B1 Grammar

Question tags

Question tags

Question Tags

Use:

Use question tags in two situations.

1) You are not sure if something is true, so you want to check. In this case, your voice should rise when you say the question tag.

↗

You’re not going now, are you?

2) You know something is true. You want to include/involve another person in the conversation. In this case, your voice should fall when you say the tag. It does not sound like a question.

↘

He doesn’t live here now, does he?

Form:

Question tags are either:

1) positive statements with short, negative questions at the end.

These tags check something that you believe is true.

It’s Monday today, isn’t it?

2) negative statements with short, positive questions at the end.

These tags check something that you believe is false.

It’s not raining, is it?

Make question tags this way:

1) If there is an auxiliary verb or a modal verb, write it in the opposite form (positive or negative) at the end of the sentence. Then write the subject pronoun of the sentence.

Ian’s nice, isn’t he?

Laura hasn’t arrived yet, has she?

I can’t do anything to help, can I?

We won’t be late, will we?

Caution:

CAUTION: Use aren’t with I’m in questions tags.

I’m a bit careless, aren’t I? NOT I’m a bit careless, am not I?

2) In present and past simple sentences, use do, does or did in the question tag.

Brian and Cathy don’t eat meat, do they?

Your dad lives abroad, doesn’t he?

Your friends enjoyed themselves, didn’t they?

3) Use a positive question tag after never.

Miles never goes out, does he?