Question tags
It's cold, isn't it? You don't eat meat, do you? Short questions at the end of a sentence, and how to build them.
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A question tag is a short question at the end of a sentence: It's cold, isn't it? We use it to check something we think is true, or to invite the other person to agree. Many languages use one fixed word for this. English builds the tag from the verb of the sentence, so the tag changes from sentence to sentence.
How a tag is made
A tag is an auxiliary verb (or be, or a modal verb) + a pronoun. Usually a positive sentence takes a negative tag, and a negative sentence takes a positive tag.
Sentence | Tag | Example |
|---|---|---|
positive | negative | You're coming tomorrow, aren't you? |
negative | positive | You aren't busy, are you? |
- She's from Italy, isn't she?
- They can swim, can't they?
- You weren't at the meeting, were you?
- Incorrect: You're coming tomorrow, isn't it?
- Correct: You're coming tomorrow, aren't you?The tag repeats the verb and the subject of the sentence: you are, so aren't you.
In casual speech you will also hear right? at the end of a sentence: You're coming tomorrow, right? Learners often add yes? in the same way, because their own language does. People will understand it, but it sounds foreign: use a real tag, or right? in casual speech. And isn't it is not a tag for every sentence.
Do, does and did
When the sentence has no auxiliary verb, as in the present simple and the past simple, the tag uses do, does or did.
- You live near here, don't you?
- She works in a bank, doesn't she?
- They left early, didn't they?
- Incorrect: He plays tennis, isn't he?
- Correct: He plays tennis, doesn't he?Plays is the present simple, so the tag uses does.
Other tenses and modal verbs
Use the first auxiliary or modal verb of the sentence.
- You've been to Spain, haven't you?
- It'll be fine, won't it?
- We should leave soon, shouldn't we?
- The children were asleep, weren't they?
With have got, the tag uses have: You've got a car, haven't you? With have alone, it uses do: You have a car, don't you?
The pronoun in the tag
The tag always ends with a pronoun, never with a name or a noun. This and that become it. There is keeps there. Everyone and nobody take they.
- That's your bag, isn't it?
- There's a chemist near here, isn't there?
- Everyone's here, aren't they?
- Incorrect: Anna is your sister, isn't Anna?
- Correct: Anna is your sister, isn't she?The tag uses a pronoun, not the name.
Special tags
- After I am, the negative tag is aren't I: I'm a bit late, aren't I?
- After an imperative, use will you: Close the door, will you?
- After let's, use shall we: Let's take a taxi, shall we?
Words like never, nobody, nothing and hardly make the sentence negative, so the tag is positive.
- You never call me, do you?
- Nothing happened, did it?
- Incorrect: She never eats meat, doesn't she?
- Correct: She never eats meat, does she?Never makes the sentence negative, so the tag is positive.
Your voice: checking or asking
The meaning depends on the intonation. When the voice goes down on the tag, you are fairly sure and you expect the other person to agree: It's a lovely day, isn't it? When the voice goes up, you are not sure and it is a real question: You've got the keys, haven't you? (I hope so, but I don't know.)
Answering a tag
Answer the fact, not the tag. Yes goes with a positive verb and no with a negative one.
- "You aren't busy, are you?" "No, I'm not." (I'm free.)
- "You aren't busy, are you?" "Yes, I am." (I'm busy.)
The same rule works for negative questions like Aren't you busy?, on the page about negative questions.