aren't we?

Rule - 6
If the auxiliary verb is 'used to', instead of taking 'did' as the auxiliary verb.

Example:
Rahul used to come here regularly, didn't he?

Rule - 7
If the auxiliary verb is singular and the pronoun is plural in a tag, change the auxiliary verb into plural also.

Examples:

1. Everybody is there, aren't they?
2. Nobody was there, were they?

Any doubts in this lesson? don't worry, I will definitely help. Please post your questions below comment section.