TAG QUESTIONS

Los tag questions son pequeas frases o preguntas (mini-questions) que se colocan al final de una oracin afirmativa o negativa y que generalmente tienen como objetivo confirmar o negar el contenido de la frase misma. Es el equivalente al verdad?espaol o al no? ms utilizado en pases de Amrica.

TRES REGLAS BASICAS QUE DEBES RECORDAR 1. 2. 3.

Los tag questions utilizan siempre los verbos auxiliares. Con oraciones afirmativas utilizamos un tag question en NEGATIVO. Con oraciones negativas utilizamos un tag question en AFIRMATIVO o POSITIVO.

Analicemos ahora las diferentes alternativas que pueden presentarse:

a) ORACIONES AFIRMATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PRESENT SIMPLE O

CONTINUO. Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en NEGATIVO: aren't you? isn't he? isn't she? isn't it? aren't we? aren't you? aren't they? Aqu tienes algunos ejemplos: It's a beautiful day, isn't it? (Es un da hermoso, no?) Martha is angry, isn't she? (Marta est enojada, verdad?) You are really tired, aren't you? (Ests muy cansado, no?) They're very nice people, aren't they? (Son personas muy agradables, no?) You are coming tomorrow, aren't you? (Vas a venir maana, verdad?) Pedro's flying now, isn't he? (Pedro est volando en estos momentos, no?) Por favor recuerda que, en ingls americano y UNICAMENTE en este caso en particular, para la primera persona del verbo to be se utiliza aren't I? como equivalente de am I not?: I'm late, aren't I? (Llego tarde, no?) I'm arriving late at night, aren't I? (LLegar tarde por la noche, no?)

b) ORACIONES NEGATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PRESENT SIMPLE O

CONTINUO. Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en AFIRMATIVO o POSITIVO: am I? are you? is he? is she? is it? are we? are you? are they? Aqu tienes algunos ejemplos: I'm not late, am I? (No llego tarde, no?) It isn't a beautiful day, is it? (No es un da hermoso, verdad?) Martha isn't angry, is she? (Marta no est enojada, no?) You aren't really tired, are you? (No ests muy cansado, verdad?) They aren't very nice people, are they? (No son personas muy agradables, no?) You aren't coming tomorrow, are you? (No vas a venir maana, no?) Pedro isn't flying now, is he? (Pedro no est volando en estos momentos, no?)

c) ORACIONES AFIRMATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PAST SIMPLE O

CONTINUO. Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en NEGATIVO: wasn't I? weren't you? wasn't he? wasn't she? wasn't it? weren't we? weren't you? weren't they? Aqu tienes algunos ejemplos: It was a beautiful day, wasn't it? (Fue un da hermoso, verdad?) Martha was angry, wasn't she? (Marta estaba enojada, no?) You were really tired, weren't you? (Estabas muy cansado, verdad?) You were studying at 6, weren't you? (Estuviste estudiando a las 6, no?) He was flying when I phoned, wasn't he? (Estaba volando cuando llam, no?)

d) ORACIONES NEGATIVAS CON EL VERBO TO BE EN PAST SIMPLE O

CONTINUO. Se utiliza la misma forma del verbo en AFIRMATIVO o POSITIVO: was I? were you? was he? was she? was it? were we? were you? were they? Aqu tienes algunos ejemplos: It wasn't a beautiful day, was it? (No fue un da hermoso, no?) Martha wasn't angry, was she? (Marta no estaba enojada, no?) You weren't really tired, were you? (No estabas muy cansado, verdad?) You weren't studying at 6, were you? (No estuviste estudiando a las 6, no?) He wasn't flying when I phoned, was he? (No estaba volando cuando llam, no?)

e) ORACIONES AFIRMATIVAS CON OTROS VERBOS COMUNES O

DEFECTIVOS. Teniendo siempre en cuenta el TIEMPO VERBAL, se utiliza el auxiliar en NEGATIVO que corresponde a la persona de la oracin: didn't she? hasn't she? won't she? shouldn't she? can't she? couldn't she?, etc. Aqu tienes algunos ejemplos: You went to Costa Rica in 1990, didn't you? (Fuiste a Costa Rica en 1990, no?) Elena has traveled a lot, hasn't she? (Elena ha viajado mucho, no?) Ann will be here soon, won't she? (Ana estar pronto aqu, verdad?) Tom should pass his exam, shouldn't he? (Tom debera aprobar su examen, no?) You can play the violin, can't you? (Sabes tocar el violn, no?) He could find a job, couldn't he? (Pudo encontrar trabajo, verdad?)

f) IMPERATIVOS Y SUGERENCIAS O INVITACIONES.

Despus de la clusula Let's... el tag question que corresponde es shall we? (en interrogativo AFIRMATIVO). Aqu tienes algunos ejemplos: Let's go out for a walk, shall we? (Salgamos a dar una vuelta, qu te parece?) Let's study tomorrow morning, shall we? (Estudiemos maana por la maana, s?) Despus del imperativo (do/don't do something) el tag que corresponde es will you?(en interrogativo AFIRMATIVO). Aqu tienes algunos ejemplos: Open the door, will you? (Abre la puerta, s?) Don't smoke in this room, will you? (No fumes en esta habitacin, de acuerdo?)

NEGATIVE QUESTIONS
ABOUT NEGATIVE QUESTIONS
We use negative questions to show surprise, in exclamations and when we expect the listener to agree with us. Utilizamos la preguntas negativas para demostrar sorpresa, en exclamaciones y cuando esperamos que quien nos escucha est de acuerdo con nosotros.

1. TO SHOW SURPRISE (Para demostrar sorpresa)

Didn't you hear the bell? I rang it four times. (No escuchaste el timbre? Toqu tres veces.)

2. IN EXCLAMATIONS (En exclamaciones)

Doesn't that house look beautiful! (= that house looks really beautiful) (No s ve hermosa esa casa! (= esa casa es realmente hermosa)

3. WHEN WE EXPECT THE LISTENER TO AGREE WITH US (Cuando esperamos que el oyente est de acuerdo con nosotros)
"Haven't we met somewhere before?" "Yes, I think we have." ("No nos hemos visto antes en alguna parte?" "S, creo que s.")

NOTICE THE MEANING OF YES AND NO IN ANSWERS TO NEGATIVE QUESTIONS:

Didn't Roberto pass his exams? Yes. (= Yes, he passed them.) No. (= No, he didn't pass them.)

NOTICE THE WORD ORDER IN NEGATIVE QUESTIONS WITH WHY...?:

Why didn't you lock the door? (not why you didn't lock) (Por qu no cerraste la puerta con llave?) Why don't we go out to Harley's restaurant? (not why we don't go) (Por qu no vamos a cenar al restaurante Harley's) Why can't you help me? (not why you can't help me) (Por qu no me puedes ayudar?) Why wasn't Claudia invited to the party? (not why Claudia wasn't) (Por qu Claudia no fue invitada? = Por qu no invitaron a Claudia?)

EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES
SO (tan, as, entonces) y SUCH (semejante, tal, tan, tanto), suelen confundir a ms de un hispano-parlante. Vamos a intentar explicar sus diferencias y cmo se los utiliza.

PARTE I
Observa estos ejemplos: I didn't enjoy (No disfrut del I didn't enjoy (No disfrut del the book. The story was so stupid!! libro. La historia era tan tonta!!) the book. It was such a stupid story!! libro. Era una historia tan tonta!!)

Ahora, de acuerdo con esta breve experiencia, transformemos lo que acabas de observar en una regla gramatical : 1. CON ADJETIVO SIN SUSTANTIVO SE USA "SO": Ejemplos: so stupid (tan tonta). 2. CON ADJETIVO Y SUSTANTIVO SE USA "SUCH": Ejemplos: such a stupid story (una historia tan tonta). Tambin puedes usar SO con un adverbio sin sustantivo. Por ejemplo: Mirta's difficult to understand because she speaks so quickly. (Es difcil entenderle a Mirta porque habla tan rpidamente)

PARTE II
Tanto SO como SUCH refuerzan el significado de un adjetivo. Observa: It's a beautiful day, isn't it? It's so warm. (= really warm) (Es un da hermoso, no? Est tan clido. (= realmente clido) We enjoyed our vacation. We had such a good time. (= a really good time) (Disfrutamos nuestra vacacin. La pasamos tan bien. (= realmente muy bien) Ahora, compara SO y SUCH en estas dos oraciones (y recuerda la regla gramatical de la PARTE I): I like Miguel and Victoria. They are so nice. (Me gustan Miguel y Victoria. Son tan agradables) I like Miguel and Victoria. They are such nice people. (not people) (Me gustan Miguel y Victoria. Son personas tan agradables)

so nice

Con frecuencia decimos SO ... THAT (tan ... que) y SUCH ... THAT (tal ... que): I was so tired that I went to bed at seven o'clock. (Estaba tan cansado/a que fui a dormir a las 7 de la tarde) Manuel worked so hard that he made himself sick. (Manuel trabaj tanto que termin enfermndose) It was such beautiful weather that we spent the whole day in the park.

(El tiempo estaba tan bueno que pasamos todo el da en el parque) The book was so good that I couldn't put it down. (El libro era tan bueno que no pude dejar de leerlo) It was such a good book that I couldn't put it down. (Era un libro tan bueno que no pude dejar de leerlo) A los efectos de otorgar un tono ms coloquial o conversacional, puedes omitir el pronombre relativo that (que) en todas las oraciones anteriores. Algunos ejemplos: I was so tired that I went to bed at seven o'clock. (Estaba tan cansado/a que fui a dormir a las 7 de la tarde) Manuel worked so hard that he made himself sick. (Manuel trabaj tanto que termin enfermndose) The book was so good that I couldn't put it down. (El libro era tan bueno que no pude dejar de leerlo)

PARTE III
Observa cmo en estas oraciones SO y SUCH se utilizan de modo diferente: I expected the weather to be much cooler. I didn't expect it to be so warm. (= as warm as it is) (Esperaba que el tiempo estuviese mucho ms fresco. No esperaba que estuviese tan clido) (= tan clido como lo est hoy) I'm tired because I got up at 6 o'clock. I don't usually get up so early. (= as early as 6 o'clock) (Estoy cansado/a porque me levant a las 6. Normalmente no me levanto tan temprano) (= tan temprano como las 6 de la maana) Hurry up! Don't walk so slowly. (= as slowly as you are walking) (Aprate!! No camines tan despacio) (= tan despacio como lo ests haciendo) I was surprised when Luisa told me the house was built 100 years ago. I didn't realize it was so old. (= as old as it is) I didn't realize it was such an old house. (= as old as it is) (Me sorprend cuando Luisa me cont que la casa fue construida hace 100 aos. No imagin que fuera tan antigua. (= tan antigua como lo es en realidad) No imagin que fuera una casa tan antigua. (= tan antigua como lo es en realidad)

PARTE IV
Finalmente, es importante que aprendas cmo varan algunas expresiones comunes segn se utilice SO o SUCH. Por ejemplo, decimos: SO LONG (tanto tiempo) pero SUCH A LONG TIME (tanto tiempo) SO FAR (tan lejos) pero SUCH A LONG WAY (tan lejos) SO MANY (tantos) y SO MUCH (tanto) pero SUCH A LOT OF (tanto/s) Dos ejemplos: I haven't seen him for so long that I've forgotten what he looks like. I haven't seen him for such a long time ... (Hace tanto tiempo que no lo veo que ya he olvidado cmo es)

 I didn't know Maria lived so far from the city. I didn't know Maria lived such a long way from the city. (No saba que Mara viva tan lejos de la ciudad) Y ahora un ltimo ejemplo mixto (y nos despedimos!!) How did OM Personal get so many tutorials in such a short time? (Cmo hizo OM Personal para preparar tantos tutoriales en tan corto tiempo?) Well, there is so much effort and such a dedication here, my dear friend !! (Pues, hay tanto esfuerzo y tal dedicacin aqu, apreciada/o amiga/o !!)