Question Tags

Question Tags: How to Check Information and Keep the Conversation Going

One of the most characteristic features of spoken English is the question tag. We use these little additions at the end of a sentence to turn a statement into a question.

But we don’t just use them to get information; we use them to check if something is true, to ask for agreement, or simply to keep a conversation flowing naturally.

Let’s start with a simple situation.

An example situation

Sarah is at a party. She thinks she recognises a man standing near the drinks, but she isn’t 100% sure.

She says:

You’re Mark’s brother, aren’t you?

What does this tell us?

The real situation: Sarah believes he is Mark’s brother, but she wants him to confirm it.

The structure: She makes a positive statement and attaches a short negative “tag” at the end.

The “opposite” rule

The most important thing to remember about question tags is that they usually work like a mirror. If the first part of the sentence is positive, the tag is negative. If the first part is negative, the tag is positive.

1. Positive statement / negative tag

“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” (The speaker expects you to agree.)

“You’ve been to London before, haven’t you?“

2. Negative statement / positive tag

“You haven’t seen my keys, have you?” (The speaker is looking for information.)

“It won’t rain today, will it?“

Which verb should you use?

To choose the right tag, you need to look at the main verb in the sentence.

If the sentence has an auxiliary verb (be, have, can, will, must, etc.), use that same verb for the tag:

“They are coming tonight, aren’t they?”

“You can swim, can’t you?”

“We should call them, shouldn’t we?”

If the sentence does not have an auxiliary verb (Present Simple or Past Simple), use do/does/did:

“You play the guitar, don’t you?” (Present Simple)

“She lives near the park, doesn’t she?” (Present Simple)

“They went to the cinema, didn’t they?” (Past Simple)

A few “tricky” tags to remember

Just like with if and wish, English has a few little surprises when it comes to tags:

I am… / aren’t I? (We don’t say “amn’t I”)

Example: “I’m late again, aren’t I?“

Let’s… /shall we?

Example: “Let’s go for a coffee, shall we?“

Negative words (never, nobody, hardly): Even if the verb looks positive, these words make the sentence negative, so the tag must be positive.

Example: “You never listen to me, do you?”

It’s all in the voice (intonation)

The meaning of a question tag actually changes depending on how your voice moves at the end of the sentence:

• If your voice goes DOWN: You aren’t really asking a question. You are just inviting the other person to agree with you.
  • “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” (Falling tone = “I know it’s nice, and I’m sure you agree.”)
• If your voice goes UP: You are asking a real question because you aren’t sure of the answer.
  • “You haven’t seen my phone, have you?” (Rising tone = “I’m actually asking because I’ve lost it!”)

Practice makes perfect

Using question tags correctly is a sign of a truly confident English speaker. It shows you aren’t just reciting memorized sentences—you are interacting with the person in front of you.

Download the question tags exercise worksheet in PDF here