You use a questfon tag when you expect agreement from the person you are speaking to. You usually add a negative tag to a positive statement and a positive tag to a negative statement | 1 You can put the adverb quite before sure for emphasis 7 Ve decided to leave Jane. Are you quite sure You ve been together a long time. I m absolutely sure. We ve been quarrelling all the time for ages. There s no point in going on. You can also use the adverbs absolutely or completely in this context. 2 In informal contexts you can use sure instead of are you sure I m feeling a bit better. I think I ll go to the party after all. Sure Yes. Let s go. That s the wallpaper I like best. Sure Definitely. Let s go and order it. 3 You can also use are you certain in the same way as are you sure although it is a little more emphatic Sam was the thief Are you certain Absolutely The police found all the stolen goods in his flat. Using auxiliary verbs to ask questions 87 Unit 2 WAS AND WERE Was Was and were are the past tense of the verb be. When they are used with the present participle of a verb they form the past continuous tense. You use was before the personal pronouns 1 he she and it and before singular nouns including proper nouns before other pronouns such as anyone in questions referring to the past often in questions using the past continuous tense Was exaggerating how talented the young actor is No. I don t think you were but he simply doesn t have the experience for such a role. Was she promising to pay back the money we loaned her Yes but I don t trust her to do that. Was he intending to leave this morning Yes but he changed his plans and left last night. Was the young man murdered The police don t yet know Was anyone injured in the accident No one was badly hurt although a few people have minor injuries. Was the child being abused That might be the case. We are investigating the possibility. Was the manager not available to talk to you No. He was away at a sales conference. Was the play not very popular It certainly was not. In fact it got very bad reviews. 88 How to ask questions Was the restaurant not open when you went there No. Apparently it always closes
