Question Tags

I. We use question tags to confirm information, usually information we already know or think is true.

II. A question tag is two words added to the end of a sentence: An auxiliary verb and a pronoun.

• If the sentence is positive, the auxiliary verb should be negative:

He is German, isn’t he?

• If the sentence is negative, the auxiliary verb should be positive:

She isn’t happy, is she?

• If the sentence doesn’t have an auxiliary verb, use “do” or “don’t”.

You like fishing, don’t you?

III. To answer someone who is using a question tag, you must agree or disagree with the first part of the sentence, not the tag:

• We’re going to the movies tonight, aren’t we?

Yes, we are. (We’re going at 8:00pm.)

No, we aren’t. (We’re staying home.)

PRACTICE