A tag question is a short question added to the end of a sentence: It's hot today, isn't it? We use tags to check something we think is true or to invite the other person to agree. Americans use them all the time in small talk.
The pattern
You're from Texas, aren't you?
She didn't call, did she?
01Flip positive and negative
If the sentence is positive, the tag is negative. If the sentence is negative, the tag is positive. The tag always uses a pronoun, not a name: Your brother lives in Miami, doesn't he?
Words like never, hardly, nobody and nothing make a sentence negative, so they take a positive tag.
- The game starts at seven, doesn't it?
- You aren't allergic to peanuts, are you?
- Your parents live in Ohio, don't they?
- You never eat breakfast, do you?
02Match the helper verb
Repeat the helper verb from the sentence: be, have, can, will, would, should. If there's no helper verb, use do, does or did to match the tense. In American English, have meaning own also takes do: They have a pool, don't they?
| Sentence | Tag |
|---|---|
| It's cold, | isn't it? |
| They were late, | weren't they? |
| You've been to Denver, | haven't you? |
| He can drive, | can't he? |
| You'll be there, | won't you? |
| She works nights, | doesn't she? |
| We paid the check, | didn't we? |
03Special cases
I am takes aren't I: I'm next, aren't I? After an instruction, add will you or can you to make it a friendly request. After let's, most Americans just say OK? or right? instead of a textbook tag. This and that become it, there is keeps there, and nobody or everybody becomes they.
- I'm on the list, aren't I?
- Close the door, will you?
- Let's leave at six, OK?
- There's a gas station near here, isn't there?
- Everybody had fun, didn't they?
04Up or down: what your voice says
The same tag can mean two things. When your voice goes down on the tag, you're sure and you just want agreement: Nice day, isn't it? When your voice goes up, you really aren't sure and you want an answer: You locked the car, didn't you?
05Common mistakes
You're coming tonight, isn't it?
You're coming tonight, aren't you?
The tag repeats the subject as a pronoun and matches its verb.
She lives in Boston, isn't she?
She lives in Boston, doesn't she?
With no helper verb in the present simple, the tag uses does.
I'm late, am not I?
I'm late, aren't I?
I am takes aren't I in the tag.
You never call me, don't you?
You never call me, do you?
Never makes the sentence negative, so the tag is positive.