Some notes with question tag

Some verbs / expressions have different question tags.

1. I am => aren't

  • I am attractive, aren't I?


2. Positive imperative
Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.

  • Stop daydreaming, will / won't you?


3. Negative imperative

  • Don't stop singing, will you?


4. Let's

  • Let's go to the beach, shall we?


5. Have got (possession)

  • He has got a car, hasn't he?


6. There is / are 

  • There aren't any spiders in the bedroom, are there?


7. This / that is 

  • This is Paul's pen, isn't it?


8. When the subject of the main part of the sentence is anyone anybody, no one, nobody, none, neither, everyone, somebody, someone, everybody,etc., we use the Personal Pronoun “they” as the subject of the ‘tag’ part.

  • Neither of them explained,  did they?
  • I don’t suppose anyone  will help us,  will they?
  • Everybody has left,  haven’t they?


9. The statement sentences with words such as neither no, none, no one, no body, nothing, scarcely, barely, hardly, hardly ever, seldom, etc. which are, strictly speaking, treated as negative, are followed by an ordinary positive ‘tag’.

 

  • No salt is allowed,  is it?
  • Nothing was lost,  was it?
  • Lee hardly worked,  did he?
  • Sarah seldom visits us, does she?

10. We use won't with a polite request.

  • Open the window, won't you?