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ENGLISH
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Question Tags.
Suitable for learners in
secondary schools.
COMPILED BY:
AMOS CHILESHE MUSELEMA
Question Tags
Question tags are short questions at the end of statements.

They are mainly used in speech when we want to:

 confirm that something is true or not, or

 To encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.

They are formed with the auxiliary or modal verb from the statement and the appropriate subject.

RULES GOVERNING THE USE OF QUESTION TAGS

A. POSITIVE STATEMENT
A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag.
Jack is from Spain, isn't he?

 Mary can speak English, can't she?

 Lukundo is playing tennis at the moment, isn’t she?

 You are a student, aren’t you?

 Kenny is from Isoka, isn't he?
 Alice can speak English, can't she?
 Rebecca and Maybin got married last year, didn’t they?
 Annie will be here soon, wont she?

B. NEGATIVE STATEMENT
A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag.

 They aren't coming, are they?
 Amos shouldn't say things like that, should he?
 Christine doesn’t want to go shopping, does she?
 Muselema didn’t come to the party, did he?
 James wasn’t playing football in the garden, was he?
 Mr. Mwenya didn’t come to the party, did he?
 Jacob isn’t a teacher, is he?
 You aren’t a doctor, are you?
 She isn’t crazy, is she?
 You can’t drive a car, can you?
 She wouldn’t stop them, would she?

C. EXCEPTIONS

Some verbs / expressions have different question tags. For example:

I am - I am attractive, aren't I?

Positive imperative - Stop daydreaming, will / won't you?

Negative imperative - Don't stop singing, will you?

Let's - Let's go to the beach, shall we?

Have got (possession) - He has got a car, hasn't he?

There is / are - There aren't any spiders in the bedroom, are there?

 This / that is - This is Paul's pen, isn't it?

D. WHEN THE MAIN SENTENCE IS IN THE PRESENT SIMPLE FORM

When the verb in the main sentence is in the present simple we form the question tag
with do / does.
 You play tennis, don't you?
 You speak English, don’t you?
 Chimwemwe likes tennis, doesn't she?


E. If the Verb is in the Present Simple

If the verb is in the past simple we use did.

 They saw a lion, didn't they?
 Upendo studied in Lagos, didn't she?

F. Negative words
When the statement contains a word with a negative meaning, the question tag needs to
be positive. Sentences containing negative words like never, no, nobody, hardly,
scarcely and little are followed by non-negative (positive) question tags.
 You never let me visit you, do you? (not …don’t you?)
 She hardly steps out of her home, does she?
 There is little we can do about it, is there?
 He hardly ever speaks, does he?
 They rarely visit us, do they?

G. The use of It
It is used in question tags to refer back to nothing and everything.
Everything is alright, isn’t it? (NOT …isn’t everything?)

H. The use of they

We use they in question tags to refer to nobody, somebody, everybody, no one etc.
Nobody came, did they?

I. IMPERATIVES
Imperatives can be followed by will you / would you / can you / can’t you / could
you?
 Keep quiet, can’t you?
 Give me a hand, would you?
 Open a window, will you?

After a negative imperative, we use will you?

 Don’t forget, will you?
J. THE QUESTION TAG FOR LET’S
The question tag for let’s is shall we?
Let’s go for a walk, shall we?
Let’s go the hospital, shall we?
K. After have
When have is used as a principal verb, question tags with both have and do are possible in
British English. Do is more common in American English.
 She has a boyfriend, hasn’t / doesn’t she?
L. THE QUESTION TAG FOR I AM
The question tag for I am is aren’t I?
I am sick, aren’t I?
I am late, aren’t I?

M. IF THE MAIN SENTENCE HAS NO AUXILIARY VERB

If the main sentence has no auxiliary, the question tag has do.
 You like fish, don’t you?
 He likes fish, doesn’t he?
 She came, didn’t she?
 He studied French, didn’t he?
 You eat fast, don’t you?
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