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Question Tags

1 min
B1
CEFR B1·other

Formula

,
? (You're tired, aren't you?)
,
? (You're not tired, are you?)

Examples

Positive
You are coming, aren't you?
Negative
She doesn't speak French, does she?
Question
They have arrived, haven't they?

Usage

  • •Check information or seek confirmation
  • •Invite agreement in conversation
  • •Rules: opposite polarity, use the same auxiliary, match the subject pronoun

More Examples

  • It's a beautiful day, isn't it?

    Inviting agreement (small talk)

  • You weren't at the meeting, were you?

    Confirming a negative

  • Let's have coffee, shall we?

    Special: "Let's..." → "shall we?"

  • Open the door, will you?

    Special: imperative → "will you?"

  • I'm late, aren't I?

    Special: "I am" → "aren't I?"

  • He has a car, doesn't he?

    When "have" is a main verb (US): use do/does

Common Mistakes

  • ✗Wrong auxiliary: "She speaks French, doesn't it?" — should match subject: "doesn't SHE?".
  • ✗Same polarity: "You're tired, are you?" — should be opposite: "aren't you?".
  • ✗Forgetting modal repetition: "He can swim, doesn't he?" → "He can swim, can't he?".

Tips

  • ✓Intonation matters: rising tone = real question, falling tone = expecting agreement.
  • ✓Quick rule: positive sentence → negative tag · negative sentence → positive tag · keep the same tense/auxiliary.

Advanced Notes

Question tags are deeply social — intonation changes the meaning entirely. A falling tone on the tag ("Nice day, isn't it ↘") signals you already know the answer and just want agreement; a rising tone ("You've met him, haven't you ↗") means you're genuinely unsure. British English uses question tags far more than American English, where "right?" and "yeah?" serve the same conversational function. Special cases trip up advanced learners: "I'm late, aren't I?" (not "amn't I?"), "Let's go, shall we?", imperative + "will/would/can you?".

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Compare With

Present Simple(A1)Past Simple(A1)