Question Tags Explained with Examples and Exercises (Easy Guide Khmer + English)

Question Explained 

Question tags are short questions added at the end of a sentence. They are very common in English and are used to confirm information or ask for agreement. In this lesson, you will be learning question tag rules, question forms, question tag examples and question tag exercises. At the end of the lesson there is a simple Khmer explanation about questions which is a bonus for Cambodian ESL learners. 

Here are some examples of question tags.

• You are a student, aren’t you?
• She can speak 5 languages, can't she?
• You were sick yesterday, weren't you? 
• Theary feeds her pet fish every morning, doesn't she? 

What Are Question Tags?

Question tags are short questions added to the end of a statement ( positive and negative sentence) to check or confirm information. A question tag is like a yes/no question which is used to get a YES or NO response. For a positive sentence, we use a negative tag and for a negative sentence, a positive tag is used. 

Rules of Question Tags

Rule 1: Positive → Negative Tag

If the sentence is positive, the tag is negative.

• She is a teacher, isn’t she?
• They are playing, aren’t they?

 Rule 2: Negative → Positive Tag

If the sentence is negative, the tag is positive.

• She isn’t tired, is she?
• They aren’t here, are they?

Question Tag with (BE)

Positive Sentence

[ Positive Sentence  + am/ is/ are / was / were + not + sub ? ] 

Question Tag Examples (negative)

• She is happy, isn’t she?
• They are ready, aren’t they?
• Lions are powerful and strong, aren't they?
• King cobra is the most poisonous snake, isn't it?
• Your teacher is very strict, isn't she?
• Your parents are kind and helpful, aren't they?
• Whale is not fish, isn't it?
• It is a sunny day today, isn't it?
• They were absent yesterday, weren't' they?
• She was sick last night, wasn't she?
• Roza was at home yesterday, wasn't she? 

Negative Sentence

[ Negative Sentence  + am/ is/ are / was / were + sub ? ] 

Question Tag Examples ( Positive) 

• She isn't a student, is she?
• They are not friendly, are they?
• These animals are not dangerous, are they?
• It wasn't rainy yesterday, was it?
• Tom and Theary weren't at home last night, were they? 

Question Tags with Modal Verbs

Here is a list of commonly used Modal verbs used with questions tags. 

• can, 
• could, 
• will, 
• would, 
• should, 
• must

Positive Sentence 

[ Subject + modal + verb, modal verb + not + sub ? ]

Examples

• She can swim very well, can’t she?
• They will come today, won’t they?
• He should study harder, shouldn’t he?
• We must take off our shoes before entering this place, mustn't we? 
• Roza can fly a small airplane, can't she?

Negative Sentence 

[ Subject + modal + verb, modal verb + not + sub ? ]

Example

• You can't swim, can you?
• She will not join the meeting tomorrow, will she?
• We shouldn't spend to much money on unnecessary things, should we? 
• He couldn't get into his house last light, could he? 
• We must not talk loudly at the museum, must we? 

Explanation : if there is an auxiliary or a modal verb in the main statement then we use the same auxiliary of a modal for the tag question. Add " not" to the auxiliary or modal if it is a negative tag question. 

Question Tags with other verbs

Positive Sentence 

[ Subject + verb...., don't / doesn't / didn't + sub ? ]

Examples

• He likes meat, doesn't he?
• Your parents always watch TV after dinner, don't they? 
• Lions and tigers hunt in group, don't they?
• Roza waters her plants every morning, doesn't she? 
• Your teacher gives you homework regularly, doesn't he? 
• She slept well last night, didn't she? (past simple)

Explanation: If the verb in the main sentence is not auxiliary or modal verb, do & does are used for the positive tag question and don't & doesn't are used for the negative tag question.  

Negative Sentence 

[ Subject + don't/doesn't + verb...., do/ does /did + sub ? ]

Examples

• He doesn't eat meat, doe he?
• She doesn't drink coffee, does she?
• Roza and Tom don't play any sports, do they?
• You don't always eat breakfast at home, do you? 
• Some fishes don't eat meat, don't they? 
• Hena didn't go to school yesterday, did she? ( Simple Past) 

Question Tag with Present Perfect

Positive Sentence

[ Positive Sentence  + have/has + not + sub ? ] 

Examples

• She has been sick for a week, has she?
• You have done your homework already, haven't you? 
• They have visited Angkor Wat two times, haven't they?
• BDM has published more than 100 posts on this website, hasn't he?
• Tom and Roza has been married for 10 years, haven't they?

Explanation : Have and has are the auxiliary verbs when they are used in perfect tenses so we we simply use it again in the tag question but when have and has are used in present simple or past simple they are just normal verb which need do/does/did to make question tag.

Example

• You have 2 cars, don't you?
• She has long straight hair, doesn't she"
• Tom had a cold, didn't he? 

Negative Sentence

[ Negative Sentence  + have/has + sub ? ] 

Examples

• She hasn't replied your message yet, has she?
• They haven't finished their project yet, have they?
• Tom and Roza hasn't gotten married yet, have they?
• Theary hasn't cooked dinner yet, has she? 
• Some student haven't done their homework yet, have they? 

Other Question Tags

• I am kind, aren't I? 
• Let's go fishing this weekend, shall we?
• Close the window please, will you? 

Explanation: The tag question for I am is always aren't I? and shall we? is used with statement with Let's ........ and for the imperative, we use will you? 

Practice Exercises

🧩 Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks

1. She is your sister, ______?
2. They are playing football, ______?
3. He isn’t tired, ______?
4. You can swim, ______?
5. We are late, ______?
6. She will come, ______?
7. They don’t like coffee, ______?
8. He can drive, ______?
9. Theary went shopping last week,_____?
10. Let's eat out this evening,_______? 

🧩 Exercise 2: Multiple Choice Questions

Choose one correct answer for each sentence below. 

1. She is happy, ______?

    a. is she

    b. isn’t she ✅

    c. aren’t she

2. They are students, ______?

    a. aren’t they ✅

    b. are they

    c. isn’t they

3. He can run, ______?

    a. can’t he ✅

    b. can he

    c. isn’t he

4. You have already done your homework, _____?

    a. aren't you

    b. don't

    c. haven't you ✅

5. Let's go on a trip this weekend,_______? 

    a. will we

    b. shall we ✅

    c. do we 

6. Hena waters her plants every morning,______?

    a. isn't she

    b. doesn't Hena

    c. doesn't she ✅

7. I am sick today,______?

    a. aren't you

    b. aren't I ✅

    c. don't I

8. We shouldn't cut down more trees,______?

    a. should we ✅

    b. shouldn't we

    c. don't we

9. Hena doesn't drink coffee,______?

    a. doesn't she ✅

    b. does she

    c. does Hena

10. Turn on the AC please,______?

    a. will you ✅

    b. won't you

    c. can you

Answer Key

Exercise 1

1. isn’t she
2. aren’t they
3. is he
4. can’t you
5. aren’t we
6. won’t she
7. do they
8. can’t he
9. didn't she
10. shall we? 

🎯 Conclusion

Question tags are easy when you remember

✔ Positive Sentence → Negative tag

✔ Negative Sentence → Positive tag

✔ Use the same verb for auxiliary and modal verbs. 

✔ Use " shall we?" for Let's .......... ( Let's have a party, shall we?) 

✔ Use " will you?" for imperative ( Raise your hand, will you?) 

Khmer Explanation

យើងប្រើប្រាស់  Question Tags នៅចុងប្រយោគដើម្បីបញ្ជាក់ពត៍មាន គ្រប់ Question Tags ​បកប្រែថាអញ្ចឹងមែនទេ?​ 

BE & have / has

សម្រាប់កិរិយាស័ព្ទ (​Be : am, is, are, have, has) គឺយើងគ្រាន់តែថែម not ប៉ុណ្ណោះជាការស្រេច ដូចឧទាហរណ៍ខាងក្រោម៖ 

Whales are mammals, aren't they? 

នៅក្នុងក្នុងប្រយោគដើម Whales are mammals កិរិយាស័ព្ទ be - are ត្រូវបានយកប្រើដោយមិនបានកែរប្រែអ្វីឡើយក្នុង Question Tags aren't they? ដោយគ្រាន់តែថែម  not ប៉ុណ្ណោះ។ 

She has done her home work already, hasn't she? 

នៅក្នុងក្នុងប្រយោគដើម She has done her home work already កិរិយាស័ព្ទ has ត្រូវបានយកប្រើដោយមិនបានកែរប្រែអ្វីឡើយក្នុង Question Tags hasn't she? ដោយគ្រាន់តែថែម  not ប៉ុណ្ណោះ។ 

Normal verbs

សម្រាប់កិរិយាស័ព្ទដែលមិនមែនជា Auxiliary verb និង Modal Verb យើងត្រូវ ប្រើ do/does។ 

ឧទាហរណ៍

They play soccer every weekend, don't they? 

យើងឃើញថាកិរិយាស័ព្ទក្នុងប្រយោគដើម They play​ soccer every weekend ពុំមែនជា Auxiliary verb និង Modal Verb ទេ។ ដូចនេះ យើងប្រើប្រាស់ do / does រួចថែម not (don't they?)

• do - យើងប្រើជាមួយ  I, you, we, they, plural noun
• does - យើងប្រើជាមួយ he, she, it , singular noun

សម្រាប់ប្រយោគបដិសេធន៍ វិញវាមានភាពវាយស្រួលណាស់ ដោយយើងគ្រាន់តែលប់ not ចេញជាការស្រេច៖ 

• They don't speak Khmer, do they?
• She doesn't eat meat, does she?
• Lions don't hunt at night, do they?
• Your parents don't watch TV, do they? 

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🔍 Keywords

question tags in English, tag questions examples, question tags with be, modal verbs question tags, ESL grammar question tags