Unit 4: "You Come Here Often– | English Uncovered

00 / WELCOME

💋 So, you think you're smooth, don't you?

You’ve got your Dutch courage, and now you’re ready to deploy a chat-up line in some dodgy club in Torquay. But instead of asking a boring, direct question, native speakers love to use Question Tags. We use them to fish for compliments, confirm our suspicions, or trap someone into agreeing with us. It’s highly manipulative, isn't it?

📖 Survival Glossary: Intro Edition

Chat-up line (noun): A rehearsed remark used to start a conversation with someone you want to pull. Usually terrible.
Dodgy (adjective): Suspicious, low-quality, or potentially unsafe.

01 / THE CHEEKY DICTIONARY

1. The Cheeky Dictionary: 8 Words for Making Your Move

Cringe (adj/verb): Causing feelings of acute second-hand embarrassment.

Minging (adj): Very ugly, gross, or unpleasant.

Punching (verb): Dating someone much better looking than you (punching above your weight).

Cheesy (adj): Too emotional, romantic, or cliché in an embarrassing way.

Mug off (verb): To disrespect someone or make a fool of them.

A Sort (noun): A very attractive person. ("She's a right sort.")

Smooth (adj): Flirting in a very cool, confident, and effortless way.

Player (noun): Someone who dates/sleeps with many people and plays games with their feelings.

Practice: drag a word, or select it and choose a gap.

1. Look at him with that absolute model! He is definitely .

2. Don't let him you. You deserve someone who texts you back.

3. He told me I had eyes like the ocean. It was so .

4. Be careful, I've heard he's a bit of a who never settles down.

5. I can't eat this kebab, it tastes absolutely .

Choose a word, then choose a gap.

02 / GRAMMAR MECHANICS

2. Grammar Mechanics: The Golden Rule of Opposites

Question tags are like a seesaw. If the main sentence is positive, the tag is negative. If the main sentence is negative, the tag is positive.

Structure	Cheeky Example	Why we use it
(+) Sentence, (-) Tag	"You are single, aren't you?"	We are 90% sure they are single, we just want them to confirm it.
(-) Sentence, (+) Tag	"You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"	We really hope they don't, but we are a bit nervous.
🚨 THE BIG EXCEPTION	"I am the best kisser here, aren't I?"	We NEVER say "amn't I–. It is always "aren't I–.

03 / READING

3. Reading: The Cringe-Fest

Notice how Pete and Dave use tags to seek agreement!

Reading conversation

Pete: Mate, you totally messed that up, didn't you?

Dave: Shut up. She thought my chat-up line was funny. She was laughing, wasn't she?

Pete: She was laughing AT you, Dave. That line was so cringe. You aren't very smooth, are you?

Dave: It worked on the last girl! Anyway, she was a right sort. I was definitely punching.

Pete: She didn't give you her real number, did she?

Dave: ...I haven't texted it yet. But she wouldn't mug me off, would she?

04 / INTERACTIVE PRACTICE

4. Interactive Practice: Tag, You're It

Exercise A: Choose the right Tag

1. You won't tell anyone we kissed,

2. I am the best wingman ever,

3. He hasn't texted you back yet,

Exercise B: Type the Tag

Look at the auxiliary verb in the main sentence and flip it!

1. She is well fit, ?

2. We didn't drink that much, ?

3. You can buy the next round, ?

05 / SPEAKING PRACTICE

5. Speaking Practice: Spilling the Tea ☕

Use question tags to ask your language partner for their opinions on these scandalous topics.

Have you ever used a cheesy chat-up line on someone? (It didn't work, did it?)
When was the last time you saw a friend get completely mugged off by a player?
Do you think it's obvious when someone is punching in a relationship?
What is the most cringe thing someone can do on a first date?
You've accidentally pulled someone who is a bit minging before, haven't you? Let's hear the story!

"You Come Here Often–.