Question tags

Form

auxiliary verb + subject

1. If the auxiliary verb in the sentence is positive, the tag is negative.

You are Spanish, aren't you?

2. If the auxiliary verb in the sentence is negative, the tag is positive.

You're not Spanish, are you?

3. If there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence, we use do.

You live in Spain, don't you?

Functions and examples

1. We use tag questions to confirm information.

This meal is horrible, isn't it?
That film was fantastic, wasn't it?

2. We use tag questions when we are already sure of the answer and just want confirmation (falling intonation with the tag question).

3. We use tag questions to check information.

You haven't got a piece of paper, have you?
You don't know where the boss is, do you?
The meeting's tomorrow at 9am, isn't it?

4. If we do not know the answer, these are real questions, and we use a rising intonation with the tag question.

Important points

1. In the present tense, if the subject is 'I', the auxiliary changes to 'are' or 'aren't'.

I'm sitting next to you, aren't I?

2. With 'let's', the tag question is 'shall we'.

Let's go to the beach, shall we?

3. With an imperative, the tag question is 'will you'.

Close the window, will you?

4. We use a positive tag question after a sentence containing a negative word such as never, hardly, nobody.

Nobody lives in this house, do they?
You've never liked me, have you?

5. When the subject is nothing, we use 'it' in the tag question.

Nothing bad happened, did it?

6. When the subject is nobody, somebody, everybody, no one, someone, or everyone, we use 'they' in the tag question.

Nobody asked for me, did they?

7. If the main verb in the sentence is 'have' (not an auxiliary verb), it is more common to use 'do' in the question tag.

You have a Ferrari, don't you?

8. With used to, we use 'didn't' in the tag question.

You used to work here, didn't you?

9. We can use positive question tags after positive sentences to express a reaction such as surprise or interest.

You're moving to Brazil, are you?

See also: Questions / Indirect questions

Teaching Tag questions

•   I make the first person sitting next to me come up with a short sentence which could be "questiontagged"... the person sitting next to him/her adds the question tag and then the 3rd person comes up with another sentence and the 4th person adds the question tag for the 3rd sentence and so on.
  
  Sometimes I give out slips of papers with sentences and turn them upside down. Ask a student to pick one and say the question tag for this particular sentence and then everybody does that in turn. Make the slips in colour to make it more vivid. A similar thing could be done for
  
  I like chocolate.
  So do I
  I don't
  Neither do I
  
  I have never been to the theatre.
  I have
  Neither have I
  
  Do it in a circle if they sit at a round table. They tend to start laughing and twist their tongues in trying to think which is correct : neither plus auxiliary and then... blahblah... They laugh hilariously about this one and you have made your point and succeed in taking the sting out of NOTORIOUS QUESTION TAGS!!"
  Natasa, els language school, Belgrade, Serbia
  
•   Question tags are rather difficult to teach, they require patience on the part of the teacher in order to allow the learner time to grasp the concept. I remember one time when I was introducing them to my class, I did it in a rather funny way. I entered the class and said:
  
  "Hello class, you are fine, aren't you? I mean, you had a proper breakfast, didn't you?
  Mike, you missed my class yesterday, didn't you, therefore stand up, will you?"
  
  I then said: "You heard me using a certain mode of questioning, what are we going to study today?"
  
  Trust me, they all screamed, "QUESTION TAGS" How happy I felt!"
  Moses
  
•   After I introduce the topic, we usually play bingo with tag endings. I give students cards like the bingo ones with different tag endings (for example ..., did she? ..., haven't they?). Then I take a paper and read the sentence (e.g. She went to the supermarket). If they have a possible ending, they cross it out. The idea is to complete the card first. Students enjoy the game a lot! They have to pay attention to the tense and pronoun used."
  Cin
  
•   I find that children need to understand the basic concepts of positive and negative statements as well as identify the subject and its pronoun form. So before I begin the lesson on question tags, I introduce and review these concepts with my children first.
  
  Once this is done, the majority of the children are able to grasp the question tag rules fairly easily and controlled practice follows the lesson presentation.
  
  Finally, I get the children to challenge each other by posing either positive or negative statements. Children respond by placing an appropriate question tag to the statement. This can be done in the form of a game where the children earn points if they are successful in completing the question tag.
  
  Oral practice also allows children to practise the rising intonation that is required in tag questions."
  Jamie
  
•   Conduct a simple survey such as "Find someone who..." Instead of using regular questions, make tag questions for each item."
  Susan
  
•   I provide my students with different cards with question tag answers then I start to read some sentences and the student who has the appropriate answer should stand up once he/she hears the sentence. This technique enables shy students to take part in the lesson.
  Rachid Hasnaoui, Tunisia
  

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