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polarity

falling tone 

falling tone 

expected answer

1

affirm. + neg.

You’ve worked 

hard,

haven’t you?

Yes.

2

neg. + affirm.

He didn’t 

get it,

did he?

No.

3

neg.* + affirm.

Nobody 

knows,

do they?

No.

* In this case, the negative element is contained in the subject nobody (similarly: ‘Nothing

happened, did it?’ ‘We hardly see her, do we?’).

Type 1 contains an affirmative statement by the speaker in the main clause, and an

expectation of a yes-answer as confirmation in the tag.

Types 2 and 3 contain a negative statement by the speaker in the main clause,

and an expectation of a no-answer as confirmation in the tag.

Falling tone plus rising tone (

)

type

polarity

falling tone 

rising tone 

expected answer

4

affirm. + neg.

You’ve worked 

hard,

haven’t you?

Neutral (yes or no)

5

neg. + affirm.

He didn’t 

get it,

did he?

Neutral (yes or no)

6

neg.* + affirm.

Nobody 

knows,

do they?

Neutral (yes or no)

7

affirm. + affirm.

Kate 

has gone,

has she?

Yes.

* Clausal negation with nobody.

Type 4 contains an affirmative statement by the speaker in the main clause, and a

more neutral expectation (i.e. of a yes- or a no-answer) in the tag.

Types 5 and 6 contain a negative statement by the speaker in the main clause,

and a more neutral expectation (i.e. of a yes- or a no-answer) in the tag.

Type 7 contains an affirmative statement by the speaker in the main clause, and

a more affirmative expectation (i.e. of a yes-answer) in the tag.

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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

From utterance to discourse | 197

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Tag patterns in requests 

98c

Interrogatives that function as requests often have the pattern of negative clause +

affirmative tag, with the fall and rise intonation pattern. Requests expressed with

tag questions are usually quite informal. Bold type indicates where the tone might

typically occur.

Interrogatives as requests

polarity

falling tone 

rising tone 

neg. + affirm.

You couldn’t carry 

this for me,

could you?

neg. + affirm.

You haven’t got any chocolate 

biscuits,

have you?

Position of question tags 

98d

Question tags typically come at the end of the clause, but in informal spoken

language, they can interrupt the clause:

That’s odd, 

isn’t it

, from a tutor?

It was perhaps your team, 

was it

, that was round there?

In reporting structures, the question tag may occur before the reported clause,

especially if the reported clause is felt to be unusually long:

[commenting on the recipes of a famous cookery-book writer]

You always know, 

don’t you

, that what you make will be suitable, and light,

and that it will taste all right too.

Anticipatory it clauses may also be interrupted by a question tag:

It’s true, 

isn’t it

, what they said about him?