English Conversation

Short tag questions and answers 151

Present perfect tense

Pattern for all verbs

Questions Affirmative answers Negative answers

I have, haven’t I?

I haven’t, have I?

(you/we/they)

He has, hasn’t he?

He hasn’t, has he?

(she/it)

Yes, you have.

(I/we/they)

Yes, he has.

(she/it)

No, you haven’t.

(I/we/they)

No, he hasn’t.

(she/it)

Past tense

Be

Questions Affirmative answers Negative answers

I was, wasn’t I?

I wasn’t, was I?

We were, weren’t we?

Yes, you were. No, you weren’t.

You were, weren’t you?

You weren’t, were you?

Yes, I was.

Yes, we were.

No, I wasn’t.

No, we weren’t.

He was, wasn’t he?

He wasn’t, was he?

(she/it)

Yes, he was.

(she/it)

No, he wasn’t.

(she/it)

There was, wasn’t there?

There were, weren’t there?

Yes, there was.

Yes, there were.

No, there wasn’t.

No, there weren’t.

Modal verbs

Questions Affirmative answers Negative answers

Can

I could, couldn’t I?

I couldn’t, could I?

We could, couldn’t we?

We couldn’t, could we?

You could, couldn’t you?

You couldn’t, could you?

Yes, you could.

Yes, I could.

Yes, we could.

No, you couldn’t.

No, I couldn’t.

No, we couldn’t.

Could

I could have, couldn’t I?

I couldn’t have, could I?

We could have, couldn’t we?

We couldn’t have, could we?

You could have, couldn’t you?

You couldn’t have, could you?

He could have, couldn’t he?

He couldn’t have, could he?

(she/it/they)

Yes, you could have

(could’ve).

Yes, you could have.

Yes, we could have.

Yes, I could have.

(she/it/they)

No, you couldn’t have.

No, I couldn’t have.

No, we couldn’t have.

No, he couldn’t have.

(she/it/they)