INGLES AVANZADO

Question Tags

Se llaman “Question Tags” en el idioma inglés a una frase que se añade a la parte principal de la oración con el objeto de que el receptor exprese una opinión o comentario, o simplemente confirmar lo que se dijo en la oración anterior. Por ejemplo:

He is a good doctor, isn’t he? Él es un buen doctor, no? Mary can’t explain the lesson, can she? Mary no puede explicar la lección, no?

Una “Question Tag” está compuesta de dos partes:

• el auxiliar determinado por el tiempo verbal de la oración principal que debe estar en su forma negativa si el verbo principal está en afirmativo o viceversa
• y el pronombre determinado por el sujeto.Ten en cuenta que cuando el sujeto de la oración está compuesto por otras palabras, en la question tag se debe reemplazar por el pronombre que le corresponda.

Por ejemplo:

She likes apples, doesn’t she? Observen en este caso: la “question tag” establecida como “doesn’t she” está compuesta por el auxiliar DOES dado que la oración se encuentra en Presente Simple y en su forma negativa ya que el verbo principal está en modo afirmativo, seguido por el pronombre.

Veamos otro ejemplo:

My brother is not studying the lesson, is he? En este caso la “question tag” establecida como “is he” está compuesta por el verbo auxiliar IS (to be) dado que la oración se encuentra en Presente Continuo y en su forma afirmativa ya que el verbo principal está en modo negativo, seguido por el pronombre.

Ejercicios: Question Tags II

Para que continúes ejercitando, te ofrecemos las siguientes frases que debes completar con sus correspondientes Question Tags. Ten en cuenta el buen uso de los tiempos verbales.

Peter has smoked ten cigarettes, ………………..? The party had not been funny, ………………..? She did not stay in Italy for two months, ………………..? John was not studying at the library, ………………..? She will be a good wife, ………………..? Sheyla never prepares dinner at night, ………………..? You would not spend your money at the casino, ………………..? Mike is in the lift, ………………..? He will never be a good photographer, ………………..? There was a big parcel here, ………………..? Brian doesn’t like Mexican food, ………………..? I am going to paint the flat next week, ………………..? You can not wait for the news, ………………..? There is enough food for twenty people, ………………..? Frank is married, ………………..? He had earned a lot of money this year, ………………..? The phone has been ringing the whole day, ………………..? Larice prefers dark skirts, ………………..? Mr. Thompson was very angry, ………………..? Mark did not go to work yesterday, ………………..?

Ejercicios: Question Tags IV

Completa cada frase eligiendo entre las opciones la correcta Question tag:

The nurse has cleaned the surgery room, ………………..? doesn’t she? hasn’t she? isn’t she? My neighbours want to buy a dog, ………………..? didn’t they? don’t they? do they? My father allowed the children to play in the garden, ………………..? is he? hadn’t he? didn’t he? You are considering the idea, ………………..? are you? aren’t you? weren’t you? Mary was writing an interesting book, ………………..? was she? did Mary? wasn’t she? We will fix the roof on Monday, ………………..? wouldn’t we? won’t we? weren’t we? George would not help his brother, ………………..? won’t George? would he? will he? Axel and Kevin will not drink beer at the party, ………………..? didn’t they? don’t they? will they? Pupils had not done the homework, ………………..? have they? had they? haven’t they? The boss does not sign the contract, ………………..? does he? did he? is he? The dog bite you, ………………..? doesn’t it? didn’t it? isn’t it? Mike is singing badly, ………………..? wasn’t he? is Mike? isn’t he? John is not going to explain his problem, ………………..? won’t he? was he? is he? Ann and Mike have not gone to work this morning, ………………..? hadn’t they? weren’t they? have they? The secretary had ordered the papers, ………………..? does she? hadn’t she? didn’t she?