You’ve heard of tag questions before, haven’t you? Learn how to form them and when to use them in today’s blog post.
What is a tag question?
Tag questions are used to confirm information. They follow the form of a statement (this can be affirmative or negative) + Auxiliary Verb + Subject.
When do we use them?
Tag questions are used to confirm information that we are almost sure is true. They can also be used to invite opinion or to ask if someone agrees with you.
Tag questions convey the same idea as saying “_____ right?”, although as a general rule tag questions are more formal.
Here are some examples:
“You set the alarm before we left, didn’t you?“
“You have met Alan before, haven’t you?“
“We don’t need a copy of that paper, do we?“
“I didn’t leave the computer on, did I?”
Let’s quickly review the auxiliaries we will need, and where to use them.
For a more in-depth review of different tenses and the auxiliaries they use, Intrepid English Members will find the verb tenses section of our extensive Fast Grammar course useful.
- Verb to be – Present – Am/Are/Is Past Was/Were
- Simple Present – Do/Don’t Does/Doesn’t
- Simple Past – Did/Didn’t
- Simple Future – Will/Won’t
- Abilities – Can/Can’t
- Present Perfect – Have/Haven’t Has/Hasn’t
- Past Perfect – Had/Hadn’t
- Recommendations – Should/Shouldn’t
- Conditional Structures – Could/Couldn’t Would/Wouldn’t
You’re ready now, aren’t you?
Great! Then let’s practise tag questions!
As we discussed in the introduction, a tag question can be used to confirm information, or to invite someone’s opinion on a topic.
Tag questions can be affirmative or negative
- With an affirmative statement, use a negative tag question to confirm.
- With a negative statement, use an affirmative tag question to confirm.
Like so:
Jennifer has worked with the London team before, hasn’t she?
In this example, an affirmative statement (Jennifer has worked) is confirmed with a tag question using a negative auxiliary (hasn’t).
Daniel didn’t join the company until late last year, did he?
In this example, a negative statement (Daniel didn’t join) is confirmed with a tag question using an affirmative auxiliary (did).
Rules for forming tag questions
Use the auxiliary or tense from the statement in the tag question. (e.g.If I make a statement in the future with will, use ‘won’t’ in the tag question.)
Tag questions use the shortened form of the auxiliary. (didn’t, haven’t, can’t etc) i.e. It would be incorrect to say “You did the reports, did not you?” or: “You have been to Berlin, have not you?”
A note on the first person and verb to be
There is an exception with the first person ‘I’ and the verb to be.
The normal conjugation of the verb to be with ‘I’ is ‘am.’
For affirmative tag questions, use the verb ‘am’ (as normal).
For example: “I’m not on the list, am I?”
For a negative tag question only, use ‘aren’t I’?
For example: “I’m on the list, aren’t I?”
Let’s practice!
Intrepid English Members can test their understanding of tag questions by completing the quiz in our course in the Intrepid English Academy. Or book a one-to-one lesson with an Intrepid English Teacher to practise tag questions with an online lesson!
Not an Intrepid English Member yet? Try the game Who am I? with a friend – play this classic question game but instead of direct questions, ask with tag questions.