Third Year English Language 19th May, 2020

Unit 11:

Question tags: are short questions at the end of

statements.

They are mainly used in speech when we want to:

Confirm that something is true or not, or
To encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.

Question tags are formed with the auxiliary or modal verb from
the statement and the appropriate subject.

A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag.

Jack is from Spain, isn't he?
Mary can speak English, can't she?

A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag.

They aren't funny, are they?
He shouldn't say things like that, should he?

When the verb in the main sentence is in the present simple we

form the question tag with do / does.
You play the guitar, don't you?
Alison likes tennis, doesn't she?

If the verb is in the past simple we use did.

They went to the cinema, didn't they?
She studied in New Zealand, didn't she?

When the statement contains a word with a negative meaning, the

question tag needs to be positive
He hardly ever speaks, does he?
They rarely eat in restaurants, do they?

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Indirect question

If we want to make questions in the English language, we can do it by

changing the word order (Is he your brother? Was she there? Have you
been to Ireland?) or by using the auxiliary do (Do you know them? Does
he live with you? Did you enjoy it?)

The indirect questions are not normal questions. They have the same
word order as statements and we do not use the verb do to form a
question. They usually come after introductory phrases combined with
interrogative pronouns and adjectives (who, whom, what, which, whose),
adverbs (when, where, how, why) or if, whether.

The indirect questions are more common in English than in some other
languages. They are more polite and more formal.

Compare the following direct and indirect questions:

What did she want? - Do you know what she wanted?

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Where was it? - Do you remember where it was?

Will they come? - I wonder if they will come.

We can use many introductory phrases such as I ask, I wonder, I

want/would like to know, I can't remember, I have no idea, I am sure
etc., or they can be introduced by expressions such as Can you tell me,
Do you know, Do you remember, Have you any idea.

Look at more examples to understand the changes:

How much is it?.
Is this seat free?
Where did she go?
Does he want to buy it?
Why did you do it?
Could I use your telephone?

Phrasal verbs:

There are three main types of phrasal verb constructions depending on

whether the verb combines with a preposition, a particle, or both.

Verb + preposition (prepositional verbs)

a. Who is looking after the kids? – after is a preposition that introduces

the prepositional phrase after the kids.

b. They picked on nobody. – on is a preposition that introduces the

prepositional phrase on nobody.

c. I ran into an old friend. – into is a preposition that introduces the

prepositional phrase into an old friend.

d. She takes after her mother. – after is a preposition that introduces

the prepositional phrase after her mother.

e. Sam passes for a linguist. – for is a preposition that introduces the

prepositional phrase for a linguist.

f. You should stand by your friend. – by is a preposition that introduces

the prepositional phrase by your friend

Verb + particle (particle verbs)

a. They brought that up twice. – up is a particle, not a preposition.

b. You should think it over. – over is a particle, not a preposition.

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c. Why does he always dress down? – down is a particle, not a

preposition.

d. You should not give in so quickly. – in is a particle, not a preposition.

e. Where do they want to hang out? – out is a particle, not a preposition.

f. She handed it in. – in is a particle, not a preposition.

Verb + particle + preposition (particle-prepositional verbs)

a. Who can put up with that? – up is a particle and with is a preposition.

b. She is looking forward to a rest. – forward is a particle and to is a

preposition.

c. The other tanks were bearing down on my Panther. – down is a

particle and on is a preposition.

d. They were really teeing off on me. – off is a particle and on is a

preposition.

e. We loaded up on snacks. – up is a particle and on is a preposition

f. Susan has been sitting in for me. – in is a particle and for is a

preposition.

References:
1. Intermediate, New Headway Plus, Liz and John Soars. Oxford.
2. www.woodward.Englishcom.
3. The Collins Cobuild English Grammar (1995:162) is a source that takes prepositional
verbs to be phrasal verbs. Many other grammars, in contrast, distinguish between
prepositional verbs.

Presented and Summarized by Dr. Elham H. Abdulkareem