Understanding Question Tags

Question tags are short questions added at the end of a statement. They are used to confirm information or to seek agreement. They usually consist of an auxiliary verb and a pronoun.

Rules for Forming Question Tags

The main rules to remember when forming a question tag are:

• If the statement is positive, the question tag must be negative.
• If the statement is negative, the question tag must be positive.
• The auxiliary verb in the question tag must match the auxiliary verb in the statement (or the main verb if there's no auxiliary).
• The pronoun in the question tag must refer to the subject of the statement.

Analyzing the Statement: "The windows are open"

Let's break down the statement to apply the rules:

• Statement Type: The statement "The windows are open" is positive. Therefore, the question tag needs to be negative.
• Subject: The subject is "The windows". This is a plural noun. The pronoun that replaces "The windows" is "they".
• Verb: The verb used is "are". This is the present tense, plural form of the verb "to be". Since the statement is positive, the negative form of the verb is needed for the tag. The negative form of "are" is "are not", which is contracted to "aren't".

Constructing the Correct Question Tag

Based on the analysis:

• The tag must be negative: "aren't".
• The pronoun must refer to the plural subject "The windows": "they".

Combining these parts gives us the question tag: "aren't they?".

Evaluating the Options

Let's look at the given options:

• $isn't they?$: Incorrect because "isn't" is singular and doesn't match the plural subject "windows".
• $aren't they?$: Correct. It uses the negative plural verb "aren't" and the plural pronoun "they", matching the statement.
• $isn't it?$: Incorrect. "isn't" is singular and "it" refers to a singular subject, neither of which matches "The windows".
• $aren't it?$: Incorrect. While "aren't" is the correct verb form, "it" is a singular pronoun and does not match the plural subject "The windows".

Therefore, the correct question tag for the statement "The windows are open" is "aren't they?".