tag question

Definition:

A question added to a declarative sentence, usually at the end, to engage the listener, verify that something has been understood, or confirm than an action has occurred. Common tags include won't you? wasn't it? don't you? haven't you? okay? and right? See also: queclarative.

Examples and Observations:

• "I like New York in June,
  How about you?
  I like a Gershwin tune,
  How about you?
  I love a fireside
  When a storm is due.
  I like potato chips,
  Moonlight and motor trips,
  How about you?"
  (B. Lane and Ralph Freed, "How About You")



• "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
  (Albert Einstein)



• "This time we almost made the pieces fit, didn't we?
  This time we almost made some sense of it, didn't we?
  (Jim Webb, "Didn't We?")



• "There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others, is there?"
  (Randal Graves in Clerks)



• "To actually see inside your ear canal--it would be fascinating, wouldn't it?"
  (Letter from Sonus, a hearing-aid company, quoted in The New Yorker, Mar. 24, 2003)



• "I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?"
  (Tim in Monty Python and the Holy Grail)



• "Question tags are not independent clauses, but they do require a response, and are highly interactive. Structurally, interrogatives are abbreviated yes/no interrogatives consisting of an operator (either positive or negative) and a pronoun, which repeats the subject or substitutes for it. Question tags are attached to one of the following clause types:
  • a declarative clause: It was quiet in there, wasn't it?
  • an exclamative clause: How quiet it was in there, wasn't it?
  • an imperative clause: Be quiet for a moment, will you?
  Of these, the declarative is by far the most common."
  (Angela Downing, English Grammar: A University Course. Taylor & Francis, 2006)

Also Known As: tag declarative, question tag (chiefly British)