Question forms & tag questions (intro)
Wh-/yes-no questions and question tags.
Forming questions in English requires inverting the subject and auxiliary verb. For yes/no questions, we place the auxiliary (do/does/did, is/are/was/were, have/has, or a modal) before the subject: 'Does she play tennis?' For Wh- questions, the question word comes first, then the auxiliary, then the subject: 'Where does she play?' However, when the question word is the SUBJECT (asking WHO or WHAT did something), we do NOT invert and do NOT add do/does/did: 'Who broke the window?' (not 'Who did break?'). Tag questions are short questions added to the end of a statement to check or confirm. The rule is: a POSITIVE statement takes a NEGATIVE tag, and a NEGATIVE statement takes a POSITIVE tag. The tag must use the SAME auxiliary as the main clause. 'She is your teacher, isn't she?' — positive statement, negative tag, auxiliary 'is'. 'They didn't come, did they?' — negative statement, positive tag, auxiliary 'did'. For example: 'You can swim, can't you?' uses 'can' in both the statement and the tag.
Key terms
| Statement | Tag | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive statement | Negative tag | She is your teacher, isn't she? |
| Negative statement | Positive tag | They didn't come, did they? |
| Statement verb | Tag auxiliary | Example |
|---|---|---|
| be (is/are) | isn't / aren't | They are ready, aren't they? |
| Present Simple | don't / doesn't | She reads a lot, doesn't she? |
| Past Simple | didn't | He didn't call, did he? |
| have/has done | haven't / hasn't | You have seen it, haven't you? |
| will | won't | She will join us, won't she? |
| can | can't | You can swim, can't you? |
- 1Find the auxiliary: The statement uses the verb 'be' ('is'), so the tag must also use 'is'.
- 2Flip the polarity: The statement is positive, so the tag must be NEGATIVE: 'isn't'.
- 3Match the pronoun: The subject is 'she', so the tag pronoun is 'she'.
- 4Result: She is your classmate, isn't she?
- 1Find the auxiliary: The statement is Present Simple ('don't like'), so the tag auxiliary is 'do'.
- 2Flip the polarity: The statement is negative ('don't'), so the tag must be POSITIVE: 'do'.
- 3Match the pronoun: The subject is 'they', so the tag pronoun is 'they'.
- 4Result: They don't like football, do they?
Always flip the polarity: a POSITIVE statement needs a NEGATIVE tag, and a NEGATIVE statement needs a POSITIVE tag. 'She is your classmate, isn't she?' (not 'is she?').
The tag must use the SAME auxiliary as the statement. After 'You have seen this film' use 'haven't you?', not 'don't you?'; after a modal like 'will', use 'won't', not 'doesn't'.
After 'I am ...' the standard tag is 'aren't I?'. 'Amn't I?' is not used in standard English.
The tag pronoun must match the subject: 'We were late, weren't we?' (not 'weren't they?'); 'Your parents were at home, weren't they?' (not 'weren't you?'). Watch singular words like 'everything' to 'it' and 'nobody' to 'they'.
Rules
- 1For yes/no questions, invert the subject and auxiliary: 'Is he ready?' / 'Did they arrive?' — never use 'do' with 'be' or modals.
- 2For Wh- questions, the order is: question word → auxiliary → subject → main verb: 'What did you buy?'
- 3For SUBJECT questions (who/what as subject), use no auxiliary and keep normal word order: 'Who called you?' NOT 'Who did call you?'
- 4Tag questions follow the rule: positive statement → negative tag; negative statement → positive tag: 'She reads a lot, doesn't she?' / 'He won't come, will he?'
- 5The tag must use the SAME auxiliary verb (or same modal) as the statement: 'They have finished, haven't they?' — NOT 'don't they?'
Practice
10 easy · 10 medium · 10 hard
10 random questions per test