3. A question tag is a short question form
asked at the end of the statement or
imperative sentence.
Question tags are used when asking for
agreement or confirmation.
In a question tag, a statement is made
and a question is asked after that
Ex: You are busy, aren’t you?
4. Positive statement takes negative tag and
negative statement takes positive tag
Ex: 1. You are a student, aren’t you?
2. Mary is not a teacher, is she?
5. The question tag always begins with an auxiliary verb or a
modal verb.
Auxiliary Verb + Not + Personal Pronoun
Auxiliary Verb + Personal Pronoun
Auxiliary Verb Modal Verb Pronoun
Be Verb - am, is, are,
was, were
Can, could, shall, should,
will, would, may, might,
must
I, we, you, they, it, he,
she
Have verb – Have, Has,
Had
Do Verb – Do, Does, Did
6. Question tags are formed with the same auxiliary
(or) modal verb found in the main part of the
sentence
The negative adverb “not” is always used in
contracted form
is + not isn’t can + not can’t has + not hasn’t
am + not aren’t could + not couldn’t have + not haven’t
are + not aren’t must + not mustn’t had + not hadn’t
was + not wasn’t do + not don’t need + not needn’t
were + not weren’t does + not doesn’t should + not shouldn’t
will + not won’t did + not didn’t shall + not shan’t
7. If the main part of the sentence doesn’t have
an auxiliary verb or a modal verb, the question
tag is formed with the appropriate form of
‘do’ based on the tense of the main verb and
the number of the subject.
Ex: 1. Mahathi sings very well, doesn’t she?
(Present tense - Singular subject)
8. 2. These girls sing very well, don’t they?
(Present tense – Plural subject)
3. Mahathi sang very well, didn’t she?
(Past tense – Singular subject)
4. These girls sang very well yesterday, didn’t they?
(Past tense – Plural subject)
9. The pronoun ‘they’ is used if the subject of the sentence
refers to people (or) animals or things in plural.
Ex: The toys in the box are not new, are they?
Ex: Everyone will attend the party, won’t they?
Someone
They
somebody
anyone
anybody
no one
nobody
everything
every me
everybody
10. The pronoun it is used in the question tag when the subject
of the statement is:
Ex: 1. The peacock is the national bird of India, isn’t it?
2. This is not your dad’s car, is it?
3. Something has gone wrong in the circuit, hasn’t it?
4. The blue frock was more expensive than the pink one,
wasn’t it?
A thing (or) an animal in singular form
It
Something, Anything (or) Nothing
This (or) that
11. When the statements begin with “there” the same is used as
the subject of the question tags too
Ex: 1. There is not much time left, is there?
2. There was a pond beside the temple, wasn’t there?
Ex: We rarely visit our native town, do we?
hardly, scarcely, rarely,
barely, seldom, never, no,
neither, none, nobody,
nowhere, no one, nothing,
few, little
Negative Meaning
12. Statements having “a little” (or) “a few” are positive and
therefore they take a negative tag.
Ex: A few germs can be viewed through this microscope,
can’t they?
Sentences that begin with “Let’s…. take “shall we?” as the
question tag.
Ex: Let’s clean the shelves this weekend, shall we?
Let’s organize a trip to Goa, shall we?
13. A comma is added at the end of the statement
and the tag begins with a small letter and ends
with a question mark.
Ex: 1. I am a student, aren’t I?
2. He is a student, isn’t he?
3. They are students, aren’t they?
4. He can run fast, can’t he?
5. I will come tomorrow, won’t I?
6. We shall speak, shan’t we?
14. 7. The sun sets in the west, doesn’t it?
8. Shreya draws well, doesn’t she?
9. Let’s go for a movie, shall we?
10. Our team will win the match, won’t we?
11. She rarely absents herself, does she?
12. The flag has three colours on it, hasn’t it?
13. You should treat each with respect, shouldn’t you?
