Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Teo]

Question: Tina often sits alone and seldom talks to anyone, ____ she?

Reply One: "doesn't" is correct. The tag follows the first verb.
I hope this helps.

Reply Two:By adding "and seldom talks to anyone" you give it a negative cast, even though it doesn't look that way. So you need "does she."
The tag goes with the last independent clause.

Which reply do you think is correct?
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Thank you very much for your reply.

[2006]

I don't agree that there is a 'negative cast'. Neither "often" nor "seldom" are negative words. 'Doesn't' and 'never' are negative words.

I don't agree with either explanation but 'does she?' is correct.
The statement says what she does, not what she doesn't do, so the correct response is 'does she?'.