We should assist the poor … ?

Step 1: Analyze the question The sentence "We should assist the poor ____ ?" needs a question tag. A question tag is a short question added to the end of a statement to seek confirmation.

Step 2: The concept (rules for question tags)

1. Use the same auxiliary (helping) verb as in the statement.
2. If the statement is positive, the tag is negative. If the statement is negative, the tag is positive.
3. The tag uses a pronoun that matches the subject.

Step 3: Apply the rules

• Statement: "We should assist the poor." It is positive.
• Auxiliary verb: should
• Subject pronoun: we
• So the tag must be negative: shouldn't we?

Step 4: Check each option

• A. shall we is wrong. It uses a different auxiliary and is positive, so it does not match.
• B. isn't it is wrong. The auxiliary "is" does not match "should", and "it" does not match "we".
• C. shouldn't we is correct. It has the same auxiliary, a negative tag after a positive statement, and the correct pronoun.
• D. we shouldn't is wrong. The word order is incorrect. In a tag, the auxiliary comes first, then the pronoun.

Correct sentence: "We should assist the poor, shouldn't we?"

Exam tip: For question tags, ask three things: What is the auxiliary? Is the statement positive or negative? What is the pronoun? Flip the positive or negative, keep the auxiliary, and put the verb before the pronoun. Examples: "She can sing, can't she?" and "They aren't coming, are they?"