Tag Questions

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: “Am I right?” or “Do you agree?” They are very common in English.

The basic structure is:

+ Positive statement,	– negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn’t it?
– Negative statement,	+ positive tag?
You don’t like me,	do you?

Examples with positive statements:

positive statement [+]				negative tag [-]
subject	auxiliary	main verb		auxiliary	not	personal pronoun (same as subject)
You	are	coming,		are	n’t	you?
We	have	finished,		have	n’t	we?
He		likes	coffee,	does	n’t	he?
You		like	coffee,	do	n’t	you?
They	will	help,		wo	n’t	they?
I	can	come,		can	‘t	I?
We	must	go,		must	n’t	we?
He	should	try	harder,	should	n’t	he?
You		are	English,	are	n’t	you
John		was	there,	was	n’t	he?

Examples with negative statements:

negative statement [-]						positive tag [+]
subject	auxiliary	negation	main verb	negation	complement	auxiliary	personal pronoun (same as subject)
It	is	n’t	raining,			is	it?
We	have	never	seen		that,	have	we?
You	do	n’t	drink		coffee,	do	you?
They	will	not	cry,			will	they?
They	wo	n’t	wait		for us,	will	they?
I	can	never	do		it right,	can	I?
We	must	n’t	trust		her,	must	we?
He	should	n’t	drive		so fast,	should	he?
You			are	n’t	French,	are	you?
John			was	not	there,	was	he?

Exceptions:

I am right, aren’t I?	aren’t I (not amn’t I)
I have been answering, haven’t I?	use first auxiliary
Nothing came in the post, did it?	treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements
Let’s go, shall we?	let’s = let us

Here are some mixed examples:

• You don’t really love her, do you?
• This will work, won’t it?
• Well, I couldn’t afford it, could I?
• But you’ll tell me if she calls, won’t you?
• We’d never have known, would we?
• The weather’s great, isn’t it?
• You won’t be late, will you?
• Nobody knows, do they?

Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example, instead of saying “Where is the police station?” (not very polite), or “Do you know where the police station is?” (slightly more polite), we could say: “You wouldn’t know where the police station is, would you?” Here are some more examples:

• You don’t know of any job, do you?
• You couldn’t help me with my homework, could you?
• You haven’t got $20 to lend me, have you?

Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn’t require a real answer:

intonation
You don’t know where my wallet is,	do you?	/ rising	real question
It’s a beautiful view,	isn’t it?	\ falling	not a real question

Answers to tag questions

We just say “Yes” or “No”. Sometimes we may repeat the tag and reverse it (…, do they? Yes, they do). 

Here are some more examples, with correct answers:

• The moon goes round the earth, doesn’t it? Yes, it does.
• The earth is bigger than the moon, isn’t it? Yes.
• The earth is bigger than the sun, isn’t it? No, it isn’t!
• Asian people don’t like rice, do they? Yes, they do!
• Elephants live in Europe, don’t they? No, they don’t!
• Men don’t have babies, do they? No.
• The English alphabet doesn’t have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn’t.

Question tags with imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won’t for invitations. We use can, can’t, will, would for orders.

imperative + question tag	notes:
invitation	Take a seat, won’t you?	polite
order	Help me, can you?	quite friendly
	Help me, can’t you?	quite friendly (some irritation)
	Close the door, would you?	quite polite
	Do it now, will you?	less polite
	Don’t forget, will you?	with negative imperatives only will is possible