Question tags: isn't it? don't you?

Start with the opposite-polarity pattern

Polarity means whether a clause is positive or negative. A clause is a group of words built around a verb. In the pattern used to invite confirmation, change the polarity in the tag: positive statement plus negative tag, or negative statement plus positive tag.

This is one tag pattern, not the only possible pattern. A positive statement can also have a positive tag with a different conversational purpose. You will see that pattern below. Do not mark every same-polarity tag wrong.

A tag belongs to the statement made by the same speaker. Compare You've booked the room, haven't you? with a separate reply to someone else's message: A: I've booked the room. B: Have you?. The second is a reply question, not an attached tag. See Echo and reply questions: checking what you heard.

Choose the verb from the statement

A helper verb works with a main verb: is waiting, has arrived, didn't leave. A modal is a verb such as can, will or should. Keep that helper or modal in the tag, changing its polarity for the confirmation pattern.

When the verb phrase has several words, use the first helper or modal. Do not choose a later be or have just because it is closer to the main verb.

• They have been waiting, haven't they? Have comes before been waiting.
• She will have finished, won't she? The first modal is will, not have.
• We should have checked, shouldn't we? Should carries the tag; have checked is understood.

Short forms can hide different verbs. In She's waiting, 's means is, so use isn't she?. In She's finished her work, it means has, so use hasn't she?. Read the whole construction before choosing the tag.

Use do, does or did when needed

A positive present simple or past simple statement with an ordinary main verb has no helper to copy. Use do, does or did in the tag. Match the tense and the subject. Do not repeat the main verb after it.

Used to takes a tag with did: Your aunt used to run this shop, didn't she?. The past habit does not make used the tag verb.

Separate main-verb have from helper have. Compare You have a spare key, don't you?, You've got a spare key, haven't you? and You've found the key, haven't you?. With possession, tags using have after main-verb have are also possible, especially in British usage: You have a spare key, haven't you?. Do not treat don't you? as uniquely possible in that possession sentence.

Cambridge also records shouldn't and oughtn't after ought to: We ought to report the damage, shouldn't we?. These alternatives are not mistakes. With must, mustn't is possible: The repair must cost a lot, mustn't it?. Do not turn these examples into a claim that every modal-like expression has only one possible tag in every context.

Match the subject, not just the verb

The tag normally uses a pronoun referring to the statement's subject. It stays the same person or thing. Unlike a reply spoken by another person, an attached tag does not automatically change I to you.

With somebody or everybody, the statement can have a singular verb but the tag uses the verb form that goes with they. Compare Everybody is listening, aren't they?. Do not mechanically copy is before they.

There stays in the tag when it introduces the existence of something. It does not change to it simply because the noun is singular.

• There is another entrance, isn't there? Keep there in the tag.
• There weren't any towels, were there? The negative statement takes a positive tag.

Notice negative words without not

A statement can be negative without containing not or n't. Words such as never, nobody, nothing and hardly ever give a negative meaning. In the opposite-polarity pattern, use a positive tag after them.

Read both meaning and form. Nobody has signed, have they? has a positive tag because nobody makes the statement negative. Somebody has signed, haven't they? has a negative tag because somebody does not make it negative. Both use they in the tag.

I am and I am not

After positive I am, the usual negative tag is aren't I?. This is a special form. After negative I am not, use am I?. A word such as never can also make an I am statement negative.

The choice depends on the whole statement, not simply the letters I'm. I'm not late, aren't I? does not follow this opposite-polarity pattern. For aren't I? in negative questions, see Negative questions: isn't it, why don't you, didn't you.

Your voice and the listener's answer

Intonation is the rise or fall of your voice. With opposite-polarity tags, a falling voice can show that you are fairly sure and expect confirmation. A rising voice can show that you are less sure. The same written tag can have either pattern.

These are not rules that force the listener to agree. A listener can correct your assumption. Nor does a question mark on the page show every detail of tone. Context can make a tag sound friendly, doubtful or pressing.

Answer according to the facts, not simply by copying the positive or negative shape of the tag. Yes normally goes with a positive short answer; no goes with a negative short answer.

The second row can feel difficult because the speaker expects a negative answer. Yes, I have corrects that expectation. You can add a short explanation to make the meaning clear. This is the usual short-answer pattern, not a claim that every conversational use of yes and no is identical. See Short answers, so do I, neither do I, and I think so and Negative questions: isn't it, why don't you, didn't you.

Positive statement plus positive tag

You can keep both parts positive: So you repair watches, do you?. This can react to new information, show interest, surprise or doubt, or check a guess. It is not automatically a grammar error, and it is not limited to one emotion.

• Oh, you've joined the choir, have you? A response to something you have just heard.
• So this is the replacement part, is it? You are checking an assumption.

Cambridge describes a rising tone for this pattern. Compare You know the manager, don't you?, which invites confirmation of something you think is true, with You know the manager, do you?, which can react to that information or question it. The surrounding conversation helps make the purpose clear.

This pattern can ask whether an assumption is correct. Choose the pattern for the meaning, not by a rule that every tag must change polarity.

Tags with requests and suggestions

An imperative starts with a verb form such as wait or bring and asks or tells someone to do something. Tags after imperatives do not follow the ordinary positive-statement rule. You can use will you?, would you?, could you?, can you? or won't you?, depending on the request and context.

• Hold the ladder, will you? A request for the other person to act.
• Pass the flour, could you? Another request form.
• Come inside for a moment, won't you? An invitation.
• Don't move the boxes, will you? A positive tag can follow a negative imperative.

Cambridge describes imperative tags as softening the command a little. That is a possible use, not a guarantee of politeness. BBC's teaching dialogue also shows that tone can make an imperative tag sound rude. The words alone do not settle the social effect.

After a suggestion beginning let's, use shall we?: Let's compare the two plans, shall we?. The suggestion includes the speaker, so its tag uses we. Do not apply will you? mechanically to every imperative-like expression.

Agreement tags and informal alternatives

You can add a tag to your own short agreeing response. The tag still belongs to what you say, not directly to the other person's original sentence.

• A: The exhibition was excellent. B: Yes, it was, wasn't it? Positive agreement with a negative tag.
• A: The instructions weren't clear. B: No, they weren't, were they? Negative agreement with a positive tag.

In informal conversation, right? can replace a changing helper tag: You're taking the early train, right?. Cambridge also gives yeah? in very informal use. These words do not change to match the tense or subject.

A different informal pattern repeats a statement rather than asking a question: He's patient, he is.. Cambridge calls this a statement tag. Its subject-verb order is different from the question tag isn't he?. You do not need to force every short ending into the question-tag formula.

What comes next

Use Echo and reply questions: checking what you heard for separate reply and echo questions, Negative questions: isn't it, why don't you, didn't you for negative questions without an attached statement, and Short answers, so do I, neither do I, and I think so for short answers and agreement. Use Imperatives and let's: instructions, orders and suggestions for the base request and command forms. This page's core is the question tag; the other short endings above are contrasts, not replacements for those full references.