Tags are either questions, statements or imperatives added to a clause to invite a response from the listener:
A:You’re a musician, aren’t you?
B:Well, yes, but I’m just an amateur.
A:She can’t swim, can she?
B:No. Apparently she never learnt as a child.
Donna plays football, doesn’t she?
He was your teacher, wasn't he?
A:Pass me that CD, will you?
B:[passes the CD]
A:Thanks.
Tags consist of one of the auxiliary verbs be, do or have, or the main verb be, or a modal verb, plus a subject, which is most commonly a pronoun:
main clause | be, do, have, modal | subject pronoun |
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When we use auxiliary be, do or have, a modal verb or main verb be in the main clause, this verb is used in the tag:
She was crying, wasn’t she?
He does look like his father, doesn’t he?
They’ve waited a long time, haven’t they?
You’re Danish, aren’t you?
If there is no auxiliary or modal verb in the main clause, we use auxiliary do, does, did in the tag:
He plays hockey, does he?
She dances beautifully, doesn’t she?
The girls wanted to go home, didn’t they?
If the main clause verb is I am, then the negative tag form is aren’t I:
Sorry, I’m late again, aren’t I?
If the main clause verb is used to, the tag verb is did:
A:Martin used to live in Oxford, didn’t he?
B:Yes, that’s right.
If the main clause verb is ought to, the tag verb is most commonly should or, far less commonly, ought:
We ought to leave now, really, shouldn’t we? Or (far less commonly) We ought to leave now, really, oughtn’t we?
When tags follow imperatives, the tag verb is usually will:
A:Phone me this evening, will you?
B:Yeah, OK. I’ll give you a call about 6.30.
Question tags turn statements into yes-no questions. There are two types.
The first type of question tag consists of an affirmative main clause and a negative tag, or a negative main clause and an affirmative tag. Negative tags are most commonly used in the contracted form:
[main clause]She’s a translator, [tag]isn’t she? (affirmative main clause + negative tag)
He hasn’t arrived yet, has he? (negative main clause + affirmative tag)
We can use type 1 question tags when we expect the answer to the question to confirm that what we say in the main clause is true:
A:You work with Barbara, don’t you? (A thinks it is true that B works with Barbara.)
B:Yes, that’s right.
A:Sam’s not very old, is he? (A thinks it is true that Sam is not very old.)
B:No, he’s only 24.
With type 1 tags, we can use falling intonation (↘) if we are fairly sure of the answer, and rising intonation (↗) if we are not so sure.
fairly sure | not so sure | ||
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The second type of question tag consists of an affirmative main clause and an affirmative tag:
[main clause]You’re Joe’s cousin, [tag]are you?
She got the email, did she?
We can use type 2 tags when we do not know if the answer is yes or no. The intonation is usually a rising tone:
A:Maureen lives in Hamden, does s↗he? (The speaker wants to know if Maureen lives in Hamden or not.)
B:Yes, She does. She was born there in fact.
A:You’re a graphic designer, are y↗ou?
B:No, not actually a designer, but I work with graphics.
A:Oh, right.
A tag after an imperative clause softens the imperative a little. The tag verb is most commonly will but we can also use would, could, can and won’t:
Turn the TV down, will you?
Don’t shout, will you? I can hear you perfectly well.
Come here a minute, can you?
After the imperative with let’s, we can use shall in the tag:
Let’s have some lunch now, shall we?
We can use a statement tag to emphasise or reinforce an affirmative statement. The tag is also affirmative. They typically invite the listener to agree or sympathise in some way, or to offer a parallel comment. Statement tags are very informal:
A:I’m bored with this, I am. (stronger than I’m bored with this)
B:Me too.
A:My Maths teacher was lovely. He was a great teacher, he was.
B:Hm, you were lucky. Mine wasn’t so good.
When the main clause has a pronoun subject, a statement tag can have a noun as the subject instead of a pronoun:
A:She won some money last week, Catherine did.
B:Really?
A:Yeah.
He was a great teacher, Mr Mark was.
This construction is similar to a tail construction.
We can use right and yeah in very informal situations instead of question tags:
A:So, you’re not coming with us tonight, right?
B:No, I’m too busy. Sorry. or (less informally) You’re not coming with us tonight, are you?
A:They’ll be here about 4.30, yeah?
B:Yeah. That’s what they said. or (less informally) They’ll be here about 4.30, won’t they/will they?
