Learn Tag Questions in English Grammar - How to Use Tag Questions

A tag question is a statement, comma, and  then a question. For example, “you are hungry,  

aren't you?” Or, “you don't like my singing,  do you?” That is an example of a tag question,  

and I have seen many non-native speakers, many  English learners don't use tags, and that is a  

big mistake if you want to be more like a native  speaker. If you want to improve your English  

you have to start using tags, and your English  teacher, and your friends, and your colleagues  

will be so impressed with you if you use tag  questions. So, what is a tag question? It is  

when you think information is correct  and you use it at the end of a sentence.  

For example, I go to watch a  new movie a new batman movie and  

before I go into the movie, my friend comes  out of the movie theater and I asked my friend  

is; “the new batman movie is good, isn't it?  So, I start with a normal sentence, I say  

“the batman movie is good.” Is good and now, I  want some more information. I think I’m correct,  

but I want some more information, “isn't it.”  “The batman movie is good, isn't it?” “You like  

your mom's cooking, don't you?” So, you've got  the sentence, and then at the end you have a  

tag question. Native speakers use them all the  time. There are two parts. There's the statement,  

and then you have the tag the statements. And tags  should be the same tense. So you can, you can say,  

“I or you ate a burger, don't you?” Can't do  that but if it's it has to be the same tense,  

“you ate a burger, didn't you?” See I think the  information is correct, so I’m just asking a tag.  

Remember, this is not a normal question. This is  more to get a yes or no confirmation. I want you  

to say yes or no, but it is also a fantastic  way to start a conversation. So for example,  

I meet someone at a coffee shop and I say, “oh  you like coffee, don't you?” And now the person  

can say, “yes, I like coffee because it has a  great taste.” Or they can say, “actually no,  

I don't like coffee because it keeps me awake  at night.” Okay, so a tag question is very  

useful to get a yes or no response, or to start  a conversation. Okay does everybody understand,  

is that okay? Let's look at when to use tags.  I’m going to teach you all about tags now.  

So, when to use tags if you want to know some  basic information? You know you can ask a yes  

or no question. “Do you speak Chinese?” So, they  can say “yes I do / no I don't.” You can also ask  

a WH- question. “How often do you speak Chinese?  Who do you speak Chinese with?” But if you think  

something is true, but you're not 100 sure,  you can ask a tag question. “You speak Chinese,  

don't you?” Okay so you can ask a normal question  yes or no. “”Do you speak Chinese? You can ask a  

WH-question, “how often do you speak Chinese?” Or  you can use a tag, “you speak Chinese, don't you?”  

And they can say, yes, I do or no I don't. Okay  so very important, tags are so useful, oh sorry  

there we go. Now, how do we use tags? How do  we use tags so if a statement is positive?  

The tag should be negative. “You've seen  the new star wars movie, haven't you?” So,  

you've seen, you have seen is positive, the  tag will be negative. You've seen, um you,  

uh you enjoyed. “You enjoyed Eric's live stream,  didn't you?” Right so, the first part is positive  

and then the tag is negative. Or if the  statement is negative, the tag is positive. “You  

haven't eaten dinner yet, have you?” You  are hungry, oh sorry, “you aren't hungry,  

are you? You didn't sleep, did you? So  that is, if the statement is negative,  

the tag is positive. Right so, this is very good.  Do you guys like this? I think this is useful to  

know. What do you guys think? Now before we spoke  about auxiliary. Remember auxiliary is a helping  

verb. So, if you have a statement that uses an  auxiliary, use the opposite auxiliary in the tag.  

For example, “the building was built last year,  wasn't it?” “The car wasn't in the garage,  

was it?” Garage, sorry I need to say it that was  British accent the car wasn't in the garage. The  

garage was it. How will you go to the pot. “You  will go to the party, won't you?” “It has taken  

a long time to plan the party, hasn't it?”  “It's hot today, isn't it?” And you can see  

it’s positive. It's hot today and then isn't  it is negative. So, that is with an auxiliary.  

Now let's look at a tag without an auxiliary.  If there is no auxiliary in the statement,  

you should use the form of the verb “to  do,” that matches the tense in the statement  

in the tag. “You like pizza, don't you?”  “His uncle works in the airport, doesn't he?”  

“You went to Bermuda last year, didn't you?”  So, you can say a present tense is, “he works  

in the airport, doesn't he?” If it is past tense,  “you went to Japan last year, didn't you?” That's  

past tense. We haven't studied tag questions yet  have we? So, we can see it is the same form okay.