Question Tags: The Secret to Sounding Like a Confident English Speaker

Question tags are like little stickers you put on the end of sentences. They’re similar to the German: “oder?” and “nicht wahr?”.

But why do we use them?

1. To confirm information. Imagine you’re in a meeting. You want to ensure everyone understands and agrees on the topic being discussed. You could say, “We’re meeting again next Tuesday at 9am, aren’t we?”
2. To seek agreement. For example, at lunch together, “This pizza is delicious, isn’t it?“
3. To soften a statement. Instead of claiming, “You don’t understand,” you could say, “You do understand, don’t you?“
4. To add emphasis. For example, if you want to convince someone that your solution is the best, you could say, “Our solution is the most efficient one, isn’t it?“

Question tags are a fun and easy way to make your English sound more natural. So next time you’re speaking English, try using a few and see how it goes!

Now here’s a mini-quiz to see how well you understand question tags:

1. You speak English very well, _____?
2. They’ve been living in London for years, _____?
3. It’s going to rain tomorrow, _____?
4. Mark doesn’t play tennis, _____?
5. I’m late, _____?
6. They flew to Malta, _____?
7. You don’t need my help, _____?
8. It won’t cost too much, _____?

Good luck!

And now the answers:

1. don’t you
2. haven’t they
3. isn’t it
4. does he
5. aren’t I
6. didn’t they
7. do you
8. will it