Question Tags: Confirmation, Expectation, and Intonation

Question tags are short questions added to statements: It’s cold, isn’t it? They are simple in form but rich in meaning because the auxiliary, polarity, pronoun, and intonation all contribute to the speaker’s intention.

Positive statement, negative tag

A positive statement normally takes a negative tag. Reuse the auxiliary from the statement and replace the subject with a pronoun.

• She is ready, isn’t she?
• They have finished, haven’t they?
• You can drive, can’t you?

Negative statement, positive tag

A negative statement normally takes a positive tag.

• He isn’t coming, is he?
• We didn’t miss anything, did we?
• You never smoke, do you?

When there is no auxiliary

With Present Simple and Past Simple lexical verbs, use do/does/did.

• You work here, don’t you?
• She likes coffee, doesn’t she?
• They arrived yesterday, didn’t they?

Special forms worth knowing

A few high-frequency patterns do not follow the most obvious mechanical rule.

• I’m late, aren’t I?
• Let’s start, shall we?
• Open the window, will you?
• There’s a problem, isn’t there?

Intonation changes the function

A rising tone often signals a genuine question: the speaker is less certain. A falling tone usually asks for confirmation of something the speaker already expects to be true.

• You haven’t met her, have you? ↗ = genuine uncertainty
• Lovely weather, isn’t it? ↘ = shared confirmation

Common mistakes to avoid

• Do not change tense in the tag: She went home, doesn’t she? → didn’t she?
• Use the correct pronoun: the students → they.

Quick practice

1. Add a tag: “Mira works remotely, ___?”
2. Add a tag: “They haven’t called, ___?”
3. What tag follows “Let’s take a break”?

Suggested answers: 1. doesn’t she? 2. have they? 3. shall we?

Key takeaway

Build the tag from four decisions: auxiliary, tense, opposite polarity, and pronoun. Then use intonation to communicate how certain you are.