Tag Questions in English: Formation,

Rules and Examples

26TH JUNE 2018JAMES BOANER GRAMMAR

Welcome here again! Allow me to present to you this interesting post

titled, Tag Questions in English: Formation, Rules and Examples. There
are many Types of Questions in English and I have a post dedicated to that
which you might want to check out. Tag Question is one of them. Let us look at
its formation, rules, types and examples; shall we?

Tag Questions in English: Formation, Rules and Examples

We shall begin our discussion on tag questions or question tags by

looking at the definition or meaning of question tags…

Questions Tags

A tag question is a short question which we add to a statement, to elicit a

confirming response from the hearer. In other words, a tag question is
one in which an imperative sentence or a declarative sentence is
changed into a question with an interrogative tag.

A tag question is a distinct structure in English. It is a statement followed

by a mini-question. Tail question is also another name by which tag
question goes. We use a tag question to turn a statement into a question.

Now I have used question tag and tag question interchangeably

because they actually mean the same thing. However, British
English makes use of question tag while American English uses tag
question.

Question Tags Explanation

In further explaining tag question, we should note that we use it mostly

in spoken form rather than in formal or written discourse. Tag questions
can arise out of the need to be polite, or the need to elicit agreement or
consensus, it could indicate emphasis or irony (humour based on using
words to suggest the opposite of their literal meaning).
Sometimes, it could come as a result of the need to hedge. A hedge is an
evasive or non-committal statement. In addition, tag questions could
even be rhetorical, (See Types of Questions). In the legal jurisdiction,
lawyers or prosecutors use tag questions in their leading questions. We
use tag question in confirming whether something is true or otherwise.
We also use it to encourage a reply from our interlocutor.

Question Tags Examples

Let us see some examples of question tags…

1. The man has arrived, hasn’t he?

2. They are not here, are they?
3. The candidates passed the examination, didn’t they?
4. She is tired, isn’t she?
5. He has bought a book, hasn’t he?
6. We read his note, didn’t we?
7. It is not clear, is it?
8. They should not go there, should they?
9. He has a car, doesn’t he?
10. We will do our best, won’t we?
11. I cannot drive, can I?
12. She would do the right thing, wouldn’t she?
13. He had long gone, hadn’t he?
14. He is from London, isn’t he?
15. John can speak Italian, can’t he?
16. The apples aren’t good, are they?
17. She shouldn’t behave like that, should she?
18. You play the flute, don’t you?
19. Aldan likes football, doesn’t he?
20. The children went to the cinema, didn’t they?
21. She studied Theatre in New York, didn’t she?
22. Tom hardly ever speaks, does he?
23. We rarely go out in winter, do we?
24. He has not arrived, has he?
25. The clients are not here yet, are they?

Question Tag Rules

Let us now consider the rules for tag question formation…

We form the tag question from the statement using the subject and the
operator; the syntactic formation is a subject-operator (S-op) inversion;
that is inverting the subject and the auxiliary. In English, which has a
broad range of tag questions, the choice of tag question depends on the
grammatical form of the statement.

Moreover, there are rules for forming the most common types of tag
questions and they are:

Question Tag Rule 1

Using the non-contracted form, we form the tag question under this rule
by copying the operator of the given statement and changing it to
negative if it is positive or to positive if it is negative. For example:

 You have arrived, haven’t you?

 She is not back, is she?
 They are swimming, aren’t they?
 We were asked to pay, weren’t we?
 He should not say that, should he?

Question Tag Rule 2

In the absence of an operator, that is, an auxiliary verb, we use the

positive or negative form of the primary or non-modal auxiliary
verb ‘do’. See the following examples:

 The dog likes to bark always, doesn’t it?

 The designs came out well, didn’t they?
 We live in an age of information, don’t we?
 You like soda, don’t you?

Question Tag Rule 3

If the subject of the statement is a personal pronoun, we copy and place it

after the operator in the tag question. For instance:

 We have not met before, have we?

 He is a jolly good fellow, isn’t he?
Question Tag Rule 4

If the subject of the statement is not a personal pronoun, we use

a personal pronoun which matches its referent (in number, person, case
and gender) to replace it in the tag question. For example:

 The meeting won’t take long, will it?

 The children should eat now, shouldn’t they?
 Kids are not allowed, are they?

Tag Question for I am

There is this tricky part of tag questions which could confuse many users
of English. It is the tag question for one of the non-modal auxiliary verbs
or the be-verbs, am. There are sentences that have ‘I am’ in them like:

 I am a teacher.
 I am doing the job.

How do we then account for the tag for these types of sentences? In
colloquial or informal utterances, mostly in American colloquial speech,
the word ain’t is used. Encarta Dictionary* summarises ain’t thus:

Ain’t is one of the most informal verb contractions in English, and its use in
formal contexts may be criticized because it is associated with careless speech.
It is, however, accepted in folk and popular song lyrics, show titles, direct
quotations, and fictional dialogue. Otherwise ain’t is best avoided, except as a
deliberate rhetorical device and in allusive expressions such as, You ain’t seen
nothing yet.

The correct and grammatically acceptable tag question for I am is the

non-modal auxiliary, are. So we have:

 I am a teacher, aren’t I?
 I am doing the job, aren’t I?

The above caters for sentences that do not contain the negative; but
when the sentence contains the negative, we use the positive tag am as
in the following:

 I am not a singer, am I?
 I am not travelling now, am I?
Irregular Question Tags

As stated under the rules for question tags formation, we use the
operator (the modal auxiliary verbor the non-modal auxiliary verb)
to generate the tag question. If the operator is positive, the tag becomes
negative; and if the operator is negative, the tag becomes positive.

However, there are situations in which we do not use this normal pattern;
positive statements attract positive tags and negative statements attract
negative tags. There are even situations in which another auxiliary
different from the one in the sentence is used to form the tag question.
These are irregular question tags. Some refer to this as unbalanced
question tags or same-way tag questions. Reasons for this could be
for ironic, sarcastic or confrontational effects. We also use them to
request confirmation or suggestion.

Examples of Irregular Question Tags

 Do pay attention, will you?

 Oh, I’m tired, am I?
 Statement: I refuse to attend the party uninvited!

Response: Oh you do, do you? Let’s see about that!

 Oh! Making a decision, are we?

 I’ll cook some food, shall I?
 Let us begin, shall we?
 Let us pray, shall we?
 The driver has to come, doesn’t he?
 Do listen, will you?
 Let’s have a drink, shall we?
 So you’re going abroad, are you?
 She wants to adopt a child, does she?
 So you think that’s funny, do you?

Positive Tag Questions

In English, it is not only the word ‘not’ or any word that begins
with prefixes of negation like ‘un’, ‘mis’, ‘non’, ‘de’, ‘mal’,
etc. (See Prefix: Definition, Types and Examples) that conveys a
negative sense or has a negative connotation. There are
some adverbs that have a negative connotation, even though they
appear in a positive sentence. Such adverbs include: scarcely, barely,
hardly, rarely, never, seldom, etc. (See the post, Do All Adverbs End in
ly?). Because these adverbs have a negative sense, the question that
we use for them is usually positive in conformity to the rule of negative
statements attract positive tags and vice-versa. Let us see these
examples:

 They scarcely eat well these days, do they?

 I barely made it to the games, did I?
 She hardly lends out money, does she?
 It never happened again, did it?
 We seldom tell moonlight stories, do we?

Question Tag for Imperative Sentences

An imperative sentence or statement is one that gives an order,

instruction, polite invitation (See Types of Sentences According to
Function). There is a need, sometimes, to use question tags with
imperatives. The tags we use vary depending on the nature of the
imperative; whether it is an invitation or an order. For invitations, we use
‘won’t’ and for orders, we ‘can’, ‘can’t’, ‘will’ or ‘would’ (See Modal
Auxiliary Verbs). Let us see some examples:

 Take a bow, won’t you? (Polite invitation)

 Come with me, won’t you? (Polite invitation)
 Take a sip, won’t you? (Polite invitation)
 Help me, can you? (Friendly)
 Help me, can’t you? (Friendly, but with a tinge of irritation)
 Bring her along, won’t you? (Polite request)
 Shut the windows, would you? (Polite request)
 Do it now, will you? (Order, less polite)
 Sit down, will you? (Order)
 Get out, will you? (Order)

Note:

When it comes to negative imperatives, we use only ‘will’ for the tag. For
example:

 Don’t do it, will you?

 Don’t forget, will you?
Question Tags: special cases

This is only special cases of the form and use of the questions tags. To
learn about the basics go here first:

Question Tags: The Basics.

I AM

The negative question tag "am I not" has no contraction. Because a

question tag with no contraction sounds very pedantic, we prefer a very
ungrammatical constraction but which is correct for question tags: "aren't
I?"

- I'm late, aren't I?

- I'm talking to the walls, aren't I?

SUGGESTIONS

After a sentence with Let's... we use "shall we?"

- Let's go out for a walk, shall we?

- Let's study tomorrow morning, shall we?

IMPERATIVES & INVITATIONS

After an imperative we use "will you?" (always affirmative). We can

consider "will you?" as an equivalent to "please" (more or less)

- Open the door, will you?

- Don't smoke in this room, will you?
- Come to my party, will you?
- Have a coffee, will you?
- Don't look at me like that, will you?

SAME-WAY QUESTION TAGS

We can use an affirmative question tag with an affirmative sentence and

with a falling intonation. We use these same-way question tags when
we are just repeating what somebody said (maybe even the listener), so
we are not asking a question or looking for confirmation, we are simply
repeating information to express interest, surprise, concern or some
other reaction.

Compare:
- David is your boyfriend, isn't he? ↗ (I think he is, but I'm not sure)
- Oh yes, he's my boyfriend

- David is your boyfriend, is he? ↘ (I know perfectly well, I just want to

let you know that I know)
- Well, yes. Who told you?
- Oh, everybody knows now

- Hello, I'm Tim. I will be your student this year.

- Oh, so you will be my student, will you?
- Yes, nice to meet you, sir.

More examples:

- Mary will come later, will she?

- You're Kevin Bratson, are you?
- Oh, so this is your house, is it?
- So you're having a baby soon, are you? Congratulations!
- Oh, he thinks he is the best, is he? Come on, when will he grow up!
- You're father's at home, is he? Can I come in?

We can also have a negative sentence with a negative question tag,

but that is a lot of negativeness and it sounds aggressive:

- Oh, I heard that you don't like my house, don't you? ↘

- You're not very nice, aren't you? ↘

If there are two verbs in the sentence, the question tag may refer to
one or the other, you must use your common sense here:

- I think you're John, aren't you? (= are you John?)

- I think you're John, don't I (= do I think...?) [this would be correct but
very rare]

Question Tags
English Grammar Rules

Question tags are short questions at the end of statements.

They are mainly used in speech when we want to:
  confirm that something is true or not, or
 to encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.

Question tags are formed with the auxiliary or modal verb from the statement and the
appropriate subject.

A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag.

 Jack is from Spain, isn't he?

 Mary can speak English, can't she?

A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag.

 They aren't funny, are they?

 He shouldn't say things like that, should he?

When the verb in the main sentence is in the present simple we form the question tag
with do / does.

 You play the guitar, don't you?

 Alison likes tennis, doesn't she?

If the verb is in the past simple we use did.

 They went to the cinema, didn't they?

 She studied in New Zealand, didn't she?

When the statement contains a word with a negative meaning, the question tag needs to
be positive

 He hardly ever speaks, does he?

 They rarely eat in restaurants, do they?
Question Tags Summary Charts
Exceptions
Some verbs / expressions have different question tags. For example:

I am - I am attractive, aren't I?
Positive imperative - Stop daydreaming, will / won't you?

Negative imperative - Don't stop singing, will you?

Let's - Let's go to the beach, shall we?

Have got (possession) - He has got a car, hasn't he?

There is / are - There aren't any spiders in the bedroom, are there?
This / that is - This is Paul's pen, isn't it?
Intonation
When we are sure of the answer and we are simply encouraging a response, the intonation
in the question tag goes down:

 This is your car, isn't it?

(Your voice goes down when you say isn't it.)

When we are not sure and want to check information, the intonation in the question tag
goes up:

 He is from France, isn't he?

(Your voice goes up when you say isn't he.)

Answering Tag Questions

How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No.
Sometimes we may repeat the tag and reverse it (They don't live
here, do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful about answering tag
questions. In some languages, an opposite system of answering is
used, and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the
wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion!

Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your

answer reflects the real facts, not (necessarily) the question.

For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these

questions, and the correct answers:

correct
tag question answer notes

Snow is white, isn't it? Yes (it is). Answer is same in But notice change
both cases - of stress when answerer
because snow is does not agree with
white! questioner.
Snow isn't white, is it? Yes it is!

Snow is black, isn't it? No it isn't!

 Snow isn't black, is it? No (it isn't). Answer is same in
both cases -
because snow is
not black!

In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is

it?" with "Yes" (meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong
answer in English!

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.
Tag Question Special Cases
Negative adverbs

The adverbs never, rarely, seldom, hardly, barely and scarcely have a
negative sense. Even though they may be in a positive statement, the
feeling of the statement is negative. We treat statements with these
words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally
positive. Look at these examples:

positive statement
treated as negative statement positive tag

He never came again, did he?

She can rarely come these days, can she?

 You hardly ever came late, did you?

I barely know you, do I?

You would scarcely expect her to know that, would 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 do / rising real question

wallet is, you?

It's a beautiful view, isn't it? \ not a real

falling question

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

 Take a seat, won't you? polite invitation

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

Same-way tag questions

Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-negative or

negative-positive, it is sometimes possible to use a positive-positive or
negative-negative structure. We use same-way tag questions to
express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to make real questions.

Look at these positive-positive tag questions:

 So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!

 She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!
 So you think that's funny, do you? Think again.

Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:

 So you don't like my looks, don't you? (British English)

Asking for information or help

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 good jobs, do you?

 You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?
 You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?
Some more special cases

example notes

I am right, aren't I? aren't I (not amn't I)

You have to go, don't you? you (do) have to go...

I have use first auxiliary

been answering, haven't I?

Nothing came in the treat statements with nothing,

post, did it? nobody etclike negative
statements

Let's go, shall we? let's = let us

He'd better do it, hadn't he? he had better (no auxiliary)

Mixed Examples of Tag Questions

Here is a list of examples of tag questions in different contexts. Notice
that some are "normal" and others seem to break all the rules:

 But you don't really love her, do you?

  This'll work, won't it?
 Oh you think so, do you?
 Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
 But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
 We'd never have known, would we?
 Oh you do, do you?
 The weather's bad, isn't it?
 You won't be late, will you?
 Nobody knows, do they?
 You never come on time, do you?
 You couldn't help me, could you?
 You think you're clever, do you?
 So you don't think I can do it, don't you? (British English)
 Shut up, will you!
 She can hardly love him after all that, can she?
 Nothing will happen, will it?

Why do we need these question tags?

We use questions tags (such as "don't you?", "isn't it?") to turn statements into
questions, or to check that a statement is correct.

It's like saying, "Am I right?" or "Is that correct?"

Tag question rules

Positive statements
In most cases, the helping verb (or BE verb) from the positive statement is
repeated in the tag and changed to negative.

Example sentences:
Statement: Brenda is sad.

Question tag: isn't she?

Tag question: Brenda is sad, isn't she?

Statement: Dinner is ready.

Question tag: isn't it?

Tag question: Dinner is ready, isn't it?

Statement: You are good friends.

Question tag: aren't you?

Tag question: You are good friends, aren't you?

Statement: I will be fine.

Question tag: won't I?

Tag question: I will be fine, won't I?

Statement: You can handle it.

Question tag: can't you?

Tag question: You can handle it,

can't you?

Statement: She really must get some sleep.

Question tag: mustn't she?

Tag question: She really must get some sleep, mustn't she?

Statement: I should give it back.

Question tag: shouldn't I?

Tag question: I should give it

back, shouldn't I?
Statement: You do feel nervous.

Question tag: don't you?

Tag question: You do feel

nervous, don't you?

If there is no helping verb in the statement, then we usually use "don't":

Statement: You work hard.

Question tag: don't you?

Tag question: You work hard, don't

you?
Statement: Lucas loves his
father.

Question tag: doesn't he?

Tag question: Lucas loves his

father, doesn't he?

Negative statements
In most cases, the helping verb (or BE verb) from the negative statement is
repeated in the tag and changed to positive.

Example sentences:

Statement: Brenda isn't happy.

Question tag: is she?

Tag question: Brenda isn't happy, is she?

Statement: Dinner isn't ready.

Question tag: is it?

Tag question: Dinner isn't ready, is it?

Statement: You aren't strangers.

Question tag: are you?

Tag question: You aren't strangers, are you?

Statement: I won't be fine.

Question tag: will I?

Tag question: I won't be fine, will I?

Statement: You can't handle it.

Question tag: can you?

Tag question: You can't handle

it, can you?

Statement: She really mustn't stay up so late.

Question tag: must she?

Tag question: She really mustn't stay up so late, must she?

Statement: I shouldn't keep it.

Question tag: should I?

Tag question: I shouldn't keep it,

should I?

Statement: You don't look so

good.

Question tag: do you?

Tag question: You don't look so

good, do you?
Note that words such as "never" make the statement negative, so:
Statement: Bobo never bar
ks.

Question tag: does he?

Tag question: Bobo never

barks, does he?

Tag questions exercises

Tag questions exercises: Practice different kinds of tag questions: adding tag
questions to sentences with the verb BE, sentences in the simple present tense,
and sentences with modal verbs (positive and negative sentences). Check your
answers automatically.

Tag question summary table

Statement Question tag

Positive ( + ) Negative ( - )

The movie is long, isn't it?

The kids are sleeping, aren't they?

We will win, won't we?

She must be right, mustn't she?

He should be home, shouldn't he?

Negative ( - ) Positive ( + )

The movie isn't long, is it?

The kids aren't sleeping, are they?

We will not win, will we?

She must not be right, must she?

He should not be home, should he?