Pronouns and determiners: other, others, the other(s) or another

 

Other, the other, another as determiners

 

Other

 

‘Other’ means extra, additional; alternative or different types. We can use ‘other’ with both countable and uncountable nouns. We can use ‘other’ in affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences.

• Do you have these shoes in other sizes?
• We received other information from a different agent.
• I don’t want other people to see me here.

When we use ‘other’ before a singular countable noun, we have to use another determiner before it.

• Can you hand me my other shoe, please?
• I like the other shirt better.

 

The other

 

We use ‘the other’ before countable and uncountable nouns. When we use ‘the other’ before a singular noun, it refers to the second of two things or the opposite in a set of two.

• This hammock is in the shade; I’d like to sit in the other hammock because it’s in the sun.
• I have my suitcase. Do you have the other suitcase?
• Did John send you the other information?

When we use ‘the other’ with a plural noun, it refers to the remaining people or things in a group or set.

• I can’t find the other three forks. I only have five.
• Let’s join the other parents in the hot tub while the kids play in the pool.

 

Another

 

‘Another’ is just the indefinite article an + other, and it means one more or additional, extra, or an alternative or different.

 

We normally use ‘another’ with singular countable nouns. We can use ‘another’ in affirmative, interrogative, and negative statements.

• Would you like another cup of coffee?
• Let’s just go to another restaurant.
• I hope that’s not another solicitor knocking on the door.

We can use ‘another’ with a plural noun or pronoun when a number or quantifier precedes the plural noun.

• We don’t have room for another 20 people.
• How do you feel about staying here for another few days?

 

Others, the others, the other, another as pronouns

 

Others

 

We use ‘others’ as a pronoun to replace other ones or a plural noun when the noun is known or obvious. We cannot use ‘other’ as a pronoun.

• All of these glasses are dirty. Do you have others? (others refers to glasses)
• Some people agree while others are neutral. (others refers to other people)

 

The others

 

‘The others’ refers to (the) other group or (the) other people. It may also refer to animals.

• What are the others up to right now?
• I’m going to see what the others have to say about this.

 

The other

 

We can use ‘the other’ as a pronoun. In this case, it usually refers back to something that was previously mentioned, or to another or the opposite in a set or group.

• I have a child in one hand and a puppy in the other. (the other refers to hand).
• I’ll take care of this cat, and you can take care of the other.

 

Another

 

We can use ‘another’ as a pronoun when the noun is known or obvious. We usually use ‘another’ in affirmative and interrogative statements.

•  I already had a croissant, but I think I’ll have another. (another refers to croissant)
• You’re finished your beer; would you like another? (another refers to beer)

 

Pronouns and determiners: quantifiers

 

Quantifiers modify nouns and pronouns. Quantifiers tell us the imprecise quantity of something.

 

We use certain quantifiers before countable nouns (things that can be counted), and we use other quantifiers before uncountable nouns (things that cannot be counted).

 

We do not add ‘s‘ to uncountable nouns to make them plural.

 

Determiners

 

Many/much

 

We use ‘many’ before countable nouns. We use ‘much’ before uncountable nouns. We can use these quantifiers in affirmative, negative sentences and questions.

• We don’t have much time left.
• How many rings do you have?
• There are many offices in this building.

We can use them with ‘too much’ and ‘too many’ in affirmative sentences.

• I put too much pepper on my potatoes.
• We have too many chairs setup.

 

Not many/not much

 

‘Many’ and ‘much’ can also be used in the negative with ‘not’.

• There are not many people here.
• There’s not much stuff to do around here.

 

Hardly any

 

Hardly any means very few, almost none. It is similar to ‘not many’, except ‘hardly any’ can be used with countable and uncountable nouns. It is used in affirmative statements.

• There are hardly any crackers left.
• She ate hardly any food when she was here.

 

(A) few/(a) little

 

We use ‘(a) few’ before countable nouns and ‘(a) little’ before uncountable nouns.

 

We can use these quantifiers in affirmative and negative sentences, as well as interrogative sentences.

• May I have a few cookies for my snack?
• I have received very little information about the job.

‘A few’ means some, not many, enough.

 

‘Few’ (without a) means not enough, almost none.

 

‘A little’ means some, a small amount.

 

‘Little’ (without a) means very little, almost none.

• We only have a few eggs left. (enough but not a lot)
• We have very few sodas left; we need to buy more. (not enough, almost none)
• I have little knowledge on the subject. (a very small amount, almost none)
• I have a little knowledge on the subject. (some, not much)

We can use an article, demonstrative or possessive after ‘(a) few’ if it is quantifying something specific.

• A few of those toys belong to me.
• Few of my flowers bloomed this year.
• A few of the boys went hunting.

 

A lot of/lots of

 

We use ‘a lot of’ or ‘lots of’ before both countable and uncountable nouns. We usually use these quantifiers in positive sentences.

•     I had a lot of fun on the weekend.
•     We ate lots of chocolate bars at the movie.

*Lots of is more informal.

 

Some/any

 

We can use ‘some’ in affirmative sentences and interrogatives though it is most often used in affirmative statements.

 

We use ‘any’ in negative statements and questions.

•  She has some messages for you.
•  Can I ask you some questions?
•  Is there any salt in this container?
•  I don’t have any books with me.

Both ‘some’ and ‘any’ can be used with countable and uncountable nouns. We must use the plural form when ‘some’ and ‘any’ come before a countable noun.

•  Are there any raisins in it?
•  I just saw some dogs running through the woods.

‘Any’ can also be used in the negative with not.

•  They did not have any decorations.
•  There aren’t any people here yet.

 

No/none of

 

We can use ‘no’ and ‘none of’ with both countable and uncountable nouns. ‘No’ is used in affirmative sentences.

• None of us wanted to tell the truth.
• I have no money.
• None of the information is valid.
• There are no coins in her bag.

 

All of/most of

 

We can use ‘all of’ and ‘most of’with both countable and uncountable nouns. We can use an article (the), demonstrative (this, that), and possessive pronoun (my, your) with ‘all of’ and ‘most of’ if it refers to something or someone specific.

• The dog ate all of the food. (nothing is left)
• They destroyed most of the documents. (a few remain; not all but the majority)

 

Quantifiers as Pronouns

 

Some quantifiers can function as pronouns when the noun is known or obvious.

 

Many/much

• Yes, you can have chips for a snack. But, don’t eat too many. (many refers to chips)
• Do you need money? Yes, because I don’t have much. (much refers to money)

Again, we use ‘many’ to refer to countable nouns and ‘much’ to refer to uncountable nouns.

 

A lot/lots

• Look at the food! I am going to eat a lot!
• I have not finished my homework, yet. I still have lots to do.
• My mom made cookies, and I want lots / a lot.
• Did you find the right information? Yes, I did, and there is a lot.

‘Lots’ is more informal. We can use ‘lots’ and ‘a lot’ to refer to both countable and uncountable nouns.

 

Some/any/most

• I want a piece. Is there any left?
• Did you have cake? Yes, I had some.
• No one would even try this. Actually, some have done it.
• You can talk to the students, but most have already left.

We can use ‘some’ and ‘any’ to refer to both countable and uncountable nouns. We use ‘mos’t to refer to countable nouns.

 

Hardly any/not many/not much

• The students know the due date is close, but not many have even started the assignment, yet. (not many refers to students)
• Coffee? Hurry, there’s not much left. (not much refers to coffee)
• I wanted one of those pens, but there are hardly any left.

We can use not many to refer to countable nouns, not much to uncountable nouns, and hardly any to both countable and uncountable nouns.

 

All/none

• Sorry, I already did it all.
• Do you have honey? No, sorry, none. (none refers to honey)

 

(A) few/(a) little

• Little is known about his childhood. (not much, almost nothing)
• Tea anyone? Yes, I would like a little. (a small amount)
• A few have done it before. (not many but some)
• Few have dared to trespass on that property. (almost none)

 

Note: A singular pronoun takes a singular verb, i.e., much/little + has. A plural pronoun takes a plural verb, i.e., few/many + have.

 

Pronouns: indefinite

 

We use indefinite pronouns to talk about people, things and ideas without specifying them.

 

The most common reflexive pronouns are: ‘some‘, ‘any‘, ‘one‘ and their derivatives, as well as ‘all‘, ‘every‘, ‘each‘, ‘few‘, ‘little‘, ‘many‘/’much‘, ‘both‘, ‘either‘.

 

Indefinite pronouns may have different forms depending on their use in statements, negative sentences and questions.

• Someone gave me a call this evening.
• Is there anybody at home?
• There’s nothing left on the table.

 

Indefinite pronouns may  denote:

1. Animate objects, and they are formed using ‘-body’/’one’:

– to talk about a person, use ‘anybody’, ‘somebody’, ‘anyone’ and ‘someone’:

• Peter doesn’t know anybody in his new school.
• I saw somebody walking down the street.
• You can ask someone to help you with your bags.

– to talk about all people in a group, use ‘everyone’ and ‘everybody’:

• I would like everyone to attend our next meeting.
• The room is empty. Where is everybody?

– to talk about no person, use ‘nobody’ and ‘no one’:

• Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen.
• No one in the class could answer the teacher’s question.

2. Things or ideas, and they are formed using ‘-thing’

– to talk about availability of things or ideas, use ‘something’ and ‘anything’:

• There is something special about Mary.
• Is there anything I can do for you?

– to talk about unavailability of things or ideas, use ‘nothing’:

• James and Timothy have absolutely nothing in common.
• We did a great job and there is nothing left to do.

– to talk about availability of all things or ideas, use ‘everything’:

• I’m leaving for Paris and I want to see everything there.
• Becky is back to school, everything is fine with her.

3. Places, and they are formed using  ‘-where’: ‘everywhere’, ‘anywhere’, ‘nowhere’ and ‘somewhere’

• Let’s go somewhere special.
• This road leads to nowhere.
• You can go anywhere you like.
• Emily couldn’t find her phone, though she looked everywhere.

 

We can also use pronouns beginning with ‘any-’ in statements to mean all people or things, when it doesn’t matter who, what or where:

• Anyone can play this game.
• You are free to take anything you like from my clothes.

 

Note: Don’t put two negative words in one sentence. I didn’t see anything. Correct: I saw nothing. NOT: I didn’t see nothing.

 

Usage

1. We normally use ‘somebody’, ‘someone’, ‘something’ and ‘somewhere’ in statements and questions:

• Yesterday I’ve met someone special.
• We heard a loud noise from somewhere in the street.
• Could somebody let me know what to do?
• Can I have something to drink?

2. We use ‘anybody’, ‘anyone’, ‘anything’ and ‘anywhere’ in negative sentences and questions:

• There isn’t anything you can do in this situation.
• When Peter had arrived, he couldn’t find anyone at home.
• Is there anybody going to listen to my story?
• Would you like to travel anywhere next month?

3. We use ‘nobody’, ‘no one’, ‘nothing’ and ‘nowhere’ in statements and questions:

• Nobody can understand me better than you.
• This poor guy has nowhere to live.
• Why is there no one in the office?
• You always keep silent, do you have nothing to say?

4. We usually use ‘everybody’, ‘everyone’, ‘everything’ and ‘everywhere’ in statements:

• Everybody knows this prominent artist.
• I need everyone to leave this room immediately!
• This is everything you need to know about her.
• Spring is everywhere!

 

Note: ‘Everyone’, ‘everybody’ and ‘everything’ are always followed by a singular verb. Everybody was at the meeting. NOT: Everybody were at the meeting.

  

Pronouns: reflexive

 

We use reflexive pronouns when the object of the verb in the sentence is the same person or thing as the subject.

We also can use them to add emphasis to various statements.

• Mary likes looking at herself in the mirror. (‘herself’ refers to Mary, not to anybody else)
• Jack and Evelyn built their house themselves. (we emphasize the fact that nobody helped them)

 

Reflexive pronouns are formed like this:

 

Subject pronoun	Object pronoun	Reflexive pronoun
I You He She It We You They	Me You Him Her It Us You Them	Myself Yourself Himself Herself Itself Ourselves Yourselves Themselves

• I usually do the cleaning myself.
• Can you repair this chair yourself?
• Jane bought herself a new pair of shoes.
• Jack introduced himself to other people at the meeting.
• This door locks itself after closing.
• We must make important decisions ourselves.
• Be careful, don’t cut yourselves with those knives.
• Old people often talk to themselves.

 

In many situations we use reflexive pronouns just to emphasize that:

1. the subject is acting upon itself instead of acting upon another object, or
2. to emphasize the importance of the subject.

 

Consider the following examples:

• Girls liked them. (they liked someone else)
• Girls liked themselves. (subject acted upon itself)
• I do my laundry myself, and my mother does not help me.
• The movie itself was not very good, but the soundtrack was awesome.
• The Queen herself attended the ceremonial reception.
• We could fix the car ourselves, but Peter decided to take it to the service.

 

We don’t use reflexive pronouns when two or more subjects perform the same reciprocal action. ‘Each other’ is used instead:

• We looked at each other with admiration. (I looked at her, and she looked at me)
• BUT: We looked at ourselves in the mirror. (I looked at myself, and she looked at herself)
• My friends and I are helping each other with the homework.
• Usually cats and dogs don’t like each other.
• Children gave each other apples and ate them with pleasure.

 

Nouns: subject and predicate agreement

 

Subjects and verbs (predicates) must agree in number (singular or plural).

 

The basic rule is: if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural. Thus, being able to find the right subject and verb is key to correct subject-verb agreement.

• The dog growls when he is angry.
• The dogs growl when they are angry.

 

But depending on the context, some plural nouns may have singular agreement with the verbs and vice-versa.

 

1. For example, pieces of art (books, songs, paintings, etc) with plural subject in their name use singular agreement:

• Three Men in a Boat is a humorous novel written by the English writer Jerome K. Jerome in 1889.
• The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of books by Clive Staples Lewis.

 

2. Some nouns ending in ‘-s’ (and thus looking plural) still have singular agreement. These are the nouns denoting academic subjects, sports and geographical names:

• Mathematics was not my strong point at school.
• The Netherlands is a country of tulips and bicycles.
• Gymnastics is a spectator sport.   

 

3. We use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit.

• Three miles is too far to walk.
• Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.

 

4. A linking verb (‘is‘, ‘are‘, ‘was‘, ‘were‘, ‘seem’, and others) agrees with its subject, not its complement.

• Joe’s favorite dessert is blueberry muffins.
• Blueberry muffins are Joe’s favorite dessert.

 

5. If one subject is singular and one is plural, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.

• Neither the television nor the radios work.
• Neither the radios nor the television works.

 

6. There are many nouns in English that denote groups of people, animals, objects or ideas as single entities.

 

These nouns are known as collective nouns, they have a singular form:

• army, corporation, family, party, jury, colony, flock, pride, tribe, etc.

 

Depending on the context, collective nouns may have either singular or plural agreement.

 

If the noun describes a unit acting as a unified group, the verb must have singular form:

• The class waits for its teacher quietly  (the class is referred to as a unit acting collectively, in unison).

 

If the noun describes a group of individuals acting on their own, the verb must have plural form:

• The class begin their homework assignments while waiting for their teacher (students are acting as individuals – they do their own homework assignments).

 

Compare:

 

Singular agreement	Plural agreement
My family is big and friendly.     The team is playing confidently and assertively.     The band has released a new album.	My family are going out together for the first time after three years.   The team are happy with the results of their game.   The band have been on tour to promote their new album.

 

 

Compound subjects

 

1. Two or more singular (or plural) subjects joined by ‘and’ act as a plural compound subject and take a plural verb (we can say ‘they‘).

• The cow and the pig are jumping over the moon.

 

BUT: Phrases such as ‘together with’, ‘as well as’, and ‘along with’ are not the same as ‘and’. They modify the earlier word and, thus, are used with a singular verb.

• The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
• The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.
• The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly.

 

2. Two singular subjects connected by ‘or‘, ‘nor‘, ‘either…or‘, or ‘neither…nor‘ require a singular verb.

• Neither money nor power was important any longer.
• My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.

 

3. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb (like ‘of‘) usually do not affect agreement.

• A bouquet of yellow roses lends color and fragrance to the room. (bouquet lends, not roses lend)
• The colors of the rainbow are beautiful.

 

4. The words that come between the subject and verb do not affect agreement.

• The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good.

 

5. When sentences start with ‘there‘ or ‘here‘, the subject will always be placed after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it correctly.

• There is a problem with the balance sheet.
• Here are the papers you requested.

 

6. If one of the words ‘each‘, ‘every‘, or ‘no‘ comes before the subject, the verb is singular.

• No smoking or drinking is allowed.
• Every man and woman is required to check in.

 

7. With words that indicate portions (‘a lot‘, ‘a majority‘, ‘some‘, ‘all‘) we are guided by the noun after ‘of’. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.

• A lot of the pie has disappeared.
• A lot of the pies have disappeared.
• All of the pie is gone.
• All of the pies are gone.
• Some of the pie is missing.
• Some of the pies are missing.

 

 

 

Compound nouns

 

A compound noun consists of two or more words that act as a singular noun.

All compound nouns contain at least one main word, which is  the last in such combination and in most cases is a noun:

• table tennis, playground, school bag, haircut, dishwasher, toothpaste, swimming pool   

 

The other word(s) in this combination may be an adjective, or preposition, or verb. They modify the main word or add to its meaning:

• We need to go to the bus stop. (noun + noun)
• Take a look at the whiteboard. (adjective + noun)
• The historic city centre is reachable by underground. (preposition + noun)

 

Compound nouns can be formed in three different ways:

 

– two words melded together to make one word

• Jennifer needs some time to fix her makeup.
• Michael likes playing football.
• I need a new toothbrush for my trip.

 

– separate words next to each other

• To receive your parcel you should contact your local post office.
• Kids have been playing in the  swimming pool all day long.
• Please put the plates on the kitchen table, I will wash them later.

 

– hyphenated forms

• This coat is not suitable for dry-cleaning.
• All visitors are invited to the hotel reception for check-in.
• There are two six-packs of beer in my fridge.

 

Plural forms of compound nouns are created by making the final noun plural:

• Babysitter → Good babysitters always have reference letters from their clients.
• Haircut → Some haircuts can make your face look thinner.
• Cycle race → Nick took part in many cycle races.

Note: In general we make the plural of a compound noun by adding -s to the “base word” (the most “significant” word): mother-in-law – mothers-in-law passer-by – passers-by Some compound nouns have no obvious base word and you may need to consult a dictionary to find the plural: grown-up – grown-ups good-for-nothing – good-for-nothings

Nouns: formation with common prefixes

 

We use prefixes to change the meaning of nouns.

 

Prefixes go at the beginning of words:

• She lives in a subdivision outside of a large city.
• That is a bunch of nonsense.  I can’t believe you think that.
• He has to talk to his ex-wife frequently because of the children.
• The level of malnutrition in the children of this town is astonishing.
• There was a lot of unrest among the people after the president was arrested.
• For children with parents from different countries, biculturalism and bilingualism are often parts of their lives.
• Her learning disability has made it difficult for her to keep up with classmates.  

 

The most common noun prefixes and their meaning:

 

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
anti-	against	antibody, antifreeze
bi-	referring to two	bicycle, bilingualism, biculturalism
co-	together, with	coordination, cooperation
semi-	half of, not complete	semicircle, semidesert, semidarkness
mal-	bad, not enough	malfunction, malnutrition, maltreatment
ex-	former	exwife, ex-president, ex-smoker
sub-	under, below	subdivision, submarine, subset
dis-	bad, opposite of	disability, disbelief discomfort
non-	opposite of	nonsense, nonfiction
un-	lack of	unfairness, unrest, unemployment
over-	excessive, above	overwork, overheating

 

Note: You may see some nouns with prefixes written with a hyphen (-). This happens when a verb is not commonly used with a prefix, such as: ex-president. This will also depend on the type of English (American or British).

 

Nouns: formation with common suffixes

 

Nouns are words that refer to people, places, and things. We use suffixes to make a new word. For example, we can add a suffix to a verb and create a noun.

Suffixes go on the end of words.

• They always arrive late on Wednesdays. (verb)
• The arrival of a new puppy made everyone happy. (noun)

By adding -al, the verb ‘arrive’ becomes a noun.

 

Here are some other examples of nouns ending in -al:

 

Root Word	Noun	Meaning
profession	professional	Related to the action of a verb
approve	approval
deny	denial

 

There are other suffixes that we can use to create nouns, such as -tion/-ation, -ness, -ity, -ment, -ship, -ance/ence, -er/or, -ian, -ist, and many more. We can divide them into several main groups to distinguish them by meaning:

1. Nouns describing people doing some activity (often an occupation) and people experiencing some activity (suffix -ee).

Suffix	Example
-ant	assistant, participant
-ee	attendee, referee, grantee
-ent	correspondent, respondent
-(e)er	engineer, manager
-ian	librarian, historian
-ic	mechanic, paramedic
-ician	mathematician, politician
-or	supervisor, survivor
-ist	Marxist, capitalist (followers of philosophies)

• I don’t think I am a good writer.
• She works as a biologist for a research company.

2. Nouns describing devices

Suffix	Example
-er	condenser, opener
-or	alternator, razor

•  Today we can’t live without computers.

3. Nouns describing abstracts

Suffix	Example
-age	mileage, percentage
-al	disposal, proposal
-ance/-ence	appearance, attendance, dependence
-ation	information, transformation
-dom	freedom, kingdom
-iety	society, variety
-ism	capitalism, idealism (philosophies)
-ity	density, diversity
-ment	agreement, statement
-ness	usefulness, weakness
-ship	membership, relationship
-sion	conclusion, explosion
-ure	exposure, failure
-th	breadth, length

• I do not like taking public transportation in this city.
• No one knows what happiness really is.
• Equality between different groups is important for the future of the country.
• His preference for tea over coffee surprised me.

 

Spelling Tips

 

Often, the suffix causes a spelling change to the original word. The following changes may occur:

1.  Dropping letters

The final -e is dropped:

• argue – argument.

2.  Changing ‘y’ to ‘i‘

In words that end in ‘-y’, the ‘y’ becomes an ‘i’:

• deny – denial
• happy – happiness

3. Changing ‘-le’ to ‘-il’

• able, possible + -ity → ability, possibility

4. Changing ‘-t’ to ‘-ss’

• permit, omit + -ion → permission, omission

 

Suffixes can help expand your vocabulary. For example, if you know the word ‘happy’ or ‘create’, you can use that to understand and use new words like ‘happiness’ and ‘creativity’.

Nouns: abstract and concrete

 

Nouns in English can be abstract and concrete.

 

Meaning

 

Concrete nouns denote things that have some physical form and that you can experience through your 5 senses — sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch.

 

Examples of concrete nouns are:

• book, river, air, forest, apple, noise, car, street, pen, bottle, stone, lamp, etc.

Abstract nouns denote things that don’t have any physical form, like events, ideas, qualities, concepts, emotions, states.

 

Examples of abstract nouns are:

• love, hate, sympathy, honesty, freedom, truth, knowledge, progress, friendship, etc.

 

Usage

 

Most concrete nouns may be used both with an indefinite and definite article and may be singular and plural.

• an ocean – the ocean – oceans
• an avenue – the avenue – avenues

 

Unlike concrete nouns, most abstract nouns are used with no (zero) article and in singular.

• Love is a powerful emotion.

 

BUT: if an abstract noun is qualified by a defining relative or by the preposition of + noun phrase, it can be used with a definite article ‘the’.

• The education that I received in my college is internationally recognized.

 

Many abstract nouns can be both countable and uncountable based on the context, and usually these forms differ a bit in their meaning. If they are countable, they may be used in plural.

 

Compare: 

 

Countable	Uncountable
Peter acquired several useful skills on a hike.    What qualities do you need for this job?   The Ministry of Culture provides support to young artists.   Mary has visited Italy many times.   Were there any troubles on your route?   Just have a look at those beauties on the beach!	It requires skill to make a fire in the woods.   This restaurant is known for it’s superb quality.   The Institute develops targeted programmes for different cultures and languages.   Hurry up, you don’t have much time left.   Please be careful not to get in trouble.   People do their best to preserve the beauty of their city.

 

Verbs: question tags

 

Question tags are very common in spoken English. We use them in two different ways:

 

     1. To make a conversation

• Tom: It’s a nice day, isn’t it?

In this example, the speaker is not asking a real question. (He already knows if it is a nice day or not!) He just wants the other person to agree with him. Here, we use the falling intonation.

• Sally: You like pizza, don’t you?

If Sally is sure that the other person likes pizza – perhaps she’s talking to a good friend – her intonation falls, too.

 

     2. To check that you are right

• Sally: You like pizza, don’t you?

If Sally is not sure, her intonation rises. This is more similar to a real question.

 

Structure of question tags

 

1. When the sentence is positive, the tag is usually negative.

• It’s a nice day, isn’t it?
• You like pizza, don’t you?

 

When the sentence is negative, the tag is usually positive.

• He doesn’t speak Spanish, does he?
• They didn’t go to the cinema, did they?

 

2. When the verb ‘to be’ is the main verb, we use it in the question tag:

• It’s a nice day today, isn’t it?
• You’re from China, aren’t you?

 

3. The verb in the statement should be the same tense as the verb in the tag.

• You are a good singer, aren’t you?
• You didn’t go to work yesterday, did you?
• You have been to London, haven’t you?

 

4. Be careful when the sentence starts with ‘I am…’ because the tag is ‘aren’t I?’

• I’m late, aren’t I?
• I’m right, aren’t I?

 

5. If there is an auxiliary verb in the sentence, we use it in the question tag:

• He doesn’t speak Spanish, does he?
• They aren’t coming to the party, are they?
• You have been to Australia, haven’t you?

 

6. If there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence, we use an appropriate form of ‘do’:

• You like pizza, don’t you?
• You watched TV last night, didn’t you?

 

7. If there is a modal verb in the sentence, we use it in the question tag:

• He can ski, can’t he?
• This shouldn’t take long, should it?