THE BASIC RULE OF QUESTION TAGS

A question tag is a short question added to the end of a statement to confirm or check whether the statement is correct.

MASTER RULE 1: POSITIVE STATEMENT → NEGATIVE TAG

When the statement is positive, the question tag is normally negative.

Examples:

  • She is a student, isn’t she?

  • They are coming, aren’t they?

  • He likes English, doesn’t he?

  • You can swim, can’t you?

MASTER RULE 2: NEGATIVE STATEMENT → POSITIVE TAG

When the statement is negative, the question tag is normally positive.

Examples:

  • She isn’t a student, is she?

  • They aren’t coming, are they?

  • He doesn’t like English, does he?

  • You can’t swim, can you?

MASTER RULE 3: USE THE AUXILIARY VERB IN THE STATEMENT

The question tag normally repeats the auxiliary or modal verb used in the statement.

Examples:

  • He is here, isn’t he?

  • They have arrived, haven’t they?

  • She will come, won’t she?

  • You can drive, can’t you?

When there is no auxiliary verb, use do, does, or did according to the tense and subject.

Examples:

  • He plays football, doesn’t he?

  • They play football, don’t they?

  • She went home, didn’t she?

MASTER RULE 4: REPEAT THE SUBJECT AS A PRONOUN

The subject of the statement is represented by a suitable pronoun in the tag.

Examples:

  • Musa is here, isn’t he?

  • Amina came early, didn’t she?

  • The students are ready, aren’t they?

  • The book is interesting, isn’t it?

EXAM FOCUS

To form a correct question tag, check these three things:

1. Statement: Is it positive or negative?
2. Auxiliary: Which auxiliary or modal verb is used?
3. Subject: What pronoun represents the subject?

GOLDEN RULE

Positive statement → Negative tag
Negative statement → Positive tag

Statement + opposite tag

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