The proper use of Question Tags

Question tags are part of everyday speech. They are short questions that are placed at the end of statements. Their purpose is to either confirm what has been said or to elicit a response. The whole idea of using these tags, really, is to carry on a conversation.

For example:

You love writing, don’t you?

He looks handsome, doesn’t he?

The words in bold are a question tag, whereas the whole sentence is a Tag Question.

These tags are more often a part of speech and do not occur often in formal writing. However, they are very useful in informal writing such as that in emails and informal letters. In addition, if you are into writing stories, you will definitely need to make use of them in the dialogue of the characters.

“But why should l pay attention to question tags?” You are probably asking.

The answer is because a lot of people misuse them! This is especially the case where people use English as their second language.

One of the most misused tag is the isn’t it tag. People tend to use it as though it is the only tag that exists and use it each time they want to elicit a response.

You are Mary, isn’t it? {wrong!}

Time has flown, isn’t it?{wrong!}

Love stinks, isn’t it? {wrong!}

Life is wonderful, isn’t it? {correct}

Once you become used to misusing tags like this one, it won’t sound wrong anymore. It will sound awfully correct, and there you’ll be, smirking all over your face thinking you are a genius.

So it’s time to straighten things out!

How are they formed?

I will give you a rule which I am sure you will never forget:

Mr. Positive married Mrs. Negative, and…

Mrs. Negative Married Mr. Positive.

Ha! Ha!

I am not kidding! What I simply mean is this:

A positive statement goes with a negative question tag; and…

A negative statement goes with a positive tag.

Here are examples of positive statements:

I love apples

You are hungry

Mark is a small boy

Eggs are nice

And here are negative question tags:

aren’t you?

don’t I?

Isn’t he?

aren’t they?

Can you match these negative tags to their positive statements?

Yeah you can!

I love apples, don’t I?

You are hungry, aren’t you?

Mark is a small boy, isn’t he?

Eggs are nice, aren’t they?

And now, here are examples of negative statements:

I don’t love mangoes

You are not happy

The man won’t come

Ants are not large

And here are the positive question tags:

are they?

will he?

do I?

are you?

And here’s how they should be combined:

I don’t love mangoes, do I?

You are not happy, are you?

The man won’t come, will he?

Ants are not large, are they?

Take Note: You will find that most of the auxiliary forms of the verbs are contracted. For more information on the proper use of contractions, check this article: Contractions

Pay attention to these important notes:

The auxiliary form of the verb often determines the form of the question tag. The auxiliary verb is that which is placed before the main verb and determines the voice, person, aspect or tone of the main verb. Here an example of auxiliary verbs:

Can, be, have, do, will must, should, are, etc.

This means that if the auxiliary verb in the statement is positive, then the negative form will be used in the question tag:

Mary can swim, can’t she?

And it follows therefore that if the auxiliary verb in the statement is negative, then its positive form will be used in the question tag:

Those apples aren’t red, are they?

Do you now understand why the following tag questions are wrong?

You are Mary, isn’t it?

Time has flown, isn’t it?

Love stinks, isn’t it?

And why this one is correct?

Life is wonderful, isn’t it?

WONDERFUL!!!

We are not through yet…

There are a few exceptions to the rule…

Check the statements below, and try to figure out how the tags should be formed:

Let us go for a hike….

That manikin has to go…

I am short…

No one eats like Harry…

Come here…

Come and see me…

He!

I am sure you tried using the rule I showed you earlier and it didn’t seem to work….

Let’s do this!

Let us or Let’s is followed by shall we?

Let us go for a hike, shall we?

Somehow, if the auxiliary form is followed by the infinitive form of a verb to be, the words do, don’t, doesn’t or didn’t should be used in the question tag:

That manikin has to go, doesn’t he?

The men have to die, don’t they?

They baby has to be taken to the clinic, doesn’t it?

You wanted to see me, didn’t you?

This also applies if the present or present continuous tense is used in the absence in an auxiliary form:

No one eats like Harry, do they?

I love apples, don’t I?

We watch ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’, don’t we?

Elephants love fighting, don’t they?

The auxiliary form am has not got a negative contracted form, so it is used with in conjunction with aren’t :

I am short, aren’t I?

I’m not hungry, am I?

When a statement is an order or an invitation or a request, we break the rule altogether! In this case, we can proceed the positive request with a positive tag, and vice-versa:

Come here, will you?

Come and see me, won’t you?

Switch off the computer, can you?

And sometimes, we can even go further in breaking the positive-negative rule to express astonishment, anger or any other emotion:

So, you do remember, do you?

She loves, me, does she?

How do you answer tags?

Easy-peasy!

You either answer yes or no plus the proper form of the auxiliary verb. Or you simply repeat the tag and reverse it.

You are wondering if I am too young to order these items, aren’t you? Yes, I am

She is very hungry, isn’t she? No, she isn’t

She is not very hungry, is she? No, she isn’t

And watch out for these! If you answer incorrectly, you will miss out on that nice of coffee:

You do mind a cup of coffee, don’t you? Yes, I do{if you don’t want a cup of coffee}; No, I don’t {if you want a cup of coffee}

Do you fancy a cup of coffee? Yes, I do {if you want a cup of coffee}; No, I don’t {if you don’t want a cup of coffee}.

Would you care for a cup of coffee? Yes, I would{if you want a cup of coffee}; No, I wouldn’t{if you don’t want a cup of coffee}

Hmm...I think we are done now.

AWESOME!!!

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