Add the right question tag to the following statement to make it a question?
She seldom goes out,.................?
Adoes she?
Bdon't she?
Cdoesn't she?
Ddid she ?
Answer:
A. does she?
Read Explanation:
Understanding Question Tags
- A question tag is a short question added to the end of a statement to ask for confirmation or to encourage agreement.
- The general structure of a question tag is an auxiliary verb + a pronoun.
Polarity Rule
- The most important rule for question tags is the polarity rule:
- If the main statement is positive, the question tag is negative. (e.g., She is happy, isn't she?)
- If the main statement is negative, the question tag is positive. (e.g., She isn't happy, is she?)
Handling Negative Adverbs (e.g., Seldom)
- Words like seldom, hardly, scarcely, rarely, never, little, and few are considered negative adverbs or determiners.
- When these words are present in a statement, the statement itself is treated as having a negative meaning, even if it doesn't explicitly contain 'not'.
- Therefore, a statement containing 'seldom' (or similar negative words) requires a positive question tag.
Forming the Tag for 'She seldom goes out'
- Main Verb Analysis: The verb in the statement is 'goes out', which is in the simple present tense. For simple present or simple past tense verbs without an auxiliary, we use 'do', 'does', or 'did' in the tag.
- Auxiliary Selection: Since the subject is 'She' (third person singular) and the tense is simple present, the auxiliary verb used in the tag is 'does'.
- Subject Pronoun: The pronoun in the tag always matches the subject of the main statement. Here, the subject is 'She', so the pronoun in the tag is also 'she'.
- Applying Polarity: Because 'seldom' makes the statement 'She seldom goes out' negative in meaning, the tag must be positive.
- Resulting Tag: Combining these rules, the correct question tag is 'does she?'.