a proper question tag. No.2

Hi, Freeguy,

@Freeguy posted:

Hello,

Look at the following test, please:

2. He and his friend got lost while they were walking around the town because he had forgotten the name of the hotel, .........?

1) didn't they

2) hadn't he

Which one do you choose?

(Source: A mock English exam in Iran)

Thank you

There are two clauses here:

a. The main clause: "They got lost."

b. The subordinate (reason) clause: "Because he had forgotten ...."

What is natural in a formal exam is to deal with the main clause, so, I think, the expected model answer here is: 'didn't they?'. However, if the focus is on the reason, 'hadn't he' is also possible.

@Freeguy posted:

2. He and his friend got lost while they were walking around the town because he had forgotten the name of the hotel, .........?

1) didn't they

2) hadn't he

Hi, Freeguy—I agree with Ahmed_btm that both answers are possible. The question should specify whether students are to formulate the tag relative to the main clause or relative to the subordinate clause.

An even better solution would be to discard the question altogether as a bad question to test students' knowledge of how to form tag questions. Hardly anyone would write a sentence like that with a tag question at the end.

If a native speaker were to use a tag question in that context, there would likely be two sentences rather than one. One could use the tag after the first clause or after the second. "Because" need not be used at all.

(3) He and his friend got lost while they were walking around the town, didn't they? He had forgotten the name of the hotel.

(4) He and his friend got lost while they were walking around the town. He had forgotten the name of the hotel, hadn't he?

What about:

Hi, Freeguy,

@Freeguy posted:

What about:

Jane believes that her team members easily won the game because they are familiar with teamwork, ……….?

1) doesn't she

2) aren't they

Answer key: 1

(Source: Iran's University Entrance Exams)

I agree with the model answer. I see that '1' sounds much better than '2' in a formal exam. 'Intonation' and 'stress / focus' appear in speech, not in written exams. For a related question, see here:

https://thegrammarexchange.inf...ic/question-tag-no-2

@Freeguy posted:

Jane believes that her team members easily won the game because they are familiar with teamwork, ……….?

1) doesn't she

2) aren't they

Answer key: 1

(Source: Iran's University Entrance Exams)

This, too, is a ridiculous question to be asked on a test. Without context or special emphasis, the only tag question that works there is informal: "right?"