Modul 4: Tag Quesions – “Ugye?” kérdések

31. You don’t have to go to school.

I know it’s a holiday today (like it’s the 1st May). So, I say, “You don’t have to go to school, do you?”

You don’t have to go to school, do you?

32. Be careful.

This is an instruction: Be careful, will you?

33. Don’t eat too much.

This is an instruction or a suggestion.

A wife could say it to her husband at a party. She may be worrying about her husband. This is a negative instruction, but it doesn’t matter: the tag is still ‘will you?’

Don’t eat too much, will you? 

34. You have hardly any money.

This is interesting. Listen.

‘Hardly any money’ means almost no money. Even though the sentence looks positive, the general meaning of the sentence is sort of negative.

We consider this sentence negative. Because this is an observation (I can see or I know that you have no money), the intonation is going to fall: You have hardly any money, do you?

You have hardly any money, do you?

35. You have never kissed a frog.

There are tales about kissing a frog that turns into a prince. I may ask my daughter about it, but because I feel it rahter absurd, I don’t think she has ever kissed one.

The intonation falls, and because ‘never’ is a negative word, the tag has to be positive: You have never kissed a frog, have you?

If my daughter were a bit silly, I might be a little bit sceptical. So, I could ask her, “You have never kissed a frog, have you?”

If I asked it this way, she might get angry with me because this intonation implies that I don’t think she is intellectually strong – silly.

So, let me keep to the falling intonation: You have never kissed a frog, have you?

36. You should give up using cheat-sheets.

A cheat-sheet is a piece of paper that students use during tests to look up the corrects answers. Using a cheat-sheet is wrong.

“You should give up using cheat-sheets” is a strong suggestions so intonation falls: You should give up using cheat-sheets, shouldn’t you?

You should give up using cheat-sheets, shouldn’t you?

37. I guess you’d rather I went home.

You’d rather is ‘you would rather’. Would is the keyword. “You’d rather I went home” means you would like me to go home (instead of staying).

I guess – I think, I am fairly sure – you’d rather I went home, wouldn’t you?

I guess you’d rather I went home, wouldn’t you? 

38. It’s time to say goodbye.

You’re a guest in your friend’s home. It’s getting late, and you check the time. You see it’s getting late. “It’s time to say goodbye.”

That’s an observation. It’s not something that you’re uncertain about. You know it’s late and that you should say goodbye.

It’s time to say goodbye, isn’t it? Intonation is going down.

It’s time to say goodbye, isn’t it?

39. You could barely see the film in the cinema.

Picture this: the cinema was fully packed. It was crowded. Unfortunately, a huge guy was sitting in front of you who blocked your view. You could barely see the film: you could hardly see the film.

What is barely and hardly? Barely and hardly means not quite. Not much. Almost not.

These words are considered to be negative. “You could barely see the film in the cinema” is sort of a negative sentence so the tag has to be positive.

You could barely see the film. It was really bad for you. I saw it and felt sorry for you. After the film, I told you, ‘You could barely see the film in the cinema, could you?’ 

Intonation goes down as I had seen your desperate situation during the film.

You could barely see the film in the cinema, could you?

40. The teacher seldom calls you by your name.

Seldom: rarely, hardly ever, almost never. You can see that ‘seldom’ and ‘rarely’ are also negative words which make the general meaning of the sentence negative (or at least almost negative). So, the tag question has to be positive.

The teacher seldom calls you by your name: the teacher almost never calls you by your name. He doesn’t say ‘Oliver’, he just says, ‘you, at the window, in a blue jumper’.

I am your classmate and know the situation all too well. This sentence is my observation: the teacher seldom calls you by your name, does he? 

The teacher seldom calls you by your name, does he? 

41. There’s hardly any tea left.

Again, ‘hardly any’ is a negative idea so the tag will be positive. How about the intonation?

Here is the situation: I want to do the shopping. I have no idea how much tea we have got, but I have a feeling there isn’t much. Still, I need to ask someone so I shout to my wife and say, “There’s hardly any tea left, is there?” The rising intonation shows that I need information – I need an answer.

If I exactly know there is not much tea left, the intonation goes down.

Same situation, I want to do the shopping, and my wife is checking the tea. When she opens the cupboard, I tell her, “There’s hardly any tea left, is there?”

This intonation pattern shows that I know exactly that there’s not much tea left. It’s just an observation or a remark.

There’s hardly any tea left, is there?

42. Your brother hardly ever smokes these days.

Negative meaning, and it’s my observation: I can see him every day; I can see that he doesn’t smoke as much as he did before.

Your brother hardly ever smokes these days, does he? 

Your brother hardly ever smokes these days, does he? 

Let’s wrap it up.

31. You don’t have to go to school, do you?
32. Be careful, will you?
33. Don’t eat too much, will you?
34. You have hardly any money, do you?
35. You have never kissed a frog, have you? 
36. You should give up using cheat-sheets, shouldn’t you?
37. I guess you’d rather I went home, wouldn’t you? 
38. It’s time to say goodbye, isn’t it?
39. You could barely see the film in the cinema, could you?
40. The teacher seldom calls you by your name, does he? 
41. There’s hardly any tea left, is there? 
42. Your brother hardly ever smokes these days, does he? 

Very well. This is the end of this mini course. Do the exercises and practise the proper intonation of sentences with tag questions.

31. You don’t have to go to school, …?
32. Be careful, …?
33. Don’t eat too much, …?
34. You have hardly any money, …?
35. You have never kissed a frog, …?
36. You should give up using cheat-sheets, …?
37. I guess you’d rather I went home, …?
38. It’s time to say goodbye, …?
39. You could barely see the film in the cinema, …?
40. The teacher seldom calls you by your name, …?
41. There’s hardly any tea left, …?
42. Your brother hardly ever smokes these days, …?