Tag questions

Tag questions (question tags) are short yes-no questions tagged onto the end of a statement or command. We shall consider their intonation at this point, even though they of course dependent rather than independent intonation phrases.

Most tag questions can be said either with a fall or with a rise, and there is an important difference of tone meaning between these two possibilities.

Yes-no rise

If a tag question is genuinely asking for information, the tone will be a yes-no rise. This allows the speaker to check whether the other person agrees with what he or she has just said. It is open to the other person to agree or disagree:

🎧
The ▸answers is ⤵twenty. | ⤴isn't it? (= Am I right?)
🎧
We could ▸start with the ⤵kitchen, | ⤴couldn't we? (= That's just my suggestion.)
They ▸haven't for⤵gotten, | ⤴have they? (= Can that be the reason they're not here?

〉 ▸What does ⤵chaise mean?
》 Chair, | ⤴doesn't it?
〉 ▸Where are they going to⤵morrow?
》 ⤵Leicester, | ⤴aren't they?)

Insistent fall

The other possibility is an insistent fall. With a falling tag the speaker insists assumes or expects that the other person will agree. Rather than genuinely asking for information, the speaker appeals for agreement:

🎧
The ▸view is mag⤵nificent, | ⤵isn't it? (= I'm sure you agree.)
🎧
We've ▸been here be⤵fore, | ⤵haven't we? (= We both know we have.)
▸Seven ▸fives are ▸thirty−five, | ⤵aren't they? (= You know they are.)
Well it's ▸not very ⤵⤴good, | ⤵is it? (= You'll agree it's not very good.)
In some cases the falling-tone tag has the force of an exclamation. Exclamations always have a fall (see
2.17
):

Notice the difference of tone meaning in the following examples:

🎧
It's ⤵snowing, | ⤵isn't it (= You can see it is)
🎧
It's ⤵snowing, | ⤴isn't it (= I can't see, I'm not sure.)
🎧
It's ▸not ⤵⤴right, | \is it? (= I'm ⤵sure it's not.)
🎧
It's ▸not ⤵⤴right, | /is it? (= I'm not sure, I'd like to your views)
The effect of a tag with an insistent fall can even be to force the other person agree. It becomes a way of exercising control:
🎧
〉 ⤵⤴Mummy, | 'can I have some ⤴cake?
》 We'll have to ⤵see, | \wont' we?
🎧
〉 ▸Why did I only get a ⤵C?
》 Because you made a ▸lot of mis\takes, | ⤵didn't you?

Constant-polarity

Most tags, as in the examples given so far, reserve the polarity of the clause to which they are attached: that is, if the main clause is positive, the tag is negative; whereas if the main clause is negative, the tag is positive (see

4.10
). Another kind of tag is the constant-polarity tag. Here the main clause is positive and the tag is also positive. Constant-polarity tags, if they have their own tone, always have a rise:
It's ⤵snowing, | /is it? (⤵Oh, | I ⤵see.)
So you ▸think you'll ⤵win, | ⤴do you? (⤵⤴I don't think you will.)
🎧
〉 What a ▸lovely dress!
》 You ⤵like it, | ⤴do you?

Tag attached to clause types other than statements

Tag attached to clause types other than statements are more restricted in their possibilities. When attached to an exclamation, a tag virtually always has an insistent fall:

🎧
▸What a sur⤵prise, | ⤵wasn't it?
When attached to a command, a tag often comes in the tail (with a rising tone) rather than having its own intonation phrase (see
4.10
):
🎧
▸Come over ⤴here a minute, will you?
🎧
▸Open the ⤵window, would you please?
If the tag after a command does have its own IP, the tone is usually an encouraging rise, giving a softening effect:
▸Come over ⤵here a minute, | ⤴will you?
▸Open the ⤵window, | ⤴would you, please? (= 'Would you open the ⤴window?)
After a command, a tag with a fall sounds very insistent. Not all speakers find this construction intonationally well-formed:
▸Answer the ⤵phone, | ⤵will you? (= ▸Will you answer the ⤵phone.|| O'bey me im⤵mediately.)
Tag questions are sometimes included as parentheses within a statement. Usually they have an insistent fall, though a yes-no rise is also possible:
🎧
It's ⤵strange, | ⤵isn't it, how she never wants to do her share of the ⤴work.
We 'find it ⤵difficult, | ⤵don't we, | to 'live a virtuous ⤵life. (= I'm sure you agree.)
We 'find it ⤵difficult, | ⤵don't we, | to 'live a virtuous ⤵life (= Or am I wrong?)

Last update at: 2023/09/04 09:27:01