How do you form a question tag in English?

Repeat the auxiliary verb from the statement and reverse the polarity. A positive statement gets a negative tag ("You're tired, aren't you?") and a negative statement gets a positive tag ("He doesn't smoke, does he?"). The pronoun in the tag must match the subject.

Why is "You're coming, are you?" wrong?

Because the statement is positive, so the tag must be negative: "You're coming, aren't you?" Repeating the same polarity (positive + positive) usually sounds like surprise or suspicion rather than a normal check for agreement.

What tag do you use after "Let's"?

Always "shall we?" It is a fixed expression that doesn't follow the usual polarity rule: "Let's go, shall we?"

Questions & Negation

Question Tags: "...aren't you?"

Level B1 Questions & Negation

Key idea

A question tag is a short question you stick onto the end of a statement to check or invite agreement, and the rule is simple: a positive statement takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive one, always echoing the same auxiliary verb. So you say "You're tired, aren't you?" but "He doesn't smoke, does he?" The auxiliary and pronoun in the tag must match the statement, which is why "She likes it, doesn't she?" is right but "doesn't it?" is wrong. A few tags are fixed: after "Let's" we always use "shall we?", as in "Let's go, shall we?"

Examples

You're tired, aren't you? checking that the listener is tired
He doesn't smoke, does he? confirming he doesn't smoke
Let's go, shall we? inviting agreement to go

The full lesson

Everything in the video, in text.

…, don't you?

the question tag

You speak English well, don't you? That little tag at the end is everywhere — and there's one simple rule behind it.
Statement + short tag = checking or confirming.

A question tag is a short question stuck onto a statement to check it or invite agreement. The whole trick is matching it correctly.
Flip the polarity
Positive statement
→ negative tag
You're tired, aren't you?
Negative statement
→ positive tag
He doesn't smoke, does he?
Two things flip. A positive statement takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive tag. Opposite polarity — every time.
Same auxiliary + pronoun, opposite polarity.

And the tag repeats the same auxiliary verb. If there's no auxiliary, you use a form of do. Then add the matching pronoun.
You're tired, aren't you?
positive → negative tag

Start positive. The statement uses are, so the tag is the negative, aren't, plus you. You're tired, aren't you?
He doesn't smoke, does he?
negative → positive tag

Now negative. Doesn't is already negative, so the tag flips positive: does he. Same verb, opposite sign. He doesn't smoke, does he?
They live here, don't they?
no auxiliary → use 'do'

No auxiliary in the statement? Bring in do. They live here becomes don't they. They live here, don't they?
She called you, didn't she?
past → didn't

With a past tense, do becomes did. The statement was positive, so the tag goes negative. She called you, didn't she?
✗ You're coming, are you? sounds suspicious

✓ You're coming, aren't you? invites agreement

Positive statement needs a negative tag.

Here's the classic mistake: keeping the polarity the same. You're coming, are you? sounds like surprise or suspicion — not agreement. Flip it: aren't you?
✗ She likes it, doesn't it? wrong pronoun

✓ She likes it, doesn't she? matches the subject

The tag pronoun mirrors the subject.

The other trap is the wrong pronoun. The tag must match the subject — she, not it. She likes it, doesn't she?
Let's go, shall we?
fixed: let's → shall we

A few are fixed. Let's always takes shall we. And I am takes the irregular aren't I. Let's go, shall we?
Remember
- Opposite polarity
- Same auxiliary (or 'do')
- Pronoun matches the subject
So: flip the polarity, repeat the auxiliary, match the pronoun. Get those three right and your tags sound natural.

Examples

…, don't you?

Related lessons