Notes on the form of tag questions

1 A tag question is a short question (e.g. have you?/haven't you?) that follows a statement. Auxiliaries (be have, can, may, etc.) used in the statement are repeated at the end followed by the subject (always a pronoun):

John was annoyed, wasn't he? (affirmative - negative) He wasn't annoyed, was he? (negative - affirmative)

Tag questions and Yes/No short answers

2 With all other verbs, tag questions are formed with do/don't and
does/doesn't (simple present) and did/didn't (simple past):
(affirmative - negative) (negative - affirmative)

You like fish, don't you? You don't like fish, do you?

He likes fish, doesn't he? He doesn't like fish, does he?

She ate it all, didn't she? She didn't eat it all, did she?

This also applies to have and do as full verbs: You have tea at 4, don't you? You don't have tea at 4, do you? He does his job, doesn't he? He doesn't do his job, does he?

3 The negative tag at the end can be unabbreviated in formal style or
for special emphasis, though this form is not very usual:

Julia runs five miles a day to keep fit, does she not?

4 Tag questions are also possible with there. There'll be a rail strike tomorrow, won't there?

5 Affirmative tags can follow other statements that are negative in meaning [> 13.8]:

You never/seldom work on Sundays, do you?

6 Tags can be used after indefinite pronouns [> 4.40]:
Nobody's been told, have they?

Everyone's ready to leave now, aren't they?

7 Note that this and that are replaced by it[> 4.36]:
This/That (suit) is expensive, isn't it?

Form of tag questions: affirmative - affirmative