Tag Questions Examples: Past, Present and Future

In this post, you will find all the information that you need to understand what tag questions are.

Question tags are the short questions that we put on the end of sentences particularly in spoken English.

#1 She had another baby, didn’t she?
#2She went to college, didn’t she?

Now, let’s check some information and example so you can make tag questions correctly



Tag Questions: Structure and Rules

The basic structure of a tag question is:

negative statement is followed by a positive question tag.

Negative StatementPositive Tag
You aren’t 12 years oldAre you?

positive statement is followed by a negative question tag.

Positive StatementNegative Tag
You are 12 years oldAren’t you?

Tag questions are made using different tenses in English so let’s check example with some of them.


Question Tags with Present Tenses

There are lots of different question tags but the rules are not difficult to learn.

TensesQuestion Tag
Simple PresentYou have money, don’t you?
Simple PresentShe has money, doesn’t she?
Verb to beShe is beautiful, isn’t she?
Present ProgressiveShe is cleaning, isn’t she?
Present ProgressiveYou aren’t coming, are you?
Present PerfectYou have done this, haven’t you?
Present PerfectShe hasn’t called you, has she?

Question Tags with Past Tenses

These are questions tags with past tenses:

TensesQuestion Tag
Simple PastYou had money, didn’t you?
Simple PastShe had money, didn’t she?
Verb to beShe was beautiful, wasn’t she?
Past ProgressiveShe was cleaning, wasn’t she?
Past ProgressiveYou weren’t cleaning, weren’t you?
Past PerfectYou had done this, had you?
Present PerfectShe hadn’t called you, hadshe?

Questions Tags with Future Tenses

These are questions tags with future tenses

TenseQuestions Tags
Future with willYou will come, won’t you?
Future with willHe won’t study, Will he?
Future ContinuousHe won’t be studying tonight, will he?
Future ContinuousHe will be studying, will he?

Question Tags: Special Points

Although the negative word not is not in the sentence, the sentence can be negative. Then we use the positive question tag.

He never plays soccerDoesn’t he?
She never runs with usDoesn’t she?

Use will/would with imperatives 

Turn off the fan Will you?
Pass me the salt Would you?

If the main clause verb is I am, then the negative tag form is aren’t I:

Sorry, I’m late again aren’t I?
I am a little redAren’t I?

We can use right and yeah in very informal situations instead of question tags:

So, you’re not coming with us tonight right?
They’ll be here about 4.30 yeah?

We use shall after Let’s.

Let’s take the next busshall we?
Let’s grab some lunch shall we?
Let’s go to to the beachshall we?

Examples of Tag Questions

These are some examples of tag questions in different contexts:

  • It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?
  • You didn’t do your homework, did you?
  • You don’t like me, do you?
  • You haven’t seen Sascha, have you?
  • You think you’re clever, don’t you?
  • You have a car, don’t you?
  • She can’t swim, can she?
  • She was crying, wasn’t she?
  • He does look like his father, doesn’t he?
  • He hasn’t arrived yet, has he?
  • You want to come with me, don’t you?
  • You can swim, can’t you?
  • You don’t know where the boss is, do you?
  • This meal is horrible, isn’t it?
  • That film was fantastic, wasn’t it?
  • You have a Ferrari, don’t you?
  • She had a great time, didn’t she?
  • You used to work here, didn’t you?
  • You’re moving to Brazil, are you?
  • He used to have long hair, didn’t he?

Tag Questions Video by WoodWard English

This is a pretty good video created by Woodward English that explains what tag questions are


Tag Questions Video by MMMEnglish

Another good video that you can watch on YouTube to understand more about tag questions was posted by mmmEnglish

Tag Questions Explained by Emma from the mmm English YouTube channel

Tag Questions Exercises

These are some tag questions exercises that you can use to reinforce what you know about this topic

  1. Online Questions Tags Quiz
  2. Online Grammar Quiz – Questions Tags
  3. Exercises on Question Tags
  4. Question Tags – Positive
  5. Question Tags – Negative
  6. Question Tags – Multiple Choice
  7. Past Tense Question Tags

These are some tag questions files that can help you learn more about this topoc


Manuel Campos, English Professor

Manuel Campos

I am Jose Manuel, English professor and creator of EnglishPost.org, a blog whose mission is to share lessons for those who want to learn and improve their English