Add a suitable Question Tag to the following sentence by choosing the correct option:
He did not paint that beautiful picture, _____?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → did he
Question tags:
- A question tag repeats the helping verb of the statement and uses a pronoun for the subject.
- Polarity is reversed:
- Positive statement → negative tag.
- Negative statement → positive tag.
- This sentence: the helping verb is did, the subject is he, and "did not paint" makes the statement negative, so the tag is positive: did he?
Complete sentence: He did not paint that beautiful picture, did he?
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: had he — Incorrect. The statement uses did, not "had". The tag must repeat the same helping verb.
Option 3: does he — Incorrect. "does" is present tense. The statement is in the simple past.
Option 4: didn't he — Incorrect. A negative statement takes a positive tag. "Didn't he" repeats the negative.