
Look at these examples to see how question tags are used.
You haven't seen this film, have you?
Your sister lives in Spain, doesn't she?
He can't drive, can he?
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We can add question tags like isn't it?, can you? or didn't they? to a statement to make it into a question. Question tags are more common in speaking than writing.
We often use question tags when we expect the listener to agree with our statement. In this case, when the statement is positive, we use a negative question tag.
She's a doctor, isn't she?
Yesterday was so much fun, wasn't it?
If the statement is negative, we use a positive question tag.
He isn't here, is he?
The trains are never on time, are they?
Nobody has called for me, have they?
If we are sure or almost sure that the listener will confirm that our statement is correct, we say the question tag with a falling intonation. If we are a bit less sure, we say the question tag with a rising intonation.
Formation
If there is an auxiliary verb in the statement, we use it to form the question tag.
I don't need to finish this today, do I?
James is working on that, isn't he?
Your parents have retired, haven't they?
The phone didn't ring, did it?
It was raining that day, wasn't it?
Your mum hadn't met him before, had she?
Sometimes there is no auxiliary verb already in the statement. For example, when:
... the verb in the statement is present simple or past simple and is positive. Here we use don't, doesn't or didn't:
Jenni eats cheese, doesn't she?
I said that already, didn't I?
... the verb in the statement is to be in the present simple or past simple. In this case we use to be to make the question tag:
The bus stop's over there, isn't it?
None of those customers were happy, were they?
... the verb in the statement is a modal verb. Here we use the modal verb to make the question tag:
They could hear me, couldn't they?
You won't tell anyone, will you?
If the main verb or auxiliary verb in the statement is am, the positive question tag is am I? but the negative question tag is usually aren't I?:
I'm never on time, am I?
I'm going to get an email with the details, aren't I?
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hi Ataur Rahman,
Yes :) That's right.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Zamra,
That's almost correct, but you need to remove the last 'be':
In question tags we use only the auxiliary verb (here: will > won't), not the main verb (here: be).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Luz Hidalgo,
The correct tag here is 'do you', as you say.
In this sentence, never marks the sentence as negative, and requires a positive tag. As you say, have is a main verb here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tega,
Your first instinct was correct! In this cotnext we use 'they' and a different auxiliary in the tag. It's a good example of the use of they for non-gendered/unidentified singular.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi rajupunchayil,
The question tag is will we? for both sentences. When the sentence has a modal verb (won't, in these two sentences), use that modal verb in the question tag, but change it from negative to positive (or vice versa): won't --> will.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Furuku,
No, you can't use have as a main verb with 'there'.
'There' is what we call a dummy subject. It can be followed by be, by modal verbs and by a few other verbs such as seem, appear etc.
In English, there and it can be dummy subjects. We have a page on the topic:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/it-and-there-as-dummy-subjects
There is some debate about whether particular uses (such as the use of 'it' to talk about weather) are really dummy subjects. You can read more about that here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_pronoun
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello abo omar,
I'm afraid we don't provide answers for questions from elsewhere. We're happy to explain the rules of English and which something may be correct or incorrect, but we don't provide answers to questions from homework or tests.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello abo omar,
Yes, that is possible.
You can use either didn't he or did he as the tags here, but there is a difference in meaning:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello prasiddha Poudel,
I'm afraid this isn't the kind of help we offer on this site. We're happy to help our users with things they don't understand such as particular points of grammar or lanaguage use, and we're happy to explain particular examples. However, we don't provide an answering service for users taking tests or completing homework tasks!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi again prasiddha Poudel,
If you have a question then you can use the comments section of any relevant page. We are a team here and we all check for comments to answer every day. Not every comment is answered as we are a small team and the help we can provide is limited, but we do our best.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Fidan_Gassim,
Yes, both are correct. But their meaning is different. A few has a positive meaning, and few has a negative meaning.
There's the same difference between a little and little.
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Fidan_Gassim,
You could use either tag, but to avoid confusion the tag should follow the verb to which it refers rather than being separated by another clause:
In the second sentence the question tag is purely rhetorical and so no question mark is needed.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Aditya Sharma,
The tag is are they. We use they in the tag to replace these.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
Hello Fondow,
People would certainly understand you, but that sounds odd to me. If you changed it slightly and said 'There isn't anyone there, is there?' (notice the main verb is negative and the question tag is affirmative) that would be correct. Or you could say 'Nobody is there, right?'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello bjn92band23,
Could you please explain this a bit more? I'm not sure I understand what the question is, as both forms are grammatical.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Karan Narang,
It is correct to use aren't I as the question tag like this. The reason we use this, I think, is that it is very hard to pronounce amn't I and so the form has shifted over time to one which is easier to say. Interestingly, if you do not use the contraction then am is still the correct form:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Alain Gustave,
You could use either weren't there or were there as a tag here.
The difference is that weren't there indicates that the speaker expects confirmation. In a sense, it is not a real question but rather a rhetorical device. By contrast, were there shows that the speaker is either surprised and is asking if the information is really true, or else is not sure and wants to get an answer.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello abymonly,
The correct form here is shall we.
When the verb form in the main clause is let's, the tag is formed with shall not shan't.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again abymonly,
Yes, that's correct:
However, note that the use of shall we as a tag is generally quite unusual. It's grammatically possible, but it is disappearing from English slowly and can sound very formal or old-fashioned.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Daria_Dana_off,
'shall we' is usually used as a question tag in such circumstances.
In the US, although people would understand this, they'd probably find this use of 'shall' a bit strange. There I expect people would say something like 'Let's go to the movies this evening, OK?'
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ilma9795,
Yes, people sometimes use 'right' and 'no' as question tags. In my experience, 'no' is much less common that 'right', but think it's fine to use both, though I would generally recommend 'right' over 'no' and I'd recommend not using either one very much, at least in British English. In India, where usage of 'no', for example, could be more common, I would follow the usage there.
It's also important to recognise the forms taught on this page, as they are used quite frequently, especially in British English.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Cuan,
The question tag for sentences with used to is did, so the sentence with the question tag would be as follows:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team