Mastering Word Order and Tag Questions

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Today: Mastering Word Order and Tag Questions

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to understand and use correct word order in sentences and construct tag questions effectively.

What do you already know about word order and tag questions?

Word Order Basics

Subject + Verb + Object + Where + When. 

Wie doet wat, waar wanneer?

She ate an apple in the orchard last night.

Word order

In questions an auxiliary verb is put at the beginning of the question.

Did Nick buy a pair of skis? 

Could he meet his best friend?

Word order: adverbs of frequency

often, sometimes, always, usually, ... 

are usually put between the subject and the verb

 but they can also go in front position or end position

(except: always, ever and never!)

Nick usually buys a pair of skis every year. 

We don't visit them very often. 

Sometimes they go to the movies on Sundays.

Word order: adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency go before have to.

Example: We always have to wait a long time for the bus.

 Adverbs of frequency go after am, is, are, was or were. 

But in questions the adverb is put after the subject.

Example: You are never on time. 

Are they always on holidays in July?

Adverbs of manner: and place

Adverbs of manner come before adverbs of place. 

Adverbs of places come before adverbs of time. 

We usually write these adverbs at the end of the sentence.

Nick bought a new pair of skis in Innsbruck yesterday. 

He practiced hard on the ski slope last week.

Adverbs 

Adverbs can also be put at the front of the sentence when this information is important.

Last weekend he took some lessons on a ski slope. 

After dinner he met his friends.

If there are two adverbs of time, the more precise one comes first.

He is going to have a skiing lesson at 10 a.m. on Monday.

 

Slide 2: Word Order Examples

Examples: She eats an apple. They are watching a movie.

Changing Word Order

Word order can change for emphasis or to form questions.

Tag Questions 

Tag questions are short questions added to the end of a statement 

to seek confirmation or agreement

Tag Questions Structure

Positive statement → Negative tag question. 

Negative statement → Positive tag question.

She was at school, wasn't she?

She wasn't at school, was she?

Tag Questions Examples

You like coffee, don't you? 

She didn't go to the party, did she?

You were in Alaska, ......?

You didn't work really hard, ....?

Slide 7: Practicing Word Order

Rearrange the words to form correct sentences: 

'cat / black/attick / a / is.

Slide 8: Practicing Tag Questions

Create tag questions for the following statements: 'You love ice cream.' 'They haven't finished their homework.'

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.