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Subjunctive Mood
# Use a special subjunctive form of the verb ‘be’ after ‘if’ in the second
conditional sentence structure.
If I were you, I would wear something else.
# Use a special subjunctive form of the verb ‘be’ in ‘that’ clause after the
verb ‘wish’.
I wish I were a princess.
# Imperatives can be followed by will you / would you / can you / can’t you /
could you?
Keep quiet, can’t you?
Give me a hand, would you?
Open a window, will you?
Take a seat, won't you? *polite invitation
Help me, can you? *quite friendly
Help me, can't you? *quite friendly (some irritation)
Close the door, would you? *quite polite
Do it now, will you? *less polite
# Negative words:
Sentences containing negative words like never, no, nobody, hardly, scarcely
and little are followed by non-negative question tags.
You never let me finish a sentence, do you? (NOT …don’t you?)
She hardly steps out of her home, does she?
There is little we can do about it, is there?
He never came again, did he?
She can rarely come these days, can she?
You hardly ever came late, did you?
I barely know you, do I?
You would scarcely expect her to know that, would you?
# After ‘have’
When ‘have’ is used as a principal verb, question tags with both ‘have’ and
‘do’ are possible in British English. ‘Do’ is more common in American
English.
She has a boyfriend, hasn’t / doesn’t she?
Intonation
Question tags can either be ‘real’ questions where you want to know the
answer or simply asking for agreement when we already know the answer.
We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our
voice.
If the question tag is a real question we use rising intonation and our tone
of voice rises.
If we already know the answer we use falling intonation and our tone of
voice falls. It sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real
answer.
You don't know where my wallet is, do you? *rising (real
question)
It's a beautiful view, isn't it? *falling (not a real question)
The English verbs let, make, have, get, and help are called causative verbs
because they cause something else to happen.
Here are some specific examples of how causative verbs work in English
sentences.
Note: The verbs allow and permit are more formal ways to say “let.”
However, with allow and permit, we use to + verb:
After Billy broke the neighbor’s window, his parents made him pay for it.
My ex-boyfriend loved sci-fi and made me watch every episode of his
favorite show.
The teacher made all the students rewrite their papers, because the first
drafts were not acceptable.
Note: When using the verbs force and require, we must use to + verb.
This means that you help ( = assist) someone (to) do something. This
structure is most often used without ‘to’.
Examples:
(to) DO
HELP SOMEONE
SOMETHING
Milk can help you fall asleep.
Could you
me carry my bags?
help
I don’t see understand the
them
how this helps lesson.
Can computer
kids learn to read?
games help