Tag question

A question tag (also known as question tail) is a grammatical structure in which a declarative or an imperative statement is turned into a question by the addition of an interrogative fragment (the 'tag'). For example, in the sentence 'You're John, aren't you?', the statement 'You're John' is turned into a question by the tag 'aren't you'. A question tag (also known as question tail) is a grammatical structure in which a declarative or an imperative statement is turned into a question by the addition of an interrogative fragment (the 'tag'). For example, in the sentence 'You're John, aren't you?', the statement 'You're John' is turned into a question by the tag 'aren't you'. The term 'question tag' is generally preferred by British grammarians, while their American counterparts prefer 'tag question'. In most languages, tag questions are more common in colloquial spoken usage than in formal written usage. They can be an indicator of politeness, hedging, consensus seeking, emphasis and irony. They may suggest confidence or lack of confidence; they may be confrontational, defensive or tentative. Although they have the grammatical form of a question, they may be rhetorical (not expecting an answer). In other cases, when they do expect a response, they may differ from straightforward questions in that they cue the listener as to what response is desired. In legal settings, tag questions can often be found in a leading question. According to a specialist children's lawyer at the NSPCC, children find it difficult to answer tag questions other than in accordance with the expectation of the questioner using or tagging a question.