Question tags or question ‘tails’ are short questions at the end of sentences. We use them to do the following:

Confirm whether something is true or not

• We all had a great time at the party, didn't we?  

Start a conversation

• You work with Tara, don't you?

Keep a conversation going

• You were in the Delhi office before, weren't you?

Include more people in the conversation

• I think we all agree, don’t we?

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Some Rules for Question Tags

If the sentence is positive, the question tag must be negative:

• Dave is the manager, isn't he?

• We exceeded all of last month's targets, didn't we?

• She is great with numbers, isn't she?

If the sentence is negative, the question tag must be positive:

• Dave isn't the manager, is he?

• We didn't exceed all of our targets, did we?

• She isn't great with numbers, is she?

You can also use question tags with modals:

• We should start cooking, shouldn't we?

• You could start studying, couldn't you?

• You can't speak French, can you?

Question tags are very useful in meetings, or in places where you need to get lots of different opinions. They allow people the opportunity to respond where necessary:

• We’ve all read the agenda, haven’t we?

• Dave e-mailed everyone last month's report, didn’t he?

• I think we are all in agreement here, aren’t we?

Or, if you need to frame a question to get the response you want:

• It’s time for lunch now, isn’t it?

• I think we all need a coffee, don’t we?

• The training won’t take long, will it?

Put question tags at the end of these sentences to make questions

You are from Spain.

The weather is beautiful.

 You like football.

 You went to the concert last night.

 You went to that restaurant last week.

 You learned French.

Answer Key

You are from Spain, aren't you?

The weather is beautiful, isn't it?

 You like football, don't you?

 You went to the concert last night, didn't you?

 You went to that restaurant last week, didn't you?

 You learned French, didn't you?