Question tags are short questions that you can ask at the end of a sentence. They are very common in spoken English. While there are many different question tags, they are not too difficult to learn.^[1]https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/question-tags

Positive/Negative

If the sentence is a positive sentence, you must make the question tag negative.

For example:

• She is
  a doctor, isn’t she?
• You are
  a teacher, aren’t you?
• We are close
  to the beach, aren’t we?

Negative/Positive

If the sentence is a negative sentence, you must make the question tag positive.

For example:

• You have
  not been there before, have you?
• They are
  not coming, are they?
• Susie does
  not speak English, does she?

Additional Question Tag Rules

As you can see, the main rules with question tags is that if the main phrase is positive it should be negative and if the main phrase is negative it should be positive.

However, there are a few additional points that you need to be aware of.

Regular Verbs

With most verbs, the question tag uses the appropriate form of the verb “do”.

For example:

• She said
  that, didn’t she?
• You like
  to swim, don’t you?
• Frank loves
  ice cream, doesn’t he?

Auxiliary Verbs

With auxiliary verbs such as “have” and “be”, the question tag verb is the same as the auxiliary verb.

For example:

• We have a
  few minutes before class starts, haven’t
  we?
• You are
  a nice person, aren’t you?
• They aren’t
  here right now, are they?

Be careful with sentences that begin with “I am”. The correct question tag is “aren’t I”.

For example:

• I am
  very smart, aren’t I?

Modal Verbs

If the sentence uses a modal verb, the question tag uses the same verb.^[2]https://study.com/academy/lesson/modal-adverbs-definition-interpretation-examples.html

For example:

• They can
  help us, can’t they?
• They couldn’t
  make it, could they?
• You mustn’t
  do that, must you?

Intonations

A question tag can either be a real question or something that we already know the answer to.

If the question is genuine, then we need to speak with a rising intonation.

If we already know the answer to the question, then we need to speak with a falling intonation.

Example Exercises

Fill in the appropriate question tag.

How did you do?

If some of these questions were tricky don’t worry — this is one of the topics that confuses English learners the most.

Sometimes reading alone isn’t enough. A private one on one lesson can clear up any confusion quickly and help you use this grammar naturally and confidently.