Week 6 - Graded Assignment 6

Course: Jan 2026 - English II

Week 6 - Graded Assignment 6

Question 1

• Can he
• Can’t he
• Does he
• Doesn’t he

Solution

Abstract Solution (Strategy)

1. [Check Statement Polarity]: If the statement is positive, the tag must be negative.
2. [Identify Auxiliary]: Maintain the same modal or auxiliary verb ("can") from the statement.
3. [Decision rule]: Reverse polarity + Shared auxiliary = Standard Question Tag.

Procedure

• Step 1: Statement is "He can..." (Positive).
• Step 2: The tag requires the negative form: "can't".
• Step 3: Match the subject pronoun: "he".
• Result: Can't he

Question 2

• Doesn’t he
• Does he
• Don’t he
• Did he

Solution

Abstract Solution (Strategy)

1. [Identify Tense]: For Present Simple verbs with no visible auxiliary, use do/does.
2. [Apply Polarity]: Positive statement -> Negative tag.
3. [Decision rule]: "Likes" (3rd person singular) pairs with the auxiliary "does".

Procedure

• Step 1: Statement: "John likes" (Positive, 3rd Person Singular).
• Step 2: The hidden auxiliary for "likes" is "does".
• Step 3: Negative tag: "doesn't he".
• Result: Doesn’t he

Question 3

• Person
• Gender
• Number
• None of the above

Solution

Abstract Solution (Strategy)

1. [Define Agreement]: Agreement occurs when a verb changes form based on subject properties.
2. [Decision rule]: English verbs inflect for Person (I vs He) and Number (He vs They), but do not change based on Masculine/Feminine/Neuter gender.

Procedure

• Step 1: Test a verb: "runs."
• Step 2: Masculine (He runs). Feminine (She runs). The verb form is identical.
• Result: Gender

Question 4

• When the incident happened
• I am not sure when
• I am not sure
• The incident happened

Solution

Abstract Solution (Strategy)

1. [Isolation Test]: The main statement (matrix clause) can usually stand alone and contains the primary subject-predicate pair.
2. [Decision rule]: The clause that contains the embedding link (wh-word) is subordinate.

Procedure

• Step 1: "I am not sure" provides the primary framework.
• Step 2: "When the incident happened" is the complement of the adjective "sure."
• Result: I am not sure

Question 5

• When the incident happened
• I am not sure when
• I am not sure
• The incident happened

Solution

Abstract Solution (Strategy)

1. [Dependency Check]: The embedded sentence is "nested" within the main one.
2. [Decision rule]: Embedded questions often start with a wh-word (when, where, why).

Procedure

• Step 1: "When the incident happened" functions as a noun clause within the main matrix.
• Result: When the incident happened