Question tags: Aren’t you? don’t you?

Grammar / B1 Grammar lessons and exercises \ Question tags: Aren’t you? don’t you?

✏️ Exercises

Question Tags: Aren’t you? Don’t you?

Informative grammar chart demonstrating how to form question tags in English

Grammar chart showing how to form English question tags with positive/negative statements, auxiliary verbs, and intonation examples.

🟦Meaning

Question tags are used at the end of statements to turn them into questions. We usually use them to:

🔹 Confirm something we believe to be true.
🔹 Invite the listener to agree or disagree.

Intonation Changes Meaning

Voice goes up ⤴
→ You’re unsure and genuinely asking for confirmation.
Example: “You’re coming to the party, aren’t you?” (↗)
= “Please tell me — are you coming? I don’t know.”
Voice goes down ⤵
→ You’re confident and seeking agreement.
Example: “It’s hot today, isn’t it?” (↘)
= “I think it’s hot, and I believe you do too — right?”

🟩Form

Follow these key rules to form correct question tags:

✅ Use the same auxiliary verb as in the main sentence.
✅ If there’s no auxiliary, use do/does (present) or did (past).
✅ Always use a comma before the tag and a subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).
✅ Positive statement → negative tag
Negative statement → positive tag

Examples

✅ You are his brother, aren’t you?
✅ He will be there, won’t he?
✅ You work here, don’t you? (no auxiliary → use do)
✅ Sam used to live in Scotland, didn’t he?
✅ You like it, don’t you?
✅ You don’t like it, do you?

🟪❗ Special Case: “Aren’t I?”

When the main clause is “I am” (affirmative), the question tag is always:

“I’m totally wrong, aren’t I?”

❌ Never say “amn’t I?” or “ain’t I?” in standard English.
✅ Always use “aren’t I?” — it’s the accepted form.