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Advanced Question Tags and Echo Questions: correct answers

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Advanced Question Tags and Echo Questions

When you want to confirm tricky information or express absolute shock, English relies on specific, nuanced structures. For example, if someone says they bought a haunted castle, you might reply with an echo question like, "You bought a what?" To confirm a statement with a tricky pronoun or verb, you must use an advanced question tag, such as "I am still in charge, aren't I?"

This challenge tests your ability to handle the exceptions and special rules of these conversational structures. You will practice forming question tags for sentences with negative adverbs ("hardly"), indefinite pronouns ("nobody," "everyone"), and unique starters like "Let's." You will also navigate surprising scenarios—like a friend bringing tarantulas to dinner—by choosing the correct echo words to express your utter disbelief.

You'll work through 10 questions in a mix of single-choice, multi-choice, drop-down, and drag-and-drop formats.

Try the quiz to check your knowledge!

MediumB1 | IntermediateB1AdverbAuxiliary verbCountable and uncountableImperative moodModal verbNegationObjectPast tensePresent tensePronounQuestionsSentenceSubjectVerbVerb tenseProgressive tenseSimple tenseWord order

Correct answers

Question 1

Complete the chaotic chef's questions as his kitchen falls apart. Choose the best question tag for each gap.
"Nobody added salt to this soup, _________________________? Well, I am still the head chef here, _________________________? Let's just order a giant pizza instead, _________________________!"

"Nobody added salt to this soup, did they?"

Words with negative meanings like nobody, nothing, and never take an affirmative (positive) question tag. We use they to refer back to nobody.

"Well, I am still the head chef here, aren't I?"

The question tag for "I am" is irregularly formed as "aren't I?" (instead of "am I not?", which is highly formal and rarely used in spoken English).

"Let's just order a giant pizza instead, shall we?"

Suggestions starting with "Let's" always take the question tag "shall we?".

Question 2

Captain Barnacles is barking orders and making dramatic statements on the high seas.
Select ALL the sentences where the question tag is grammatically correct.

The correct answers are I am still the captain of this ship, aren't I?, Let's sail toward that massive storm, shall we?, and Hand me those binoculars, will you?

These are special exceptions for question tags:

  • The negative tag for "I am" is aren't I? (or the very formal am I not?).
  • Suggestions starting with "Let's" take the tag shall we?
  • Imperatives (commands) usually take will you?, would you?, or could you? Negative commands (like "Don't drop...") always take will you?

Question 3

Help the office gossip confirm her suspicions about a lazy coworker by choosing the correct phrase.

Bob hardly ever finishes his reports on time, ___?

The correct answer is does he.

Words like hardly, barely, rarely, and never have a negative meaning. Because the main sentence is already considered negative ("hardly ever finishes"), the question tag must be positive!

Question 4

Complete the gossiping friends' text messages by choosing the correct echo word for each gap to show their shock.

Alex: "My sister accidentally invited our boss to the family barbecue." Sam: "Wait, she did? That sounds incredibly awkward!"

Alex: "Yeah, and he actually showed up wearing a giant hotdog costume." Sam: "He wore a what? I can't believe it!"

Alex: "I know! We haven't stopped laughing about it since." Sam: "Really, you haven't? I would be hiding under a table!"

Sam: "Wait, she did? That sounds incredibly awkward!"

Echo questions repeat the auxiliary verb from the previous statement to show surprise. Since "invited" is in the past simple, we use the past auxiliary did.

Sam: "He wore a what? I can't believe it!"

When we are surprised by an object or a thing in a sentence, we replace it with a Wh-word (in this case, what) and repeat the structure to express disbelief.

Sam: "Really, you haven't? I would be hiding under a table!"

The previous sentence uses the present perfect negative ("We haven't stopped"). To echo it, we simply repeat the exact same auxiliary and tense: haven't.

Question 5

Help the baffled detective review his notes from the haunted mansion case.
Select ALL the sentences that use question tags correctly.

The correct answers are Nobody saw the ghost, did they?, Everyone loves a good mystery, don't they?, and Someone left the window open, didn't they?

When a statement uses an indefinite pronoun referring to people (like everyone, somebody, or nobody), the question tag uses the pronoun they.

Be careful with nobody: because it makes the main statement negative, the question tag must be positive (did they?, not didn't they?).

Question 6

Complete the whispered escape plan between two incredibly bored partygoers.

This party is putting me to sleep. Let's sneak out through the kitchen window, ___?

The correct answer is shall we.

When a sentence starts with "Let's" (making a suggestion), the correct question tag is always "shall we?".

Question 7

Your eccentric friend just announced: "I am bringing fifteen tarantulas to the dinner party!"
Select ALL the echo questions you could use to express your absolute shock.

The correct answers are You are bringing what to the party?, You are bringing how many tarantulas?, and You are doing what?

Echo questions are used to show surprise or ask someone to repeat shocking information. We form them by repeating the speaker's sentence but replacing the surprising part with a stressed question word (like what, where, or how many), rather than using standard question inversion. Standard yes/no questions do not convey this specific type of dramatic shock!

Question 8

Choose the correct response to show the friend's extreme surprise and disbelief.

Arthur: "I accidentally bought a haunted castle in Scotland on the internet last night."
Friend: "___"

The correct answer is You bought a what?

This is an echo question. We use echo questions to show surprise or ask for repetition when we can't believe what we just heard! Instead of using normal question word order (like "What did you buy?"), we repeat the speaker's sentence and replace the surprising part with a question word, keeping the voice pitch high at the end.

Question 9

Help the cooking instructor finish his slightly panicked instructions by choosing the correct question tag for each gap.

"Alright team, let's try not to burn the kitchen down today, shall we?

Wait, nobody added salt to the chocolate cake frosting, did they?

Quick, just hand me that fire extinguisher, will you!"

"Alright team, let's try not to burn the kitchen down today, shall we?

Sentences starting with "Let's" (Let us) take the tag shall we.

Wait, nobody added salt to the chocolate cake frosting, did they?

"Nobody" is a negative word, so the tag must be positive. Even though "nobody" is singular, we use the pronoun they (and the plural auxiliary "did") in the tag.

Quick, just hand me that fire extinguisher, will you!"

For imperative sentences (commands or requests), we typically use will you (or sometimes "would you" / "could you") as the tag.

Question 10

Complete the bewildered roommate's reactions to some terrible news. Choose the correct echo question word for each gap to show their surprise.
Roommate A: "I traded our microwave for a magical bean." Roommate B: "You traded our microwave for a _________________________?!"
Roommate A: "The salesman said he's moving to Atlantis next week." Roommate B: "He's moving _________________________?!"
Roommate A: "I paid him five thousand dollars for it." Roommate B: "You paid him _________________________?!"

Roommate B: "You traded our microwave for a what?!"

We use echo questions to express shock or ask for repetition. To ask about an object, replace the object with "what" and keep the normal sentence word order, using rising intonation.

Roommate B: "He's moving where?!"

To express surprise about a location, replace the place with "where".

Roommate B: "You paid him how much?!"

To express disbelief about an uncountable quantity (like a sum of money), use "how much".

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