Question tags или вопрос с «хвостиком»
Англичане часто добавляют к утверждению «хвостик», например, isn’t it? can you? didn’t they?, чтобы превратить утверждение в вопрос. Question tags более распространены в устной речи, чем в письменной. Мы часто используем вопрос с «хвостиком», когда ожидаем, что слушатель согласится с нашим утверждением.
В этом случае, когда утверждение положительное, мы используем отрицательный «хвостик» . Если утверждение отрицательное, мы используем положительный Question tag.
A. Примеры вопросов «с хвостиком» Question tags
- A: ‘You haven’t seen Mary today, have you?’
- B: No, I’m afraid not.
- A: It was a good film, wasn’t it?
- B: Yes, I really enjoyed it.
Have you? и wasn’t it? — это question tags =мини-вопросы, которые англичане часто ставят в конце предложения в разговорном английском.
В question tags используется вспомогательный глагол (do/have/was/will и т.п.). в соответствующем времени
- ‘Karen plays the piano, doesn’t she?’ ‘Well, yes, but not very well.’
- ‘You didn’t lock the door, did you?‘ ‘No, I forgot.’
B. Обычно после положительного предложения стоит отрицательный question tag
| positive sentence + |
negative tag |
| Mary will be here soon, | won’t she? |
| There was a lot of traffic, | wasn’t there? |
| Jim should pass the exam, | shouldn’t he? |
…и положительный «question tag» псле отрицательного предложения:
| negative sentence + |
positive tag |
| Mary won’t be late | will she? |
| They don’t like us, | do they? |
| You haven’t got a car, | have you? |
Обратите внимание на значение слов «да» и «нет» в ответе на отрицательное предложение:
- You re not going out today, are you? Yes. (= Yes, I am going out)
- You re not going out today, are you? No. (= No, I am not going out)
C. Значение «вопроса с хвостиком» зависит от того, как вы его произнесете
Если ваш голос понизился, значит, вы на самом деле не задаете вопрос; вы всего лишь предлагаете слушателю согласиться с вами::
- ‘It’s a nice day, isn’t it?’↓ ‘Yes, lovely.’
- ‘Tim doesn’t look well today, does he?↓’ ‘No, he looks very tired.’
- She’s very pretty. She’s got beautiful eyes, hasn’t she?↓
Но если голос повышается, это настоящий вопрос:
- ‘You haven’t seen Mary today, have you?↑’ ‘No, I’m afraid not.’ (= Have you seen Mary today by any chance?)
Мы часто используем отрицательное предложение + положительный question tag, чтобы узнать что-то или попросить кого-то что-то сделать. В таких предложениях голос в конце тега повышается:
- ‘You haven’t got a pen, have you?↑’ ‘Yes, here you are.’
- ‘You couldn’t do me a favour, could you?↑’ ‘It depends what it is.’
- ‘You don’t know where Karen is, do you?↑’ ‘Sorry, I’ve no idea.’
D. После Let’s… используется question tag «shall we?»:
- Let’s go for a walk, shall we?
После указания (Do… /Don’t do… etc.) обычно идет question tag «will you?»:
- Open the door, will you?
- Don’t be late, will you?
Обратите внимание, что следует говорить «aren’t I?» (а НЕ «am I not?»):
- I’m late, aren’t I?
EXERCISES
1. Put a question tag on the end of these sentences.
- Tom won’t be late, ….will he?... No, he’s never late.
- You’re tired, …aren’t you?.. Yes, a little.
- You’ve got a camera,……………..? Yes, why? Do you want to borrow it?
- You weren’t listening,…………….? Yes, I was!
- Sue doesn’t know Ann,……………? No, they’ve never met.
- Jack’s on holiday,………………….? Yes, he’s in Portugal.
- Ann’s applied for the job,…………? Yes, but she won’t get it.
- You can speak German,…………..? Yes, but not very fluently.
- He won’t mind if I use his phone,…..? No, of course he won’t.
- There are a lot of people here,……..? Yes, more than I expected.
- Let’s go out tonight,……………….. Yes, let’s.
- This isn’t very interesting,…………..? No, not very.
- I’m too impatient,………………? Yes, you are sometimes.
- You wouldn’t tell anyone,……………..? No, of course not.
- Listen,…………………………? OK, I’m listening.
- I shouldn’t have lost my temper,,…..? No, but never mind.
- Don’t drop that vase,……………….? No, don’t worry.
- He’d never met her before,…………..? No, that was the first time.
2 Read the situation and write a sentence with a question tag. In each situation you are asking
your friend to agree with you.
- You look out of the window. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. What do you say to your friend? (beautiful day) …It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?..
- You’re with a friend outside a restaurant. You’re looking at the prices, which are very high. What do you say? (expensive) It………………………………………………………………………………………………
- You’ve just come out of the cinema with a friend. You really enjoyed the film. What do you say to your friend? (great) The film ………………………………………………………:………………………………..
- You and a friend are listening to a woman singing. You like her voice very much. What do you say to your friend? (a lovely voice) She ……………………………………………………………………………
- You are trying on a jacket. You look in the mirror and you don’t like what you see. What do you say to your friend? (not / look / very good) It…………………………………………………………………
- Your friend’s hair is much shorter than when you last met. What do you say to her/him? (have / your hair / cut) You ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
- You and a friend are walking over a wooden bridge. It is very old and some parts are broken. What do you say? (not / very safe) This bridge ………………;……………………………………………………..
3 In these situations you are asking for information and asking people to do things. Make sentences like those in Section C.
- You need a pen. Perhaps Jane has got one. Ask her. …Jane, you haven’t got a pen, have you?,.
- Jack is just going out. You want him to get you some stamps. Ask him. Jack, you ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- You’re looking for Ann. Perhaps Kate knows where she is. Ask her. Kate, you………………………………
- You need a bicycle pump. Perhaps Helen has got one. Ask her. Helen …………………………………………….
- You’re looking for your keys. Perhaps Robin has seen them. Ask him. ………………………………… ………
