Question Tag: Introduction

It is a short phrase that is added to the end of a sentence to look over the statement in the sentence if it is confirmed or, the speaker or someone agrees or not. The term ‘Question Tag’ is not in the sense of a complete interrogative sentence, it just raises a tag to ensure a defined statement. We often use these question tags in daily life usages.

Question Tags are of two kinds, I. Positive Tags, & II. Negative Tags.

Positive Tags are those which do not hold any negative sense in themselves. But, these are used with negative statements. And, Negative Tags are those which take a negative sense in themselves and are always used with positive statements.

question tags

Usages and Examples of Question Tags

We always add question tags to the end of a sentence. A single sentence does not shoulder more than one question tag. We use a comma (,) before the tag and a question mark (?) after the tag. And, we use the contracted form of auxiliaries like– ‘does not‘, as, doesn’t in the negative tags. Never use a noun in a tag, use a suitable pronoun according to the subject of the statement. Well! remember, a tag never starts with a capital letter. If there is no auxiliary verb in the statement, we bring a suitable auxiliary in the tag (like, do/does/did). You can not always find a direct negative statement, sometimes there are adverbs of frequencies which are negative in sense, in such a scenario we use the positive tag. Such adverbs are –hardly, rarely, barely, scarcely, seldom, no, none, neither, nobody, nothing, no one, etc. Remember! if there is any introductory subject in the statement then we use a suitable subject in the tag according to the introductory subject in the statement (we use, It for It/This/That/Everything/Something/Nothing; They for These/Those/None/Somebody; One is used for One). In the case of Let in the statement, we use shall/will in the tag. Carefully notice the case for imperative statements, if the imperative statement is positive, we use either a positive or negative tag (will you/won’t you); but, for the negative imperative statements, we always use a positive tag (will you). Further, remember! If the statement shoulder annoyance or anger or irritation or rage, we always use the tag can’t you.
In case of “I” as the subject, for positive sentences, the question tag becomes “aren’t I?” and for negative sentences, the question tag becomes “am I?”

Let’s go through a few examples to make it clear-

  1. College girls seldom wear sarees these days, do they?
  2. Everybody in the office has left early, haven’t they?
  3. He comes here often, doesn’t he?
  4. He is your brother, isn’t he?
  5. He must know them in their most plausible form, mustn’t he?
  6. He was weary of failure, wasn’t he?
  7. His reasons can be good, can’t they?
  8. I am late, aren’t I?
  9. I am not late, am I?
  10. I don’t suppose anyone will volunteer, will they?
  11. I must live until I die, mustn’t I?
  12. I needn’t get up early tomorrow, need I?
  13. It will rain soon, won’t it?
  14. Let me do it, will you?
  15. Let us go see her new house, shall we? (In the case of “Let’s” we use shall)
  16. None of the food was wasted, was it?
  17. One can not be indifferent to one’s health, can one?
  18. Rahul needs to complete the work in time, doesn’t he?
  19. Sachin Tendulkar has completed hundred centuries, hasn’t he?
  20. She has not completed her course, has she?
  21. She pretends as if she had never in her life, told a lie. isn’t it?
  22. The Indian team should fare well, shouldn’t it?
  23. The collector visits the office regularly, doesn’t he?
  24. The earth moves round the Sun, doesn’t it?
  25. The hotel was not expensive, was it?
  26. The students often play truant, don’t they?
  27. There is a cinema near the station, isn’t there?
  28. They have bought a new car, haven’t they?
  29. They need not worry, need they?
  30. We can buy anything in this shop, can’t we?
  31. We should make green vegetables an essential part of our daily diet, shouldn’t we?
  32. You called on me when I was not at home, didn’t you?
  33. You have been working very hard for the past two years, haven’t you?
  34. You have prepared well for the examination, haven’t you?
  35. You haven’t responded to my invitation, have you?
  36. You ought to do your homework, oughtn’t you?
  37. You will come to my sister’s wedding tomorrow, won’t you?
  38. Your father used to be the principal of this college, didn’t he?