English Club : Learn English : Grammar : Verbs : Tag Questions

Positive Statement Tag Questions

Look at these examples with positive statements. You will see that most of the time, the auxiliary verb from the positive statement is repeated in the tag and changed to negative.

positive statement [+]negative tag [-]notes:
subjectauxiliarymain verb auxiliarynotpersonal
pronoun
(same as subject)
 
Youarecoming, aren'tyou? 
Wehavefinished, haven'twe? 
Youdolikecoffee,don'tyou? 
You likecoffee,don'tyou?You (do) like...*
Theywillhelp, won'tthey?won't = will not
Icancome, can'tI? 
Wemustgo, mustn'twe? 
Heshouldtryharder,shouldn'the? 
You areEnglish,aren'tyou?no auxiliary for main verb be present & past
John wasthere,wasn'the?

*Note that in this example the auxiliary verb do in the statement - "You like coffee," - is understood and not expressed because the tense is normal present simple. But the question tag uses the do auxiliary to make "don't you?" It is also possible to say: "You do like coffee, don't you?"

Let's now look at negative statement tag questions.