Category: Class

A tag question is a short question we can add to the end of a statement. We use tag questions to confirm the statement.

Rules for Two-Word Tag Questions 

a. The subject must be the same in both statement and tag question.

b. The auxiliary verb or main verb in the statement must match the verb in the tag question.

c. If the statement is positive, the tag question is negative, and if the statement is negative, the tag question is positive.

Examples:

If the main statement has an auxiliary verb in it, use the same verb in the question tag. 

Normally there is no auxiliary verb used when positive statements have present and past simple tenses. In this case, we use the auxiliaries does, do or did in the tag question. Present or past simple negative statements definitely have the auxiliaries doesn’t, don’t or didn’t.

Examples:

When “there is” structure is used, “there” is used in the tag question.

Examples:

Something /someone/ nobody /no one/ etc.

When an indefinite pronoun is the subject in the statement, we use “it” in the tag question to mean something or nothing or “they” to mean someone or nobody.

Examples:

When to Use Tag Questions

Tag questions are used to check information that we think we know is true. When rising intonation is used in the tag question, it means we are not very sure of the answer. If falling intonation is used, it means we are almost certain of the answer.

Rising tone

Falling tone

A simple yes/no is the usual response to a tag question. We can also answer by using yes/no + auxiliary verb.

Exceptions:

Positive statement with positive tag question

It is possible to use a positive statement- positive tag question when we want to express surprise, interest, anger etc., and not to ask real questions.

Examples:

Imperative sentences and let’s

We sometimes add “will you?” or “won’t you?” after imperatives when we want people to follow our advice.

Examples:

We sometimes add “shall we?” when making a suggestion.

Examples:

Leave out pronoun subject and auxiliary verb

We sometimes do not include pronoun subjects, auxiliary verbs and verb to be in the statement when used in very informal speech.

Examples:

What is an abstract noun?

An abstract noun is a type of noun that cannot be recognized using the five senses. These are nouns that you cannot see, smell, taste, hear nor touch. They usually refer to feelings or emotions, states, ideas, events and qualities.

Type of Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns can be countable or uncountable.

Example:

Many common abstract nouns can be formed by adding a suffix (-ity, -tion, -ment etc.) to nouns. 

Form: noun + suffix = abstract noun

Examples:

Example sentences:

An apostrophe is not only a punctuation mark but also a part of a word to demonstrate:

a. possession

b. contraction or omission

c. formation of certain plurals of lowercase letters

Apostrophe Rules for Possessive Forms

To determine if you need to make a possessive, reconstruct the phrase and turn it into a “of the…” phrase. 

Examples:

It is unnecessary to use an apostrophe if the noun after “of” is a building, an object, or a piece of furniture.

Examples:

Rules on adding an apostrophe to form possessives:

a. add ‘s to words in singular form even if they end in -s.

Examples:

For plural proper nouns that are possessives, use only an apostrophe after the ‘s’. ” 

Example:

b. add ‘s to nouns in plural forms that do not end in -s:

Example:

c. add only ‘ to the end of nouns in plural forms that end in -s:

Example:

d. add ‘s to the end of compound words:

Example:

e. add ‘s to the final noun to show joint ownership of an object:

Examples:

Showing Omission of Letters

The omission of one or more letters (or numbers) in a word is called a contraction.  An apostrophe is used in order to create this omission. Contractions are common in speaking and in informal writing. 

To create a contraction, you must place the apostrophe in the position of the omitted letters.

Examples:

Forming Plurals of Lowercase Letters

Use an apostrophe and an –s to form the plural of all lowercase letters to make it appear typographically correct.

“five rs” vs. “five r’s“

Example:

Apostrophes are not necessary in forming the plural of capitalized numbers and symbols. Capital letters do not usually require an apostrophe in the plural. To avoid confusion in some cases, use an apostrophe before the –s of the plural capitalized letter.

Examples:

Without the apostrophe the plural form of the capitalized letter would form a different word.

Apostrophe should not be used for personal pronouns, the relative pronoun who, or for noun plurals.

Possessive pronouns, as the word suggests, already indicates possession therefore the use of apostrophe would make it redundant. 

Examples of possessive pronouns are; his, her, its, my, yours, ours.

Indefinite pronouns, on the other hand, can be made possessive. Examples of indefinite pronouns are; one, anyone, other, no one, and anybody.

Examples:

Remember: Its and it’s are different. It’s is the contracted form of “it is” and ‘its’ is a possessive pronoun which means “belonging to it”.”

Bear in mind that just as you do not use an apostrophe for the possessive his or hers, the same applies to the possessive pronoun its.

Examples:

Proofreading for Apostrophes

Once you have finished writing your paper, it is recommended to proofread for apostrophes. Here are some useful strategies:

If you decide to leave out apostrophes, go through every word that ends in -s or -es to check if they need an apostrophe.

If you notice you used too many apostrophes, check each one of them to see if their usage is justified according to any rule for using apostrophes.

There are different ways to write compound words. They can be written or spelled as two separate words (open compound), joined words forming a single word, or two words joined together by a hyphen (hyphenated compounds).

There are irregularities in compounding that even authorities are not always in agreement in all cases of compounding words. The following examples of the use of hyphen, however, are generally accepted.

1. Use a hyphen if the two or more words are functioning together as a single adjective before the noun. 

Examples:

load-bearing concrete

sugar-coated doughnuts

a well-written article

Omit the hyphen if the noun comes before the  compound modifiers.

The doughnuts were sugar coated.

The article was well written.

2. Use a hyphen with compound numbers. When spelled out, numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine must be hyphenated.

Examples:

fifty-eight

seventy-three

The well-respected businessman turned sixty-nine this month.

3. Use a hyphen to steer clear of any confusion or an awkward looking string of letters.

Examples:

The message was re-sent. (I resent doing that chores.)

The servants re-lay the carpet. ( The assistant will relay your message to the CEO.)

I am not a fan of the anti-intellectual culture in sports. (instead of antiintelectual)

4.Use hyphen with some prefixes such as ex- meaning former, self-, all-; with -elect as a suffix; to connect a prefix with a capitalized noun; and with figures or letters.

Examples:

ex-convict 

self-control

mid-August

all-consuming

president-elect

ex-Soviet leader

U-turn

mid-1940s

5. Use hyphen in line breaks.

a. When there is not enough space, use hyphen at the end of a line if necessary. This is to indicate that a long word has been broken off. Divide the word between syllables.

Note: Do not divide one-syllable words.

Correct:

Incorrect:

b. Always divide a hyphenated compound word only at the hyphen.

Correct:

      The preparation for the inauguration of the president-

elect started in the wee hours of the morning.

Incorrect: 

      The preparation for the inauguration of the pres-

ident-elect started in the wee hours of the morning.

c. To break words ending in -ing, if a single final consonant in the root word is doubled before the suffix, use hyphen to separate the consonants; if not, hyphenate at the suffix itself.

drop-ping 

hop-ping

learn-ing

spill-ing

d. Do not separate a word between syllables if only one letter remains or if only two-letter suffixed begin a line.

simply (Do not break this word in a way which leaves ly at the beginning of a new line.)

in-sin-u-ate ( Divide only on either side of the u; do not leave the first letter i- at the end of a line.)