Nesta dica você aprenderá alguns usos especiais das question tags. São os casos considerados avançados e que, portanto, merecem atenção. Caso você queira antes aprender os conceitos básicos sobre esse assunto, leia as dicas:
Como aqui o objetivo é falar sobre os pontos avançados das question tags, vamos direto a eles.
Aren’t I?
Sempre que a sentença principal for afirmativa com “I am” (I’m), a question tag será “aren’t I?“. Veja os exemplos:
- I am getting crazy, aren’t I?
- I’m going to help you, aren’t I?
- I’m sitting here, aren’t I?
- I’m disturbing you, aren’t I?
Note que isso só acontece se a sentença principal for afirmativa. Caso ela seja negativa, a formação da question tag segue o padrão normal:
- I’m not getting crazy, am I?
- I’m not going to help you, am I?
- I’m not sitting here, am I
- I’m not disturbing you, am I?
Everybody, Everyone, Somebody, Someone
Use sempre o pronome they para essas palavras. Além disso, lembre-se que embora a sentença principal esteja no singular, a question tag será sempre no plural:
- Everyone was trying to help her, weren’t they?
- Everybody loves Chris, don’t they?
- Someone helped you, didn’t they?
- Somebody will stay here with you, won’t they?
Nobody, No one
O pronome para essas palavras também é they. Mas, com elas é preciso observar que são palavras negativas; logo, a question tag será afirmativa:
- Nobody phoned, did they?
- Nobody will help you, will they?
- No one likes her, do they?
- No one can dance like that, can they?
Nothing
Com nothing o será sempre it. Note, porém, que nothing é também uma palavra negativa; portanto, a question tag será afirmativa:
- Nothing can go wrong, can it?
- Nothing will happen, will it?
- Nothing worked out the way you wanted, did it?
- Nothing should be there, should it?
Let’s
Ao usar let’s para fazer sugestões, a question tag será sempre “shall we?“:
- Let’s do this, shall we?
- Let’s help them, shall we?
- Let’s have a party, shall we?
- Let’s stay here for a while, shall we?
I don’t think…, I think…, I suppose…, I feel… I guess…
Faça de conta que essa expressões não existem na frase principal e forme a question tag com a sentença seguinte. Achou isso estranho!? Então, veja os exemplos:
- I think she’s Brazilian, isn’t she?
- I don’t think it will rain tomorrow, will it?
- I suppose you’re tired, aren’t you?
- I really feel she’s making a mistake, isn’t she?
- I guess she doesn’t like us, does she?
Esses são os principais casos nos quais as questions tags confundem muita gente; principalmente, provas e concursos. A melhor maneira de aprender esses pontos avançados é por meio da prática. Portanto, procure por mais exemplos e vá se acostumando com eles.
That’s all for now! Take care! 🙂
This is kind of hard, i have to think a little , maybe its gonna take a while to start using it ..but its good to know…it seems i havent listen to this sentence frequently…aside from the basics one , the others sound strange for me….kkkk thanks
Keep on studying hard, Yoshida! Don’t give up! This is not as hard as you think. 🙂
Really nice! I’ve been lost and stuck sometimes when I’ve tried to use it. But now, with these 3 tips my doubts were resolved, weren’t they?
I guess they were, Diego! Keep studying hard! Take care! 🙂
Thanks, Dvs Englishteacher! 😉
Denilso, you’re awesome. Your work bears the stamp of genius.
Thanks, Joilson! 🙂
Congratulations for you effort, Denilso. I read the site almost everyday and I always recommend it to my students. Good tips and good explanation make it a top-notch place for us all, teachers and students. Have you ever noticed how Brazilian students use the motion expression sentences in English? That’s for me the most common mistake made by our students. Sentences such as: He swam across the island, He ran off the field, He drove past your house. Our students don’t know how to use the adverbs in English followed by motion verbs. Have you ever seen that?
Yes, I have, Luciano! And to be quite honest, this is something that we learn by getting involved with the language. As a matter of fact, I wrote about that issue in my books. The thing is: naturally using little words like those you mentioned is not a thing that learners will acquire in a controlled environment; they have to get themselves involved with the language and pick that by listening to the way native speakers use the language.
Thanks so much for your words here! I really appreciate them. 🙂