Choose the correct question tag to complete the sentence:
Meenal barely spoke at the farewell party, ________?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → did she
Question tag after a sentence with “barely”:
“Barely” means almost not. It makes the sentence negative, even without “not”. A negative sentence takes a positive tag. “Spoke” is in the simple past and has no helping verb, so the tag uses “did”. Meenal becomes “she”.
Complete sentence: Meenal barely spoke at the farewell party, did she?
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: didn’t she — Incorrect. This is a negative tag. It goes with a positive sentence. Example: Sana spoke well at the debate, didn’t she?
Option 2: was she — Incorrect. “Was she” is the tag only when a negative sentence has “was”. Example: Tara wasn’t at home on Sunday, was she?
Option 4: does she — Incorrect. “Does” goes with a present verb such as “speaks”. Example: Shalini hardly speaks in class, does she?