Question Tags
உறுதிப்படுத்தும் கேள்விகள்
English tacks a small mirrored question onto the end of a statement to seek agreement — a two-part structure that echoes the confirmation particles Tamil already uses.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
The tag flips positive to negative, and mirrors the auxiliary
You're coming, aren't you? / You aren't coming, are you? (the tag always flips the statement's polarity)
நீ வர்றியில்லையா? — a confirmation particle attached at the end, similar function
Tamil confirmation questions often add a particle like -இல்லையா at the end of a statement to invite agreement, playing a similar conversational role. English's version is more mechanical: build a mini question from the statement's own auxiliary verb (are, is, can, will), flipped to the opposite polarity — a positive statement gets a negative tag (You're coming, aren't you?) and a negative statement gets a positive tag (You aren't coming, are you?). Match the tag's auxiliary to whichever helping verb the main sentence already has.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| English | Pronunciation | Tamil |
|---|---|---|
| You're coming, aren't you? | yor KUM-ing arnt yoo | நீ வர்றியில்லையா?nī varṟiyillaiyā? |
| She isn't here, is she? | shee IZ-int heer iz shee | அவள் இங்க இல்லையில்லையா?avaḷ inga illaiyillaiyā? |
| You can swim, can't you? | yoo kan swim kant yoo | உனக்கு நீச்சல் தெரியுமில்லையா?unakku nīchal theriyumillaiyā? |