Question tags - Do you? Isn't it?

Question tags are short questions added to the end of statements to confirm information or ask for agreement. They mirror the auxiliary verb (or the main verb 'to be') and use the opposite polarity: a positive statement takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive tag.

• Used to check information, confirm details, or invite agreement.
• Formed with the auxiliary verb + subject pronoun (e.g. don't you? isn't she?).
• If there is no auxiliary, use do/does/did for the appropriate tense (e.g. You like it, don't you?).
• Special cases: 'I am' → 'aren't I?' (spoken), 'Let's...' → 'shall we?', 'There is...' → 'isn't there?'.

Form the tag with the same auxiliary (or 'do/does/did' if none) and reverse the polarity (positive → negative, negative → positive).

• If the sentence has an auxiliary (is, have, will, can), use it in the tag: "She is early, isn't she?"
• If no auxiliary, add do/does/did for the correct tense: "You finished, didn't you?"
• Negative sentences use a positive tag: "He doesn't travel often, does he?"
• Special forms: 'I am' usually takes 'aren't I?' in spoken English; 'Let's...' takes 'shall we?'.

Always use the subject pronoun in the tag (he, she, they, we, I).

Avoid these universal errors when forming question tags.

• Mismatch between auxiliary and tag: using a different auxiliary in the tag than in the statement.
• Forgetting to use do/does/did when no auxiliary is present.
• Using the wrong subject pronoun in the tag (e.g. using 'they' instead of 'she').
• Incorrect polarity: making both the statement and the tag positive or both negative.
• Treating the tag as optional punctuation only — intonation matters for meaning.
• Confusing special forms like 'aren't I?' and 'shall we?' — learn the exceptions.

Check the tense and subject in the main sentence before forming the tag.