1. Tổng quan về Tag Question
1.1. Định nghĩa cụ thể
Câu hỏi đuôi (Tag Question) là dạng câu hỏi Yes-No được đặt ngay sau một mệnh đề trần thuật và được phân cách với mệnh đề trần thuật bằng dấu phẩy.
Câu hỏi đuôi gồm 2 phần là mệnh đề chính và phần “đuôi” như sau: Statement, tag question?
Ví dụ:
- She’s a doctor, isn’t she? (Cô ấy là bác sĩ, phải không?)
- You haven’t seen this film, have you? (Bạn chưa xem bộ phim này mà, phải không?)
Bạn có thể nhận thấy rằng khi tạo câu hỏi đuôi, quy tắc đầu tiên luôn ngược lại với mệnh đề chính. Nếu mệnh đề chính là khẳng định, câu hỏi đuôi sẽ là phủ định và ngược lại.
Mệnh đề chính (statement) | Phần đuôi (tag question) |
Positive She‘s a doctor, | Negative isn’t she? |
Negative You haven’t seen this film, | Positive have you? |
1.2. Cấu trúc chung
Dưới đây là cấu trúc tổng quan của Tag Question:
S + V + O, be/auxiliary verb (trợ động từ) + pronoun (đại từ)? |
Ví dụ:
- They could hear me, couldn’t they? (Họ có thể nghe thấy tôi, phải không?)
- James doesn’t play the piano, does he? (James không chơi piano, phải không?)
Lưu ý:
Chủ ngữ của mệnh đề chính và câu hỏi đuôi là giống nhau. Nếu chủ ngữ của mệnh đề chính là danh từ, bạn sẽ sử dụng đại từ tương ứng trong câu hỏi đuôi.
E.g: James doesn’t play the piano, does he?
→ Ta thấy trợ động từ doesn’t ở mệnh đề chính sang Tag Question thành does, đại từ chủ ngữ của James sang Tag Question thành he.
KHÔNG dùng đại từ tân ngữ (me, you, him, her, them, us) ở câu hỏi đuôi.
For example: They are doctors, aren’t they? – that’s wrong
KHÔNG dùng tên riêng ở câu hỏi đuôi mà phải dùng đại từ nhân xưng.
For example: Jena is a doctor, isn’t she? – that’s wrong
KHÔNG dùng “am not I” mà phải dùng “aren’t I” cho câu hỏi đuôi.
E.g. : I am late, aren’t I? (I am late, right?)
2. Multiple-choice tag question exercises
Exercise 1: Select the correct answer
- Xavier is English, _________?
- does he
- is he
- isn’t he
- doesn’t he
- We can go to the park with you, _________?
- can’t we
- don’t we
- can we
- aren’t we
- He never goes to bed before 11 o’clock, _________?
- isn’t he
- is he
- doesn’t he
- does he
- Those cars are very expensive, _________?
- are cars
- aren’t they
- aren’t cars
- are they
- You didn’t play badminton last week, _________?
- did you
- didn’t you
- aren’t you
- haven’t you
- She has got a lot of shoes, _________?
- does she
- doesn’t she
- hasn’t she
- haven’t she
- Everyone came to the wedding yesterday, _________?
- weren’t they
- wasn’t it
- isn’t it
- didn’t they
- There are a lot of students here, _________?
- aren’t they
- aren’t there
- don’t they
- do there
- I am the tallest in my group, _________?
- don’t I
- amn’t I
- aren’t I
- am I
- Let’s go to the movie, _________?
- shall we
- don’t we
- do we
- aren’t we
Exercise 2: Choose the right answer
- He’s still sleeping, ________
- is not he?
- isn’t he?
- wasn’t he?
- You do go to work, ________
- do you?
- aren’t you?
- don’t you?
- Let’s go for a walk, ________
- shall we?
- shan’t we?
- will we?
- We won’t be late, ________
- won’t we?
- will we?
- are we?
- Nobody called, ________
- do they?
- didn’t they?
- did they?
- They will wash the car, ________
- will it?
- won’t they?
- wouldn’t they?
- We must lock the doors, ________
- mustn’t they?
- shouldn’t we?
- mustn’t we?
- I’m right, ________
- amn’t I?
- am not I?
- aren’t I?
- So you bought a car, ________
- did you?
- haven’t you?
- weren’t you?
- You wouldn’t like to invite Anna, ________
- did you?
- would you?
- won’t you?
Exercise 3: Pick the correct option
- My nickname in the office is “Slugger”, ____?
- isn’t it?
- aren’t I?
- am I?
- Clifton was the place we went for that rainy vacation, ____?
- isn’t it?
- isn’t there?
- wasn’t it?
- She’s your best friend! You should come to her party, ____?
- shouldn’t you?
- isn’t she?
- should you?
- The price of gas hasn’t fallen much recently, ____?
- has it?
- is it?
- will it?
- There are too many chairs here, ____?.
- are they?
- isn’t there?
- aren’t there?
- The weather won’t improve if we sit here and look out the window, ____?
- will we?
- will it?
- won’t it?
- Everyone can hear me at the back of the room, ____?
- can you?
- can’t you?
- can’t they?
- I’m late again, ____?
- amn’t I?
- aren’t I?
- am I?
Exercise 4: Choose the appropriate answer
- Neither of the workers was happy with the new legislation, ____?
- A) wasn’t they
- B) weren’t they
- C) did they
- D) didn’t they
- E) were they
- Tom, the Browns’ only son, died in a terrible accident last year. Before that event, however, the family used to be very cheerful people, ____?
- A) hadn’t they
- B) didn’t they
- C) weren’t they
- D) didn’t he
- E) wasn’t it
- That is very important for him, ____?
- A) isn’t it
- B) isn’t that
- C) is it
- D) is that
- E) isn’t this
- Everybody should visit Goreme, ____?
- A) should they
- B) should he
- C) shouldn’t they
- D) should we
- E) shouldn’t we
- Tomorrow instead of going to Madrid with my boss. I am going to London, ____ ? So, is everything arranged properly there?
- A) am n’t I
- B) aren’t I
- C) don’t I
- D) won’t I
- E) am I
- As far as I know Jim, and according to what his mum told about him, he hates football and never plays it,____?
- A) didn’t he
- B) will he
- C) does he
- D) didn’t she
- E) don’t I
- You really think that those over there are our new teacher’s kids, ____? But, they aren’t because he isn’t married yet.
- A) isn’t it
- B) don’t you
- C) aren’t they
- D) do you
- E) isn’t he
- They had to provide some evidence to the court to clear him of the accusation, ____?
- A) wouldn’t they
- B) hadn’t he
- C) didn’t he
- D) hadn’t they
- E) didn’t they
- Just because the teacher of math has strict rules in class, everybody dislikes him too much, ____?
- A) aren’t they
- B) isn’t it
- C) doesn’t it
- D) do they
- E) don’t they
- I suppose they won’t come in time for lunch, ____?
- A) won’t they
- B) aren’t I
- C) don’t I
- D) will they
- E) do you
Exercise 5: Select the correct option
- It is raining,…?
- a) Is it?
- b) Isn’t it?
- c) Has it?
- d) Is not it?
- He likes cricket,…?
- a) Isn’t he?
- b) Does he?
- c) Doesn’t he?
- d) Is he?
- Remember to lock the door,…?
- a) Will you?
- b) Shall not you?
- c) Won’t you?
- d) Haven’t you?
- She hardly knows you,..?
- a) Don’t she?
- b) Does she?
- c) Is she?
- d) Doesn’t she?
- Everyone can’t come in now,..?
- a) Can’t they?
- b) Did they?
- c) Can they?
- d) Couldn’t they?
- None of us knew the way,…?
- a) Do we?
- b) Didn’t we?
- c) Could we?
- d) Did we?
- I am intelligent,…?
- a) Aren’t I?
- b) Am I?
- c) Amn’t I?
- d) Isn’t it?
- Some of you are learning French,…?
- a) Are you?
- b) Aren’t you?
- c) Did you?
- c) Do you?
Answers
Bài 1
- isn’t he?
- don’t you?
- shall we?
- will we?
- did they?
- won’t they?
- mustn’t we?
- aren’t I?
- did you?
- would you?
Bài 2
- isn’t he?
- don’t you?
- shall we?
- will we?
- did they?
- won’t they?
- mustn’t we?
- aren’t I?
- did you?
- would you?
Bài 3
- isn’t it?
- wasn’t it?
- shouldn’t you?
- has it?
- aren’t there?
- will it?
- can’t they?
- aren’t I?
Bài 4
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
E | B | A | C | B | C | B | E | E | D |
- b) Isn’t it?
- c) Doesn’t he?
- a) Will you?
- d) Doesn’t she?
- c) Can they?
- a) Do we?
- a) Aren’t I?
- b) Aren’t you?