Question

He had hardly finished his meal, .................?

• A. hadn't he
• B. had he
• C. did he
• D. didn't

Answer 1

Answer:

B. had he

This is an example of a question tag. When the main sentence is positive, the tag is negative, and vice versa.

However, "hardly" is a negative adverb, which makes the sentence effectively negative in meaning. So the tag must be positive.

• "He had hardly finished his meal" = Negative meaning

• So the tag should be positive → "had he?"