Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Which verb is best to make a question-tag from?


I want to ask about two sentences, and what would be the correct way to form a question:




  • It's very important that we eat healthy food, ...........?


    Which would be the correct question tag: (isn't it) or (don't we)?





  • It's a must that all applicants follow the rules of the competition, ..........?


    Which would the correct question tag: (don't they) or (mustn't they)?




Please could you tell me the correct answers, and, more importantly, why those are correct?



Answer



For the first example, isn't it is correct. Don't we does not make sense in this context. The sentence should be:



It's very important that we eat healthy food, isn't it?




The second example, I would not use either option. Instead, I would use isn't it here as well:



It's a must that all applicants follow the rules of the competition, isn't it?



The reasoning for this is that it coincides with the beginning of the sentence. For example, I might use any of these:



They should eat healthy food, shouldn't they?


There are a lot of people here, aren't there?


You are connected to the Internet, aren't you?




Don't and didn't are exceptions to this:



You have an Internet connection, don't you?


He came to work yesterday, didn't he?



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