English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Tag Questions
4. The clause, ‘I am’, usually accepts the question tag ‘aren’t I’, while ‘used to’ admits the tag question ‘didn’t’, as evidenced below:
I am Shina’s bosom friend, aren’t I? (correct).
Mustapha used to travel to the Philippines, didn’t he? (correct).
5. When a sentence is comprised of two or more parts, the last part determines the tag:
I came, but I didn’t eat, did I? (correct)
Denis has yet to meet my father, but he liaises with my mother, doesn’t he? (correct).
6. when sentences encompass the demonstrative pronouns, ‘this’ and ‘that’, the pronoun used in the tags is ‘it’. In the case of ‘these’ and ‘those’, the pronoun applied in the tags is ‘they’.
Those are Peter’s houses, aren’t those? (incorrect)
Those are Peter’s houses, aren’t they? (correct)
This is not my smartphone, is it? (correct)
That is your item of jewellery, isn’t it? (correct)
These are not Musa’s teachings, are they? (correct)
GAB
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