Question Tags

What Are Question Tags?

A question tag is a short question you add to the end of a sentence. It uses an auxiliary verb (have, was, will, do, etc.):

• You haven’t finished the report, have you?
• The meeting was at 10, wasn’t it?

For present simple and past simple sentences, use do / does / did in the tag:

• Karen handles the client accounts, doesn’t she?
• You didn’t send the invoice, did you?

Positive Sentences, Negative Tags (and Vice Versa)

The basic rule: a positive sentence takes a negative tag, and a negative sentence takes a positive tag.

Sentence	Tag	Full example
Positive	Negative	The shipment will arrive today, won’t it?
Positive	Negative	There was a lot of traffic this morning, wasn’t there?
Positive	Negative	Joe should pass the certification, shouldn’t he?
Negative	Positive	The client won’t mind a delay, will she?
Negative	Positive	They don’t need the updated figures, do they?
Negative	Positive	You haven’t submitted the form yet, have you?

Answering Negative Sentences

When someone asks a question tag after a negative sentence, yes and no follow the facts — not the question:

• You’re not attending the conference, are you?
  • Yes. (= Yes, I am attending.)
  • No. (= No, I am not attending.)

Intonation Changes the Meaning

How you say the tag changes what it does.

Voice goes down — you are not really asking. You expect the other person to agree:

• It’s a productive team, isn’t it? — Yes, they do great work.
• Paul doesn’t look well today, does he? — No, he looks tired.

Voice goes up — you are asking a real question:

• You haven’t seen the budget spreadsheet, have you? — No, I haven’t.

This works the same as asking Have you seen the budget spreadsheet?

Using Tags to Ask for Things or Favours

A negative sentence + positive tag with a rising voice is a common way to ask for help, information, or favours:

• You couldn’t cover my shift on Friday, could you? — It depends on my schedule.
• You don’t know where the project files are, do you? — Sorry, I have no idea.

This sounds softer and less direct than a straight question.

Special Cases

A few tags don’t follow the standard pattern:

Sentence start	Tag	Example
Let’s …	shall we?	Let’s take a break, shall we?
Don’t …	will you?	Don’t forget to lock up, will you?
I’m …	aren’t I?	I’m next on the agenda, aren’t I?

Note: aren’t I? is the standard negative tag for I am. (Am I not? means the same thing but is very formal.)

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