Form

auxiliary verb + subject

1. We use the same auxiliary verb in the tag as in the main sentence. If there is no auxiliary verb in
the main sentence, we use do in the tag.
o You live in Spain, dont you?
2. If the auxiliary verb in the sentence is affirmative, the tag is negative.
o Youre Spanish, arent you?
3. If the auxiliary verb in the sentence is negative, the tag is affirmative.
o Youre not Spanish, are you?

Meaning
1. We use tag questions to Confirm or check information or ask for agreement.
o You want to come with me, dont you?
o You can swim, cant you?
o You dont know where the boss is, do you?
o This meal is horrible, isnt it?
o That film was fantastic, wasnt it?
2. We use tag questions to Check whether something is true.
o The meetings tomorrow at 9am, isnt it?
o You wont go without me, will you?

Additional points
1. In the present form of be: if the subject is I, the auxiliary changes to are or arent in the tag
question.
o Im sitting next to you, arent I?
o Im a little red, arent I?
2. With lets, the tag question is shall we?

o Lets go to the beach, shall we?

o Lets have a coffee, shall we?
3. With an imperative, the tag question is will you?
o Close the window, will you?
o Hold this, will you?
4. We use an affirmative tag question after a sentence containing a negative word such as never,
hardly, nobody.
o Nobody lives in this house, do they?
o Youve never liked me, have you?
5. When the subject is nothing, we use it in the tag question.
o Nothing bad happened, did it?
o Nothing ever happens, does it?
6. If the subject is nobody, somebody, everybody, no one, someone or everyone, we use they in the tag
question.
o Nobody asked for me, did they?
o Nobody lives here, do they?
7. If the main verb in the sentence is have (not an auxiliary verb), it is more common to use do in the
tag question.
o You have a Ferrari, dont you?
o She had a great time, didnt she?
8. With used to, we use didnt in the tag question.
o You used to work here, didnt you?
o He used to have long hair, didnt he?
9. We can use affirmative tag questions after affirmative sentences to express a reaction such as
surprise or interest.
o Youre moving to Brazil, are you?

Pronunciation

1. If we dont know the answer, it is a real question and we use a rising intonation with the tag
question.
o You dont know where the boss is, do you?
2. If we know the answer and are just confirming the information a falling intonation is used with
the tag question.
o That film was fantastic, wasnt it?

Positive Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with positive statements. You will see that most of the time, the auxiliary verb from the
positive statement is repeated in the tag and changed to negative.
(+) positive statement
subject auxiliary main verb
You
are
coming,
We
have
finished,
You
do
like
You
like
They
will
help,
I
can
come,
We
must
go,
He
should
try
You
are
John
was
Notice:

coffee,
coffee,

harder,
English,
there,

(-) negative tag

auxiliary not
personal pronoun same as subject
are
n't you?
have
n't we?
do
n't you?
do
n't you?
wo
n't they?
can
't
I?
must
n't we?
should
n't he?
are
n't you?
was
n't he?

the use of do in the two coffee questions. Remember that in Present Simple, do is optional in positive
statements (You like coffee/You do like coffee). But the do must appear in the tag. The same applies to
Past Simple did.

in last two questions, no auxiliary for main verb be in Present Simple and Past Simple. The tag repeats
the main verb.

Question Tag Exercises

Put the following question tags in to the correct gaps. Each question tag is used only once.
isn't it?, has he?, were you?, aren't you?, doesn't he?, do you?, is she?, didn't you?, did she?

She didn't watch the film last night, ________

It's great to see each other again, __________
He comes every Friday, _________
You're married, __________
You went to Tom's last weekend, _________
You don't like tripe, ___________
She isn't much of a cook, ________
He hasn't lived here long, ________
You weren't invited to the party, __________

Match The Sentence Halves

Sentence

Question Tag

They enjoy playing football

She isn't thinking of moving
He'll go to university
She hasn't studied for very long
Jack bought a new car last week
They aren't serious
You live in an apartment
She doesn't speak Russian
They won't shut up
He isn't concentrating
They hadn't visited you before
This music is fantastic

is she
does she
had they
don't they
won't he
don't you
will they
has she
didn't he
isn't it
are they
is he

Answers
They enjoy playing football, don't they?
She isn't thinking of moving, is she?
He'll go to university, won't he?
She hasn't studied for very long, has she?
Jack bought a new car last week, didn't he?
They aren't serious, are they?
You live in an apartment, don't you?
She doesn't speak Russian, does she?
They won't shut up, will they?
He isn't concentrating, is he?
They hadn't visited you before, had they?
This music is fantastic, isn't it?

The most difficult grammar point for every level of student from Asia to understand is often question tags.
Many Asian languages dont have question tags, so Asian EFL/ESL students find them incredibly confusing.

In fact, EFL/ESL students the world over find learning question tags confusing, which is why I created this free
lesson plan to help. Not only does it make learning about question tags easier, it also makes them fun for both
the student and the teacher
Lesson Plan on Question Tags (Adaptable for every level of ability from pre-intermediate up)
Time: 50 minutes to 2 hours
Expected Learning Outcome Students will be able to answer a question that uses a question tag easily,
quickly and correctly. Students will also be able to ask questions using question tags.
Materials and Resources Whiteboard markers, whiteboard, 12 notecards with 12 verbs written on them,
empty bottle
Teaching Procedures:
Step One:
Give yourself a quick refresher course on question tags before you step in the classroom. Ive found, even with
eight years teaching EFL students, sometimes Im rusty on the rules for question tags, so a quick brush up
doesnt hurt. The main thing to remember is a question tag is nothing more than a quick add-on to a sentence,
which is asking for agreement or confirmation, eg: He didnt eat that, did he? (the did he being your question
tag).
Step Two:
Ask your students four or five questions with question tags and listen as most of them get the answer wrong. (If
you ask You didnt go there, did you? and if theyre agreeing with you, instead of saying No, theyll
mistakenly say Yes.)
Step Three:
Tell your students that the answers they gave were incorrect, but also explain most EFL students make the same
mistakes, so not to worry.
Write down the question tag rules on the board (there are plenty of websites that have them, but I recommend
getting your hands on a book called A Practical English Grammar by A. J. Thomson and A. V. Martinet. It has
everything you ever need to know about English grammar and a wonderful section on question tags.)
Go over all the rules (theres around six) explaining each one and giving your students example questions to
answer. Once they seem to be getting the hang of it (meaning theyre only incorrect 50% of the time), then
move onto Step Four.
Step Four (The Question Tag Game):
Put students into pairs or groups, depending on size of your class. If under 12 students, pairs, over 12 students,
group.
Put notecards you prepared before class in a circle on the floor. The 12 notecards should have 12 random verbs
written on them eg: walk, smoke, eat etc.

Place an empty glass bottle in the middle of the notecard circle and ask the first student to spin the bottle. When
the bottle stops and its pointing to a particular verb, the pair (or group) must create a sentence using that verb,
with the correct question tag at the end of it.
If the pair (or group) gets the question tag incorrect, pass that one onto the next pair (or group) in line, so they
have a chance to answer two questions (they answer that one, plus spin the bottle for their turn).
I also put in 3 extra notecards that say free point, miss a turn and answer 2 questions for 3 points. My
students love landing on these.
Every time a pair or group gets a question tag sentence correct, they get 1 point. At the end of however many
rounds you decide to play, the winning group gets a prize. (I usually bring a bag of $1 cookies to class, and my
students of all ages still love winning them).
If your class is an hour or longer, stop here, do a quick recap of the rules and make sure your students
understand. If you have a two-hour class, move onto Step Five.
Step Five: (for 2 hour classes)
Keep your students in their pairs or groups. Give them an assignment of five verbs per team (different verbs for
each team) and ask them to create a short conversation about any subject using those five verbs in question tag
sentences (its surprising how difficult this is for many students even advanced level).
I allow my students 20-30 minutes to prepare the conversation, and walk around giving them any help they
need. Then each group comes to the front of the class and acts out their question tag role plays.
At the end, go over mistakes teams made by writing the question tag sentences on the board, and asking other
teams if they can correct them.
Expected Outcome:
Students will be able to ask and answer questions using question tags. Students will still have problems doing
this correctly 100% of the time. So, as question tags are used so frequently in English, once Ive taught a
question tag class, I do a five minute segment on question tags at the beginning of the next 4 classes just
making question tag statements so my students get practice in answering them.