Question Tags

Question tags is a short questions added to the end of a positive or negative statement.
For example:
He is, isn’t he?
He does, doesn’t he?
He will, won’t he?
He can, can’t he?

Normally a positive statement is followed by a negative tag, and a negative statements is followed by a positive tag.
For example:
(+) You’re English, (-) aren’t you?
(-) You’re not German, (+) are you?

The statement and the tag are always separated by a comma.
Treat any statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements.
The verb in the statement should be the same tense as the verb in the tag.
For example:
Present tense
You are a good singer, aren’t you?
Past tense
You didn’t go to work yesterday, did you?
Present perfect tense
You have been to London, haven’t you?

If the verb used in the statement is an auxiliary verb, then the verb used in the tag must match it. If a modal (can, could, will, should, etc.) is used in the statement, then the same modal is used in the tag part. If the statement doesn’t use an auxiliary verb, then the auxiliary do is used in the tag part.
For example:
Auxiliary verb
She is from England, isn’t she?
They aren’t very nice, are they?
She doesn’t like it here, does he?
Modal verb
You can sing, can’t you?
They shouldn’t do that, shouldn’t they?
No auxiliary
He eats meat, doesn’t he?
He had a bath, didn’t he?
Nothing happened, did it?



Exercise

Complete the following conversations with a questions tag.
Mira : You didn’t have a very good holiday, ...?
answer: did you
Diana : No, but how do you know? Oh I expect Haikal told you, ...?
answer: didn't he
Mira : yes, I met him in town last week. You went to Spain, ...?
answer: didn't you
Diana : Yes, I like Spain, but not the weather.
Mira : That’s right. It rained all the time, ...? And you didn’t like the hotel, ...?
answer: didn't it - did you
Diana : That’s right. You went to Spain last year, ...?
answer: didn't you
Mira : Yes, but we had a lovely time. In fact, we’ll probably go there again next year.