1. That’s the postman, …………………?

2. Not a very good novel, ………………?

3. They promised to repay us within two months ……………….?

4. It is not warm, ………………..?

5. You didn’t meet Jane, ………………….?

6. John gave you an envelope, …………………?

7. You haven’t seen my keys anywhere, ……………….?

8. Let’s go for a walk, …………………..?

9. You never say what you are going to do, …………………?

10. There is little we can do about it, ……………….?

11. I’m late,………………?

12. He has a bad temper, ………………?

Answers

1. That’s the postman, isn’t it?

2. Not a very good novel, is it?

3. They promised to repay us within two months, didn’t they?

4. It is not warm, is it?

5. You didn’t meet Jane, did you?

6. John gave you an envelope, didn’t he?

7. You haven’t seen my keys anywhere, have you?

8. Let’s go for a walk, shall we?

9. You never say what you are going to do, do you?

10. There is little we can do about it, is there?

11. I’m late, aren’t I?

12. He has a bad temper, hasn’t he / doesn’t he?

Grammar notes

After let’s…, we use shall we?

Non-negative tags are used after sentences containing negative words like never, no, nobody, hardly, scarcely and little.

It’s no good, is it? (NOT …isn’t it?)

When have refers to states, question tags with have and do are both possible in British English. In American English, do is more common.

She has three kids, doesn’t she / hasn’t she?

The question tag for I am is aren’t I, not amn’t I.

I am late, aren’t I? (NOT I am late, amn’t I?)

Imperative sentences

The question tag for imperative sentences are will you/ won’t you/ can you
/ can’t you/ would you / could you.

Come here, will you?
Open the windows, would you?
Keep quiet, can’t you?
Shut up, won’t you?

The question tag for a negative imperative is will you?

Don’t forget, will you?

Let’s

After let’s… we use shall we?

Let’s go for a walk, shall we?

Sentences containing negative words like hardly, never, no, nobody and little are followed by non-negative tags.

You never call me, do you? (NOT …don’t you?)
He is no good, is he? (NOT …isn’t he?)
I have hardly ever met her, have I?

In question tags referring to nothing and everything we use it.

Everything is ok, isn’t it? (NOT …isn’t everything?)
Nothing can happen, can it? (NOT …can nothing?)

In question tags referring to nobody, somebody, everybody etc., we use they.

Nobody came, did they? (NOT …did nobody?)
Somebody wanted a drink, didn’t they?

After principal verb have, question tags with have and do are often both possible. Note that do is more common in American English.

They have a farm house, haven’t / don’t they?
He had a bad headache, hadn’t/didn’t he?

Notes

In sentences with question tags, pronoun subjects and auxiliary verbs are often left out.

Nice day, isn’t it. (More natural than ‘It’s a nice day, isn’t it?)

1.    It is raining, —————–?

a)    Is it
b)    Isn’t it
c)    Does it
d)    Doesn’t it

2.    He knows her, ——————-?

a)    Does he
b)    Knows he
c)    Doesn’t he
d)    Doesn’t her

3.    John will come, ———————-?

a)    Will John
b)    Will he
c)    Won’t he
d)    Won’t John

4.    He will never quit smoking, ———————?

a)    Will he
b)    Won’t he
c)    Does he
d)    Doesn’t he

5.    Your sister is a writer, ——————–?

a)    Is she
b)    Is your sister
c)    Isn’t she
d)    Aren’t you

6.    I didn’t hurt you, ———————–?

a)    Did I
b)    Did you
c)    Didn’t I
d)    Didn’t you

7.    Alice is a good girl, ——————–?

a)    Is she
b)    Is Alice
c)    Isn’t she
d)    Isn’t Alice

8.    I am ready, ———————?

a)    Amn’t I?
b)    Aren’t I?
c)    Am I?
d)    Are I?

9.    Let’s go for fishing, ——————-?

a)    Shall we
b)    Do we
c)    Will we
d)    Must we

10.    You aren’t coming with us, ———————-?

a)    Are you
b)    Aren’t you
c)    Do you
d)    Don’t you

11.    They have sold the apartment, ———————?

a)    Have they
b)    Haven’t they
c)    Did they
d)    Didn’t they

12.    I needn’t pay for this call, ——————?

a)    Needn’t I
b)    Need I
c)    Do I
d)    Don’t I

13.    It isn’t ready yet, ———————?

a)    Is it
b)    Isn’t it
c)    Has it
d)    Hasn’t yet

14.    John hasn’t passed the exam, ——————–?

a)    Hasn’t he
b)    Has he
c)    Doesn’t he
d)    Does he

15.    He will quit the job, ———————-?

a)    Will he
b)    Won’t he
c)    Does he
d)    Doesn’t he

Answers

1.    Isn’t it
2.    Doesn’t he
3.    Won’t he
4.    Won’t he
5.    Isn’t she
6.    Did I

7.    Isn’t she
8.    Aren’t I?
9.    Shall we
10.    Are you
11.    Haven’t they
12.    Need I
13.    Is it
14.    Has he
15.    Won’t he

He is drunk. No, he isn’t.
You are joking. No, I am not.
I think she knows him. No, she doesn’t.

Note that but is often used instead of no in disagreements with a question or an assumption.

Why did you steal my purse? But, I didn’t. (Here we are disagreeing with the question.)

Disagreements with negative sentences are made with ‘yes + pronoun + auxiliary’.

You can’t understand it. Yes, I can.

Addition to remarks

Affirmative additions to affirmative remarks are made with ‘so + auxiliary + subject’.

He likes fish. So do I.
She must work hard. So must I.
He was late for the meeting. So was I.
He has finished his homework. So have I.

Negative additions to negative remarks are made with ‘nor/neither + auxiliary + subject’.

John doesn’t like sweets. Neither do I.
She didn’t believe it. Neither did I.
I couldn’t solve the problem. Neither could my mother.

Negative additions to affirmative remarks are made with ‘but + subject + auxiliary + n’t/not’.

Compare:

He speaks English. But I don’t.
He doesn’t speak English. Nor do I.
I found the answer. But Alice didn’t.
I couldn’t find the answer. Neither did Alice.
He can cook. But his wife can’t.
He can’t cook. Nor can his wife.
I can play chess. But my sister can’t.
I can’t play chess. Neither can my sister.

Affirmative additions to negative remarks are made with ‘but + subject + auxiliary’.

He doesn’t know how to cook. But I do.
I didn’t see the film. But my sister did.
He can’t play chess. But I can.
She wasn’t late. But I was.

In question tags we use the following patterns:

Auxiliary + n’t + subject (If the statement is positive)
Auxiliary + subject (If the statement is negative)

Examples are given below:

You are coming, aren’t you?
He is your friend, isn’t he?
It is raining, isn’t it?
She can speak English, can’t she?
John broke the window, didn’t he?
You aren’t coming, are you?
He isn’t your friend, is he?
She can’t speak English, can he?

Note that the subject of a question tag is always a pronoun, and not a noun.

John is your friend, isn’t he? (NOT …isn’t John)
Alice is a doctor, isn’t she? (NOT …isn’t Alice)

Note the special cases given below:

I am right, aren’t I? (NOT …amn’t I?)
Let’s go for a walk, shall we?
Wait a minute, can you?
Have some coffee, will you?
There is a library in that street, isn’t there?
There are some boys in your class, aren’t there?

Short answers

Short answers to questions beginning with an auxiliary verb have the following structures:

Yes + pronoun + auxiliary
OR
No + pronoun + auxiliary +n’t (not)

Are you coming with us? Yes, I am. OR No, I am not.
Can you drive a car? Yes, I can. OR No, I can’t.
Does he work? Yes, he does.
Did he say anything? No, he didn’t.

Agreements with affirmative sentences are made with ‘yes + pronoun + auxiliary’.

She is a good girl. Yes, she is.
He looks honest. Yes, he does.

Agreements with negative statements are made with ‘no + pronoun + auxiliary + n’t/not’.

He isn’t very intelligent. No, he isn’t.
She doesn’t like fish. No, she doesn’t.
They didn’t play well. No, they didn’t.

I know him.
I don’t know him. (NOT I know not him.)
She cheated me.
She did not cheat me. (NOT She cheated not me.)
They invited us.
They did not invite us.

You will have noticed that in the sentences given above the anomalous finites help to turn positive sentences into negative sentences.

Will you come? No, I won’t.
Can I do it? No, you can’t.
Should I go? No, you shouldn’t.

In the sentences given above the verbs will, can and should are anomalous. When the verb itself is an anomalous finite negatives are made by the simple addition of not or n’t.

To form questions

Questions are usually made by putting the anomalous finite before the subject of the sentence.

He is my teacher. Is he my teacher?
They have won the race. Have they won the race?
He will come. Will he come?
She should obey. Should she obey?

Note that only the anomalous finites can be put before the subject to form questions. In the case of other finites, the auxiliary do and its forms have to be used.

He fell off the ladder. Did he fall off the ladder?
She went to the market. Did she go to the market?
She likes to watch movies. Does she like to watch movies?
I want to be a writer. Do I want to be a writer?

To form negative questions

He does not like her. Does he not like her? Doesn’t he like her?
She did not mean it. Did she not mean it? Didn’t she mean it?
He did not come. Did he not come? Didn’t he come?

Note that the forms does he not, did she not etc., are very formal. In informal speech and writing the forms doesn’t he, didn’t she etc., are preferred.

To avoid repetition of principal verbs

Do you want this? Yes, I do. (= Yes, I want that.)
Can you hear me? Yes, I can. (= Yes, I can hear you.)
Who broke my window? John did. (= John broke the window.)

To form the tag question

It is hot today, isn’t it?
She didn’t come, did she?
She can sing very well, can’t she?
They shouldn’t wait, should they?

You will have noticed that when the statement is in the positive, the tag question is in the negative and vice versa.