Definition / Explanation
Question tags are short questions added to the end of a statement to check information, ask for confirmation, or invite agreement. They are especially common in spoken English and help conversations sound more natural. The form of the tag depends on the auxiliary verb and on whether the main statement is positive or negative. In most cases, a positive statement takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive tag. Correct tags require good control of auxiliaries, pronouns, and sentence meaning.
Key Rules
- A positive statement normally takes a negative tag: It's late, isn't it?
- A negative statement normally takes a positive tag: You don't know him, do you?
- Use the correct auxiliary: is/isn't, do/don't, can/can't, has/hasn't, etc.
- If there is no auxiliary in the statement, use do/does/did in the tag.
- The subject in the tag is a pronoun: isn't it?, do they?
Examples
- It's late, isn't it?
- You don't know him, do you?
- She can drive, can't she?
- We met before, didn't we?
- The food was good, wasn't it?
Common Mistakes
- ❌ It's late, is it? -> ✅ It's late, isn't it?
- ❌ You don't like coffee, don't you? -> ✅ You don't like coffee, do you?
- ❌ She works here, isn't she? -> ✅ She works here, doesn't she?