In Spanish you can change a statement into a question with verdad, e.g.:
| Vienen mañana, ¿verdad? |
This verdad is called a question tag, and these questions are called tag questions. In English, tags are complicated because (a) they need an auxiliary verb and (b) they are usually positive if the sentence is negative and viceversa, e.g.:
| They are coming tomorrow, aren't they? (Vienen mañana, ¿verdad?) |
| They aren't coming tomorrow, are they? (No vienen mañana, ¿verdad?) |
| You like chocolate, don't you? (Te gusta el chocolate, ¿verdad?) |
| Jane works near here, doesn't she? (Jane trabaja cerca de aquí, ¿verdad?) |
| They don't live in London, do they? (No viven en Londres, ¿verdad?) |
| Bill has to leave early today, doesn't he? (Bill se debe ir en punto, ¿verdad?) |
| She can play the flute, can't she? (Sabe tocar la flauta, ¿verdad?) |
| She can't play the piano, can she? (No sabe tocar el piano, ¿verdad?) |
When we expect the other person to confirm what we say, we use a falling intonation for the tag, e.g.:
|
It's your birthday today, isn't it? (Hoy es tu cumpleaños, ¿verdad?) |
but when we do not expect a particular answer, we use a rising intonation for the tag, e.g.:
|
This is the bus to Andorra, isn't it? (Éste es el autobús para Andorra, ¿verdad?) |
