Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Nothing can stop us now, _____?
a) don’t it
b) doesn’t it
c) can’t it
d) can it
e) does it

Answer 1

Hint: The given sentence already contains a negation i.e. ‘Nothing’. This means that the question tag should not be negative. This will help you choose the correct answer.

Complete answer:
A question tag is a grammatical structure in which a declarative or an imperative statement is turned into a question by the addition of an interrogative fragment. For example, in the sentence "You're John, aren't you?", the statement "You're John" is turned into a question by the tag "aren't you”.
However, when the statement already contains a negative word, the question tag is converted to positive, as double negation is a grammatical anomaly. So, if the sentence was “You’re not John”, the question tag would be “are you?”.

In the given sentence, the beginning of the sentence contains the word ‘nothing’. This tells us that the question tag should be positive.

Now, we know what question tags are. Let’s look through our available options:

a) don’t it - This option is grammatically incorrect, since ‘it’ is singular, the verb should be ‘doesn’t’. This tag is also a negative question tag, which would not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) doesn’t it - This option is grammatically sound, however, it is a negative question tag, which would not fit into the given question. The verb is also different, which would be incorrect. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) can’t it - This option is also grammatically sound, however, it is a negative question tag, which would not fit into the given question. This is the correct verb, but this is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) can it - This option is grammatically correct. It is a positive question tag, and it has the correct verb, so it fits perfectly into the given question. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
e) does it - This option is grammatically correct. It is a positive question tag, but it does not have the correct verb, so it would not fit into the given question perfectly. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Try to look for certain pointer words. They will help you understand which question tag you are looking for. Then, go through the given options, and choose the most appropriate option accordingly.