Add a suitable question tag to the following sentence:
The night bus to Dehradun hardly ever leaves on time, ________?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → does it
Question tag after a sentence with “hardly”:
“Hardly” means almost not. It makes the sentence negative, even without “not”. A negative sentence takes a positive tag. “Leaves” has no helping verb, so the tag uses “does”. The bus is one thing, so the pronoun is “it”.
Complete sentence: The night bus to Dehradun hardly ever leaves on time, does it?
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: doesn’t it — Incorrect. This is a negative tag. It goes with a positive sentence. Example: The kitchen tap leaks at night, doesn’t it?
Option 3: is it — Incorrect. “Is it” goes with a negative sentence that has “is”. Example: The ceiling fan isn’t working, is it?
Option 4: isn’t it — Incorrect. “Isn’t it” goes with a positive sentence that has “is”. Example: The vegetable market is closed today, isn’t it?