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
Hello JustAStudent,
Your teacher is right. The tense of the question tag matches the tense of the verb 'went' (past simple).
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello rosemoon,
Generally, we don't provide answers to grammar tasks or exercises like this. We're happy to provide explanations to help our users understand better, but we don't want to do users' homework or tests for them!
I can tell you that you need a subject question for the first one, and an object question for the second. You can read about how these are formed on this page:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-to-pre-intermediate/question-forms
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi dappleofmyi,
Yes, that's right! I read is in the present simple, without an auxiliary verb, so the tag is don't I?.
One other thing - if the sentence is about reading now, it should probably be in the present continuous: I'm reading an article now, aren't I?.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi dappleofmyi,
Had you? is the right tag. The question tag just uses the auxiliary verb :)
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Raksha Jha,
Could you please give us a specific example?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello LaurenceMartin,
The sentence is correct. The word 'stop' is not a verb here but part of a noun phrase (the bus stop) and the 's is a contraction of 'is':
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ali qas,
Both forms are used, but I think don't they is preferable from a grammatical standpoint as the verb have to generally uses the auxiliary do rather than inversion for questions and negatives.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Shahab,
If I've understood correctly, the correct sentence is: 'Zoos aren't the only place we can see animals, are they?'
Remember that if the main verb is negative, the verb in question tag is usually affirmative.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Yigido,
What I'd recommend here is 'I think the new teacher is a great person. Don't you?' (in this case, 'Don't you?' isn't really a question tag, I'd say) or 'The new teacher is a great person, isn't she?'
As you've surmised, if you have two verbs in the statement that you add a question tag to, it gets a little confusing.
Hope that makes sense.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Veronika,
The correct tag here is '...isn't it?' We don't use 'this' in question tags.
It's a similar pattern to the short answer to the question:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello EnglishTeacher1,
Both are possible, grammatically speaking. However, the second is the more common way to make a polite request.
If you have a particular context in mind then we can comment on that, of course.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Englishteacher1,
Obviously, intonation is highly dependent on context and the speaker's intention and expectations. That said, I would expect the following:
Sentence 1 (...couldn't you?) - the question is probably rhetorical and the speaker is sure that the answers is yes; the inonation would likely be falling on the tag.
Sentence 2 (...could you?) - the question is probably a real request for information and the speaker is unsure of the answer (though hopeful it will be 'yes'); the inonation would likely be rising on the tag.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello LaurenceMartin,
As I said in my earlier reply, the version with '...you couldn't...' is certainly the more common way to make a polite request. However, the other version is not incorrect and is possible in certain contexts, particularly when you are trying to convince someone to do something or want to exert pressure on them to comply.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Drew Gun,
In modern English the tag question is almost always contracted: isn't he?
In the uncontracted form it would be is he not?
There is no tag question form is not he?
It's been a while since I studied Shakespeare, but I don't recall the form occurring in his writings as a tag question. Do you have a line you could quote in which it appears?
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Stellaaa,
Neither sentence is correct, I'm afraid. We use tag questions after affirmative sentences, not after questions. The correct forms would be:
In the first sentence, the speaker is sure that the other person forgot their umbrella. The question is not really asking for information, but for confirmation.
In the second question, the speaker is either not sure that the other person forgot their umbrella or is very surprised about it. The question suggests us that the speaker cannot believe that this is the situation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi rudresh007,
Question tags are mainly used in speaking. If you say something and you want someone to confirm or disagree with it, you can add a question tag to your statement. The question tag invites the listener to respond. They're really useful :)
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Ataur Rahman,
The answer is a bit complicated! Let's take an example complex-compound sentence.
How we make the tag question depends on which part the tag refers to. We can say this:
If we want the tag to refer to 'You love chocolate' or 'you eat it every day', we should reorganise the sentence to keep the tag next to that part, so that the meaning is clear. So:
Does that make sense? If you see any examples of this that you'd like to discuss, feel free to post them here.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Ataur Rahman,
You can use a question tag in compound or complex sentences, but you need to make sure that it's clear to the reader or listener what the question tag refers to. It's harder to do that with long sentences.
For example:
-- Your sister lives in Spain because her company moved there, doesn't she?
In this sentence, the question tag is separated from the thing it refers to ('Your sister lives') by other information, so it's hard to understand. We can rephrase the sentence like this:
-- As your sister's company moved to Spain, she lives there now, doesn't she?
That keeps the question tag close to what it refers to. In this way, you can phrase your sentence according to what part of it you want the question tag to focus on.
-- He can't drive and you can't either, can you? (focuses on 'you can't drive')
-- You can't drive and he can't either, can he? (focuses on 'he can't drive')
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Ataur Rahman,
OK, I'm glad the answer helped. About compound sentences, I would give a similar explanation. Although compound sentences have a different structure to complex sentences, they are similar since both types have two parts. It's important to clarify which part the question tag relates to, and I suggest putting that part at the end of the sentence. My last two examples above (He/You can't drive ...) are compound sentences, and here are some more examples:
If you want to use the question tag to refer to the whole sentence, including both parts, right? or isn't that right? are useful options (especially in speaking).
I hope this covers what you wanted to know. Please let us know if you have other questions about it.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
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