Complete the following sentence by using a suitable question tag :
Few students knew the solution, ________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Did they ?
Question tags:
- Rule: a positive statement takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive tag.
- The tag is made of the helping verb of the statement and a pronoun for the subject.
- This sentence:
- Few means "hardly any", so the statement is negative in meaning and the tag is positive.
- "Knew" is simple past with no helping verb, so the tag uses did.
- "Few students" becomes they.
Complete sentence: Few students knew the solution, did they?
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: were not they ? — Incorrect.
- The tag must be positive, since "few" makes the statement negative.
- "Were" does not match the verb "knew".
Option 2: would not they ? — Incorrect. It is negative, and "would" is not the helping verb of the simple past "knew".
Option 4: do not they? — Incorrect. It is negative and in the present tense, while the statement is in the past.
Contrast: "Few students knew the solution, did they?" (few = hardly any, a negative idea), "A few students knew the solution, didn't they?" (a few = some, a positive idea).