THE DESCRIPTION OF -TAGS IN ENGLISH

A PAPER

BY

ANTO NERA MANURUNG

REG. NO.: 132202039

DIPLOMA III ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDY UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2017

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

Approved by

Supervisor,

Dr. Matius C.A. sembiring, M.A.

NIP. 19521126198112 1 001

Submitted to Faculty of Cultural Study University of Sumatera Utara

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for DIPLOMA (D-III) in English.

Approved by

Head of English Study Program,

Dr. Matius C.A Sembiring, M.A

NIP. 19521126198112 1 001

Approved by the Diploma III of English Study Program

Faculty of Cultural Study, University of Sumatera Utara

As a Paper for the Diploma (D-III) Examination

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the D-III Examination of the Diploma III of English Study Program, Faculty of

Letters, University of Sumatera Utara.

The examination is held on the Faculty of Letters, University of North Sumatera on February 2017

Faculty of Letters, University of Sumatera Utara

Dean,

Dr. Budi Agustono, M.Si.

NIP. 19511013197603 1 001

Board of Examiners

1. Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. (Head of ESP) ( )

2. Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. (Supervisor) ( )

3. Drs. Siamir Marulafau, M.Hum. (Reader) ( )

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I’m, Anto Nera Manurung, declare that I am the sole author of this paper. Except where reference is made in the text of this paper, this paper contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a paper by which I have qualified for awarded another degree.

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the paper. This paper has not been submitted for the award of another degree in any tertiary education.

Signed :

Date : February 2017

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

Name : ANTO NERA MANURUNG

Title of paper : A Brief Description of Question-Tags in English

Qualification : D-III/ Ahli Madya

Study Program : English

I am willing that my paper should be available for reproduction at the discretion of the Librarian of the Diploma in English Study Program Faculty of

Letters USU on the understanding that user are made aware of their obligation under law of the Republic of Indonesia.

Signed :

Date : February 2017

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

ABSTRAK

Bahasa Inggris sudah menjadi bahasa bersama sebagai alat komunikasi internasional. Hal ini menandakan bahwa apabila seseorang menguasai bahasa Inggris berarti orang tersebut telah memiliki semacam lisensi untuk menjelajah dunia. Untuk komunikasi lisan, orang bisa mempraktikkan sedikit demi sedikit, tetapi untuk penguasaan bahasa tulis, peran tata bahasa sangat signifikan. Hal tersebutlah yang melatar belakangi penulis mengambil salah satu dari bentuk cara penulisan dalam bahasa Inggris, yakni mengenai “kalimat tanya tak bertanya” yang kemudian dijadikan sebagai judul kertas karyanya, yaitu “A Brief Description of Question-Tags in English” yang menjelaskan tentang bentuk, penggunaan, intonasi yang sesuai dengan maksud dan tujuan serta beberapa penyimpangan dalam penggunaannya dan juga dilengkapi dengan beberapa contoh. Selain itu, kertas karya ini juga memuat pendapat dari para ahli tata bahasa mengenai pengertian Question-Tags. Adapun metode yang digunakan dalam penulisan kertas karya ini adalah dengan tinjauan pustaka (Library Research), yaitu dengan cara mengumpulkan beberapa buku yang memuat informasi tentang judul kertas karya ini serta membuka beberapa situs internet untuk mendapatkan referensi tambahan. Kertas karya ini bertujuan untuk memberikan pemahaman mengenai penggunaan dan bentuk Questioan-tags serta mengaplikasikannya ke dalam percakapan sehari-hari. Dari kertas karya ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa terdapatnya kalimat tanya yang hanya bertujuan menegaskan atas pendapat atau pernyataan yang diajukan.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

First of all, I would like to express my special thanks to Allah SWT, my power, for blessing me in completing this paper since the beginning up to its completion in order to get a diploma degree from Faculty of Letters, University of

Sumatera Utara and my invocation to the Prophet Mohammad SAW as the God’s messanger.

On this valuable occasion, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to people who play great role in helping me finishing this paper.

They are:

1. My dearest parents, for all of their support, either in spiritual or material and

absolutely their prayers during my study in the University of North Sumatera

so that I can finish my study in Diploma III well.

2. Dr. Budi Agustono, M.Si., the Dean of Faculty of Letters, University of North

Sumatera.

3. Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. as the Head of the English Diploma

Program. Thank you for your attention, kindness and leadership so that I can

finish my study.

4. Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. as his supervisor who has given advice,

guidance and helps to correct this paper with all of his patience since from the

beginning to its completion.

5. Drs. Simair Marulafau, M. Hum., as my reader, who has devoted her time to

give me some suggestions in completing this paper.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 6. All of my lecturers in English Diploma Program who have taught me so

many things, especially in teaching how to speak English well. Thank you

very much for all of your knowledge, advice, and your supports.

7. To All my best friend. Thank you for the help and encourage.

In writing this paper, I actually got many difficulties so that I realize that this is still far from being perfect. Without much help and support from all sides, this paper would not be completed. Therefore, I welcome for any constructive criticism and suggestion toward the improvement of this paper. Finally, I expect that this paper would be useful for the readers in the future.

Medan, February 2017 The writer

ANTO NERA MANURUNG NIM. 132202039

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ......

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ......

ABSTRACT ...... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... iv

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of the Study ...... 1

1.2 The Objective of the Study ...... 2

1.3 The Scope of the Study ...... 2

1.4 The Method of the Study ...... 3

2. DESCRIPTION OF QUESTION-TAGS

2.1 What is Question-Tags? ...... 4

2.2 The Usage of Question-Tags ...... 5

2.2.1 Question-Tags in Some Tenses ……………………......

2.2.2 Special Difficulties in Question-Tags ………………………...

3. INTONATION

3.1 Rising-falling intonation ...... 20

3.2 Rising intonation ...... 22

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

4.1 Conclusions ...... 32

4.2 Suggestions ...... 33

REFERENCES

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of Study

Verbal language is the most important means of communication because with

verbal language somebody can send a massage, information or meaning

directly and easily to someone else. There are many kinds of languages, they

are international language, national language and local language. But,

whatever the language is, it should be good and clear so that people can

understand easily what we say. When we use in English, we need rules to

make a good language. One of the ways to get good English is using grammar.

By using grammar, our sentences can be made better and piled up. Even in

sentences, it has different rules from other sentences.

Interrogative sentences also have many types. Some of them are “WH

Question”, with the auxiliary verb before subject (is, am, are) or (do, does,

did) and Question-Tag. But, here the writer wants to analyze about Question-

Tag. Although it is easy, but people often make mistakes in using it, either in

writing or in speaking it.

1.2 The Objective of the Study

There are some purposes of the writer to write this paper and to analyze that

topic.

They are:

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  As a student, the writer aims to fulfil the requirement to get a

Diploma from the English Department of Faculty of Letters,

University of North Sumatera.

 Through this paper, the writer wants to explain and give more

information clearly about the way of using question-tag and

intonation correctly.

 The writer hopes through this paper, people/readers do not get

confused in using question-tag.

 And finally, this paper can increase our knowledge about the

question-tag.

1.3 The Scope of the Study

After making a long consideration, the writer decided to choose “Question-

Tags” as the topic. And to make the people/reader easy to understand, the

writer made a limitation of it. The writer only focuses on what question-tag is,

how to make it, the types and intonation. This paper consists of five chapters.

The first chapter deals with introduction and the second chapter deals with

description of question-tag. Then, the third chapter consists of the intonation,

the fourth is conclusion and suggestion. The last is references.

1.4 Method of Study

This paper was written by doing library research. The writer used this method

to collect some information and data that are related to the topic. This method

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA is very useful in collecting the data. Besides that, the writer also discussed the information that he got from his lecturers. So, he could give more information and explanation about his topic.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER II

DESCRIPTION OF QUESTION-TAGS

2.1 What is Question-Tags?

According to Marriane Celce-Murcia (1983:160) a tag question is a short

question which is appended to a statement when the speaker seeks

confirmation of his or her statement.

Akh Karmidin (2005:38) says that question tag is a question which is placed

after imperative . The sentences have a relation each of them.

Question tag is a short statement which is joined with the statement. The

statement is always at the end of the statement.

Question tag represents the statement tail which is used to ask

coherent/agreement from hearing of about expressed by speaker.

Question tag is used to give a statement and ask listener to approve with his or

her statement.

Thus, a question tag or tag question is a grammatical structure in which a

declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a question by adding an

interrogative fragment (the "tag"). The term "question tag" is generally

preferred by British grammarians, while their American counterparts prefer

"tag question". (http://www.wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia.com)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Notice that question tags have both an affirmative and a negative form depending on the speaker’s expectation. If the speaker expects a negative response from the listener, he or she will employ a negative statement with an affirmative question tag. On the other hand, if the speaker expects an affirmative response from the listener, he or she will use an affirmative statement with a negative question tag.

2.2 The Usage of Question-Tags

Tag question or question tag is often used in conversation. And to master it, it is really important to know the structure/tense before using that.

There are some procedures in using question tag. They are:

1. If the statement is positive, so the “tag” should be negative ( negative tag)

Positive statement Negative tag

Examples:

Statement Tag

 He goes to school every day, doesn’t he?

 She is reading a book, isn’t she?

 He was a good student, wasn’t he?

 Junaidi will be here soon, won’t he?

 Fatimah comes late, doesn’t she?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2. If the statement is negative, so the “tag” should be positive ( positive tag)

Negative statement Positive tag

Examples:

Statement Tag

 Ali can’t speak English, can he?

 They don’t like us, do they?

 We aren’t making trouble, are we?

 You haven’t got a car, have you?

 He didn’t do his homework, did he?

Notice the meaning of “yes or no” in answer to a negative sentence:

Yes. (= yes, I am going out)  You’re not going out today, are you? No. (= no, I am not going) out

3. If the statement has an auxiliary verb (modal), so in making the “tag” the

auxiliary verb (modal) should be repeated in opposite form and it must be

in suitable tense.

Examples:

 He will come here immediately, won’t he?

 I must go home, mustn’t I?

 She can swim, can’t she?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  We shall help him, shan’t we?

 You won’t be late, will you?

4. If the statement uses the verb, so in making the “tag” we should use “to

do” (do, does, did) with the suitable tense and in opposite form.

Examples:

 Mr. Parto goes to his office, doesn’t he?

 We visited a museum yesterday, didn’t we?

 She doesn’t study hard, does she?

 He didn’t write a letter to his father, did he?

 We read a comic, don’t we?

5. We must use the suitable pronoun with the subject of the statement either

in gender or single/plural.

Examples:

 Anita and Benni are the smart students, aren’t they?

 Lisa could run quickly, couldn’t she?

 Water is very useful for human life, isn’t it?

 The students can’t come late, can they?

 Harianto makes a good decision, doesn’t he?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 6. Normally, if we want to write a question tag, the word of “not” in negative

tag, should be brief.

2.2.1 Question-Tags in Some Tenses

Tenses are the verb to show the time. Tenses show about the time for an action or activity. In making or writing question tag is also known that it has some tenses in using.

If we want to write question tag in some tenses, it is very important to know that it is not in interrogative sentence form, but it is still in statement either it is affirmative or negative form. Only at the “tag” uses the question mark, so there aren’t interrogative form in question tag.

Here, the writer makes brief explanation in four tenses. They are simple present tense, simple past tense, present perfect continuous and future perfect tense.

1. Question tag in simple present tense

Simple present tense is one of the sixteen tenses in English which shows the activities that is done daily (daily activities) and general truth.

As we know, there are 2 styles in simple present tense. They are nominal and verbal.

Subject + verb 1 + object/complement

When the subject is the first person singular, first person plural and the third person plural, so the subject must use verb 1 (infinitive), but if the subject is third person singular, we have to add –s, -es after the verb 1.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA I

You infinitive

We

They

She

He verb 1 + s, es

It

Examples:

 I read a romantic novel

 They go to school at 07.00 A.M

 She cooks a cake for my birthday

Subject + is, am, are + object/complement

We use to be “am” if the subject is “I”, to be “is” if the subjects are “she, he, it” and to be “are” if the subjects are “you, we, they”.

Examples:

 He is my father

 They are the best students in their school

 Mahmud is on the tree

The adverb of frequency which is found in simple present tense are; always, generally, usually, sometimes, seldom, never, ever, etc. The adverb of times in simple present tense are; today, everyday, once, etc.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA When we use the simple present tense in negative sentence, the pattern can be:

Subject + do/does + not + verb 1 + object/complement

Or

Subject + is, am, are+ not + object/complement

Examples:

 They don’t believe me

 She doesn’t do her homework

 I am not a naughty boy

So that, if we want to write question tag in present tense by using to be (is, am, are) in positive form, so the “tag” should be “isn’t or aren’t”, and in negative form the “tag” should be “is, am or are”. If it is using verb plus s/es, the “tag” should be “doesn’t” and if the verb doesn’t use s/es, so the “tag” should be

“don’t”

Examples:

 His aunt is a nurse, isn’t she?

 The dogs are very fierce, aren’t they

 She isn’t a lawyer, is she?

 My mother comes here every morning, doesn’t she?

 They always get up early, don’t they?

 We don’t climb the tree, do we?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

2. Question tag in simple past tense

Simple past tense is one of the sixteen tenses in English which shows the activities that are happened in the past time and end in a certain time in the past.

The pattern in the affirmative sentence is:

Subject + verb 2 + object/complement

Examples:

 We visited my grandma’s house two days ago

 They ate a lot of bananas yesterday

 I wrote a message to my brother

The other pattern of simple past tense:

Subject + was/were + object/complement

To be “was” is used for the subjects “I, she, he, it” and to be “were” is used for the subjects “you, we, they”.

Examples:

 She was very angry yesterday

 I was tired to do this work

 We were in classroom two hours ago

In negative sentence, the pattern is:

Subject + did + not + verb 1 + object/complement

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Or

Subject + was/were + not + object/complement

Examples:  She didn’t find the good decision

 We didn’t clean our class

 They were not the cleverest students in their school

So that, if we want to write question tag in past tense by using to be (was, were) so the “tag” should be “wasn’t or weren’t”. If it is using verb 2, so the “tag” should be “did”.

Examples:

 Mr. Ali was sick yesterday, wasn’t he?

 You and I were late yesterday, weren’t we?

 She visited my brother two days ago, didn’t she?

 You didn’t come to my party yesterday, did you?

 We didn’t meet last week, did we?

 They ignored my advice, didn’t they?

3. Question tag in present perfect continuous tense

The pattern of present perfect continuous is simple, for affirmative sentence, we just put “have/has” after the subject, plus “been” and then verb-ing.

Subject + have/has + been + verb-ing + object/complement

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA In negative sentence, we just put “not” after “have/has”.

Examples:Subject + have/has + not + been + verb-ing +

 You have been studyingobject/complement English

 She has been talking about money

 We haven’t been waiting our teacher

So that, if we want to write question tag in present perfect continuous tense, the “tag” must be written only the auxiliary verb or just at “to have” .

These are examples in affirmative sentence:

 You have been studying English, haven’t you?

 She has been talking about money, hasn’t she?

 We haven’t waiting our teacher, have we?

 He has been looking a new picture, hasn’t he?

 They haven’t been reading a magazine, have they?

 She hasn’t been cooking the fried chicken, has she?

We should remember that “has” for subjects “she, he, it” and “have” for subjects “I, you, we, they (and plural)”.

4. Question tag in future perfect tense

Future perfect tense is one of sixteen tenses that has complete pattern. It is also has two style. They are nominal and verbal.

The nominal pattern in affirmative sentence:

Subject + will/shall + have + been + object/complement

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

If we want to write in negative sentence just add “not” after “will/shall”.

Examples:

 She will have been at home

 We shall have been here

 They won’t have been in Medan

The verbal pattern in affirmative sentence:

Subject + will/shall + have + verb 3 + object/complement

If we want to write in negative, just put “not” after “will/shall”. Examples:

 We shall have cleaned our room

 She will have given her money to me

 They will not have sold their novel

Then, if we want to write in question tag, the “tag” should be written just a part of the auxiliary verb.

Examples:

 We shall have cleaned our room, shan’t we?

 She will have given her money to me, won’t she?

 They will not have sold their novel, will they?

 He will have been at home, won’t he?

 We shall have been here, shan’t we?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  She will not have been at the office, will she?

2.2.2 Some Difficulties in Question Tag

In writing question, there are some difficulties or some different rules from the basic form that have been explained above.

These are the some difficulties:

1. Special for subject “I”, if the statement uses to be “am” and in positive

form, so the “tag” should be “aren’t”. We shouldn’t use “am not”. But if

the statement uses to be “am” and in negative form, so the “tag” still

being “am”.

Examples:

 I am writing a letter, aren’t I?

 I am a student, aren’t I?

 I am not diligent, am I?

 I am not reading a book, am I?

 I am ill, aren’t I?

 I am not a naughty boy, am I?

2. If the sentence or statement uses the subjects:

 Everyone

 Everybody

 Somebody

 Someone

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  Nobody

 No one

And all must use the verb/auxiliary verb in singular, but in question tag, pronoun that is used “they” and the auxiliary verb must be in plural.

Examples:

 Everyone is ready for the test now, aren’t they?

 Someone was here to see me this morning, weren’t they?

 Somebody visits her every Sunday, don’t they?

 Everybody has finished the work, haven’t they?

 Somebody has ordered the old man cleaned the office in the morning,

haven’t they?

 Nobody is living in the old house now, are they?

 No one phoned me, did they?

3. Normally, in making question tag must be concerned the subject that

suitable with the pronoun, except “there”.

Examples:

 There is same milk on the table, isn’t there?

 There aren’t anyone here, are they?

 There are two magazines on the table, aren’t there?

 Ali isn’t reading a book, is he?

 The students can work hard, can’t they?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  The children visit the national museum, don’t they?

4. If the sentence or statement uses the subjects:

 Something

 Everything

 Nothing

They must use verb/ auxiliary verb in singular, but in question tag, the pronoun that is used “it” and the auxiliary verb must be in singular.

Examples:

 Something is found there now, isn’t it?

 Something happened yesterday, didn’t it?

 Everything was all right last night, wasn’t it?

 Everything makes the crazy man angry, doesn’t it?

 Nothing is cheap in big cities, is it?

 Nothing was stolen from the house last night, was it?

5. There are some positive sentences that have negative meaning such as:

 Never

 Seldom

 Rarely

 Barely

 Scarcely

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  Hardly

 Little

 Few

They include as negative sentences so that the question tag which is used must be in positive.

Examples:

 Your father is seldom in the office on Saturday, is he?

 They never go out on Sunday, do they?

 The old man can hardly see without his glasses, can he?

 He rarely cleans her room, does he?

 Few students were there last night, were they?

 Little money was left in the stolen wallet, was it?

6. The sentence that is begun with “let’s” is usually to express a

suggestion/allurement, and the “tag” must be “shall we”. It is different

with another because it doesn’t use negative form.

 Let’s go for a walk, shall we?

 Let’s have a break, shall we?

 Let’s sing together, shall we?

 Let’s visit him after the class, shall we?

 Let’s see a movie tonight, shall we?

7. If the statement uses “used to” so the “tag” can be “used not” or “didn’t”.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Examples:

 He used to swim in the river, didn’t he?

 She used to attend on time, usedn’t she?

8. If the sentence uses “ought to” so the “tag” should be “oughtn’t to”.

Examples:

 We ought to respect older people, oughtn’t we?

 We ought not to spit in public, ought we?

 She ought to consume the vitamin, oughtn’t she?

 They ought to drink milk, oughtn’t they?

 He ought to sleep soon, oughtn’t he?

9. Special for “could”, in question tag (negative) normally we find the tag

“not” after “could”, but sometimes it is used at the end of tag.

Examples:

 Jono could help you, couldn’t he?

Jono could help you, could he not?

 We could write a composition, couldn’t we?

We could write a composition, could we not?

 They could go to Jambi by bus, couldn’t they?

They could go to Jambi by bus, could they not?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 10. In compound sentence that has main clause and clause, subject that must

use in making question tag is in main clause.

Examples:

 She knows that he loves her, doesn’t she?

 He made a statement that it was a mistake, didn’t he?

 They did not know that he got an accident yesterday, did they?

 She believes that her sister will pass her test well, doesn’t she?

 We hear that our teacher doesn’t come today, don’t we?

But if the subject in main clause is “I”, so in making question tag we must use the subject at the clause.

Examples:

 I am sure that they will come there together, won’t they?

 I believe that he won’t be able to finish it in a day, will he?

 I wish she knew what I mean, didn’t she?

 I suppose he should known that, shouldn’t he?

 I want you won’t be coming soon, will you?

11. If we want to express in request, or prohibition, so we must use “will you”

either if the sentence is positive or negative. We can use “would” you for

more polite than “will”.

Examples:

 Give me a bit more time, will you?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  Come in and have some tea, will you?

 Please, open the door, would you?

 Don’t forget my message, will you?

 Don’t run, will you?

We can use “can you” if the speaker is not patient or he/she becomes angry.

Examples:

 Say something, can’t you?

 Keep still, can’t you?

This table will explain detail some of main rules about using question tag.

Examples Explanation Statement +, Tag – If the statement is positive (without a. You are a student, aren’t you? “not”), so the tag must be negative. Normally “not” is written briefly.

b. He was at school, wasn’t he?

c. You will leave, won’t you?

Statement -, Tag + If the statement is negative (with “not), a. You are not a nurse, are you? so the tag must be positive.

b. They haven’t left, have they?

c. He wasn’t at home, was he?

Request/prohibition The sentence of request or prohibition a. Come tomorrow, will you? uses tag “will you”.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA b. Be careful, will you?

Suggestion/allurement If the subject starts from “let’s” use a. Let’s read aloud, shall we? “shall we” in tag. Except for “let me” uses “will you”/shall I/won’t you. b. Let’s study, shall we?

Exception: c. Let me have a look, shall I? / will you? / won’t you?

Using auxiliary All the sentence is using auxiliary verb a. They are sick, aren’t they? must be repeated in making the tag. b. We can go home now, can’t we? c. He did not come, did he?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER III

INTONATION

Intonation in question tag

English tag can have a rising or a falling intonation pattern. This is contrasted with Polish, French or German, for example, where all tags rise. As a rule, the English rising pattern is used when soliciting information or motivating an action, that is, when some sort of response is required. Since normal English yes/no questions have rising patterns (e.g. Are you coming?), these tags make a grammatical statement into a real question:

 You're coming, aren't you?

 Do listen, will you?

 Let's have a beer, shall we?

Several grammars (e.g., Quirk and Greenbaum, 1973; Leech and Svartvik,

1975) provide descriptions of the two intonation patterns that occur with tag question-the first pattern is generally acknowledged as being by far the more frequent one.

3.1 Rising-Falling Intonation

The meaning of a question tag depends on the intonation of question tag. If the speaker uses rising-falling intonation, the presupposition is strong. It means that

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA the speaker is not asking something. He/she just hopes an agreement on the truth statement.

The falling pattern is used to underline a statement. The statement itself ends with a falling pattern, and the tag sounds like an echo, strengthening the pattern.

Most English tag questions have this falling pattern.

Examples:

 He doesn't know what he's doing, does he?

 This is really boring, isn't it?

 It’s a nice day, isn’t it?

 She is very pretty. She’s got beautiful eyes, hasn’t she?

 You love me, don’t you?

3.2 Rising Intonation

If he or she (speaker) uses rising intonation, the presupposition is weak and makes the tag similar to neutral yes-no question. It means that the speaker really wants an explanation. The speaker is not sure that the statement is true, so he/she wants to be sure again. That is a real question.

Examples:

 Some birds can’t fly, can they?

 You haven’t seen Mail today, have you?

 Burhan has a car, doesn’t he?

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  He doesn’t go to Bali, does he?

 We may go home now, mayn’t we?

Sometimes the rising tag goes with the positive to positive pattern to create a confrontational effect:

 He was the best in the class, was he? (rising: the speaker is challenging

this thesis, or perhaps expressing surprised interest)

 He was the best in the class, wasn't he? (falling: the speaker holds this

opinion)

 Be careful, will you? (rising: expresses irritation)

 Take care, won't you? (falling: expresses concern)

Sometimes the same words may have different patterns depending on the situation or implication.

 You don't remember my name, do you? (rising: expresses surprise)

 You don't remember my name, do you? (falling: expresses amusement or

resignation)

 Your name's Mary, isn't it? (rising: expresses uncertainty)

 Your name's Mary, isn't it? (falling: expresses confidence)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

4.1 Conclusions

English is a very useful language in international communication. In this globalization era, all of people in the world are forced to be able to use or at least understand English. To answer and pass the challenge we should learn and recognize all about it. In making good English, we have to follow the rules of using this international language. One of the important rules is knowing the structure. If we do not understand about structure, it can be hard to use or speak

English fluently. One of the structures that may be most of difficult for learners of

English is question tag. Since many learners sometimes get difficulty in learning question tag, here the writer has explained question tag. After making a long description about question tag, the writer finally concludes that:

1. Question tag is generally used in conversation.

2. Question tag is the question that sometimes does not need an

answer to the statement.

3. Question tag includes two parts, the statement and the tag. If the

statement is positive so the tag must be in negative form. If the

statement is negative so the tag must be in positive form.

4. Question tag follows the rules of tenses, and some of them have

special rules in making it.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 5. In making a question tag it depends on the auxiliary verb, so it can

be said that the key of making question tag is the auxiliary verb.

6. There are some special rules in making question tag such as if the

subject is “I”, “there”, someone/somebody/everyone/everybody/no

one/nobody and something/everything/nothing.

7. There are some positive sentences that have negative meaning such

as never, seldom, rarely, barely, scarcely, hardly, little and few so

the tag must be positive.

8. There are special rules to express in request, suggestion/allurement

and prohibition form.

9. The meaning of question tag also depends on how you say it. If

your voice goes down, you aren’t really asking; you are only

inviting the listener to agree with you but if the voice goes up, it is

a real question.

4.2 Suggestions

After reading and learning about question tag, the writer of this paper realizes that the question tag is really important in spoken English. There is a relation between the subject and the usage of the auxiliary verb in making question tag. Although question tag is often used in conversation but it will be better if we also understand it in writing. The writer hopes that the readers understand in the meaning of statement because by knowing the meaning of the statement it will make a good communication.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA REFERENCES

Azar, Betty Schramfer. 1992. Fundamental of , Second Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

Celce-Murcia, Marriane. 1983. The Grammar Book. U.S.A: Newbury House Publisher, Inc.

Hornby, AS. 1974. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. London: oxford university press.

Kardimin, Akh, M. Hum. 2005. Essential English Grammar. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.

Lingga, Hotben D and Lim Ali Utomo. 2009. Intisari Tata Bahasa Inggris Kontemporer. Bekasi: Kesaint Blanc.

Murphy, Raymond.1985. English Grammar in use. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Suryadi, and Junaida. 2007. Complete English Grammar “Belajar Bahasa Inggris dari Awal sampai Mahir”. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. http://www.englishclub.com http://www.google.com http://www.yahoo.com.question-tag

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA