Question Tags: TN Board 12th English Grammar PYQs & Rules
Welcome to a highly scoring and frequently tested grammar topic for your TN Board 12th English Exam! Question Tags are usually asked in the 1-mark section or as an error-spotting question. While the basic rules are simple, TN Board examiners love to trick students using hidden negative words (like seldom, hardly) and exceptional pronouns (like everyone, let's). Master our advanced grammar cheat sheet below, practice the top 20 Previous Year Questions (PYQs), and challenge yourself with the interactive Self-Test!
🔥 Exam Tip & The Advanced Question Tag Cheat Sheet:
- The Golden Rule: Positive Statement → Negative Tag. Negative Statement → Positive Tag.
Example: He is coming, isn't he? | He is not coming, is he?- The Missing Auxiliary (Do/Does/Did): If there is no helping verb (is, was, has, can, etc.), look at the main verb.
👉 V1 (Play) → do
👉 V1+s/es (Plays) → does
👉 V2 (Played) → did- The "Hidden Negative" Trap: Words like seldom, rarely, hardly, scarcely, never, few, little, nowhere are NEGATIVE. They take a POSITIVE tag.
Example: Barking dogs seldom bite, do they?- The "I am" Exception:
👉 I am late, aren't I? (NOT am n't I)
👉 I am not late, am I? (Standard rule applies here)- Imperatives & Suggestions:
👉 Commands/Requests: Close the door, will you? / Don't shout, will you?
👉 Suggestions: Let us (Let's) go for a walk, shall we?- Pronoun Shifts:
👉 Everyone, everybody, someone, nobody → Pronoun becomes they (and the verb shifts to plural: has → haven't, is → aren't).
👉 Everything, nothing, something → Pronoun becomes it.
Top 20 Board Exam Questions: Question Tags
Part 1: Basic Auxiliary Tags
Add suitable question tags to the following statements.
- Question: The children are playing in the garden, ________?
Answer: The children are playing in the garden, aren't they? - Question: She hasn't submitted her assignment yet, ________?
Answer: She hasn't submitted her assignment yet, has she? - Question: We can easily win this match, ________?
Answer: We can easily win this match, can't we? - Question: The principal was addressing the students, ________?
Answer: The principal was addressing the students, wasn't he/she? - Question: You won't reveal this secret to anyone, ________?
Answer: You won't reveal this secret to anyone, will you?
Part 2: Main Verbs (The Do/Does/Did Rule)
Identify the tense of the main verb to extract 'do', 'does', or 'did'.
- Question: Dr. Barnard performed the first human heart transplant, ________? (March 2019)
Answer: Dr. Barnard performed the first human heart transplant, didn't he? (performed = V2 = did) - Question: The sun rises in the east, ________?
Answer: The sun rises in the east, doesn't it? (rises = V1+s = does) - Question: My parents love to watch classical movies, ________?
Answer: My parents love to watch classical movies, don't they? (love = V1 = do) - Question: Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, ________?
Answer: Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, didn't he? - Question: This machine works perfectly, ________?
Answer: This machine works perfectly, doesn't it?
Part 3: The Semi-Negative / Hidden Negative Trap
Watch out for words that make the sentence negative without using 'not'. The tag MUST be positive.
- Question: Barking dogs seldom bite, ________? (March 2022)
Answer: Barking dogs seldom bite, do they? (seldom is negative, bite = do) - Question: He hardly ever speaks the truth, ________?
Answer: He hardly ever speaks the truth, does he? - Question: Few students attended the special class, ________?
Answer: Few students attended the special class, did they? ('Few' is negative. Note: 'A few' is positive.) - Question: We have seen nothing like this before, ________?
Answer: We have seen nothing like this before, have we? - Question: Little progress has been made in this project, ________?
Answer: Little progress has been made in this project, has it?
Part 4: Exceptions (Imperatives, Let's, & Pronoun Shifts)
Master the special rules that do not follow standard verb/pronoun patterns.
- Question: Let's go to the library to read some books, ________? (March 2023)
Answer: Let's go to the library to read some books, shall we? - Question: I am the tallest boy in the class, ________?
Answer: I am the tallest boy in the class, aren't I? - Question: Please give me your pen for a moment, ________?
Answer: Please give me your pen for a moment, will you? (Commands/Requests take 'will you') - Question: Everyone has brought their textbooks, ________?
Answer: Everyone has brought their textbooks, haven't they? ('Everyone' takes 'they', so 'has' changes to plural 'haven't') - Question: Don't touch the live wire, ________?
Answer: Don't touch the live wire, will you?
📝 Test Yourself: Question Tags Challenge!
Have you mastered the hidden rules? Try solving these 5 tricky 12th board-level questions. Click on "Show Answer" to check your accuracy!
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Question: Add a question tag: I am not responsible for this mistake, ________?
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: I am not responsible for this mistake, am I?
(Rule: While "I am" takes "aren't I?", the negative "I am not" takes the standard positive tag "am I?".) -
Question: Add a question tag: Somebody has knocked at the door, ________?
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: Somebody has knocked at the door, haven't they?
(Rule: 'Somebody' becomes the pronoun 'they'. Since 'they' is plural, the auxiliary 'has' must change to its plural negative form 'haven't'.) -
Question: Add a question tag: None of the food was wasted, ________?
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: None of the food was wasted, was it?
(Rule: 'None' makes the sentence negative, so the tag is positive. 'Food' is uncountable, so we use the pronoun 'it'.) -
Question: Add a question tag: A little sugar is needed for the tea, ________?
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: A little sugar is needed for the tea, isn't it?
(Rule: 'A little' has a POSITIVE meaning, so the tag is negative. This is a common trap compared to 'little' which is negative.) -
Question: Add a question tag: You'd better see a doctor, ________?
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: You'd better see a doctor, hadn't you?
(Rule: The contraction "You'd better" stands for "You had better". Thus, the auxiliary is 'had'.)
The ultimate trick to scoring full marks in Question Tags is reading the sentence twice to spot hidden negative words like 'hardly' or 'seldom'. Always ensure your auxiliary verb matches the tense of the main verb and the number of your pronoun! Bookmark this page, practice thoroughly, and secure your marks in the TN Board English Exam!