Tag Questions

Tag Questions

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. We use tag questions to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Is that right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure of a tag question is:

• Positive statement - Negative tag: It is raining, isn't it?

• Negative statement - Positive tag: You don't like her, do you?

Positive Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with positive statements. You will see that most of the time, the auxiliary verb from the positive statement is repeated in the tag and changed to negative.

• You are coming, aren't you?

• We have finish, haven't we?

• They will help, won't they?

• I should try harder, shouldn't I?

• Emily was there, wasn't she?

The use of "do"

Remember that in Present Simple, do is optional in positive statements (You like coffee/You do like coffee). But the do must appear in the tag.

You like coffee, don't you?

You do like coffee, don't you?

Negative Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with negative statements. Notice that the negative verb in the original statement is changed to positive in the tag.

• It isn't raining, is it?

• We must not tell her, must we?

• He shouldn't drive so fast, should he?

• You aren't Colombian, are you?

• Michael wasn't there, was 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.

 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!

• The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

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:

• He never came again, did he?

• I barely know you, do I?

• She can rarely come these days, can she?