Tag Questions: že?, viď?, ne? | Czech Grammar

A tag question turns a statement into a request for agreement: "You're coming, aren't you?" Here Czech does English an enormous favour. Where English forces you to build a tag that mirrors the main verb and flips its polarity — isn't it, don't you, haven't they, won't we — Czech just glues on one short invariant particle and is done. The tags never change for person, number, tense, or polarity. Learn the handful of particles below and you can tag any sentence in the language.

The core insight: one fixed particle, no mirroring

English tags are miniature grammar puzzles: you must find the auxiliary, copy it, and reverse the polarity ("She has left" → "…hasn't she?"). Czech skips all of that. You state your sentence and append že?, viď?, or ne? — the same word regardless of what the sentence was.

Tag	Force	Register
že?	right? (neutral, expects agreement)	neutral
viď? / viďte?	right? (warm, seeking a shared "yes")	(informal sg) / (polite or plural)
ne?	no? / isn't it? (casual, slightly tentative)	(informal)
že jo? / žejo?	right? yeah? (very casual, warm)	(informal)
že ne?	right? (appended to a negative statement)	(informal)

Přijdeš, že?

You'll come, right?

Je to hezké, viď?

It's nice, isn't it?

Bydlíš tady, ne?

You live here, don't you?

Look at those three English translations — right?, isn't it?, don't you? — three different English tags for three different sentences. In Czech the machinery behind them is identical: a statement plus a single particle, marked off by a comma.

💡

Stop building English-style tags in your head. There is nothing to conjugate and nothing to negate. Say your statement, add a comma, add že? (or viď?, or ne?), and you have a perfect tag question.

že? — the neutral all-rounder

Že? literally reuses the conjunction že ("that") as a checking particle. It is the safest, most neutral tag and works in any register short of very formal writing. It signals "I expect you to agree."

Zítra máš volno, že?

You're off tomorrow, right?

To bylo skvělé, že?

That was great, wasn't it?

Ještě si dáš kávu, že?

You'll have another coffee, right?

viď? / viďte? — the warm, personal tag

Viď? comes from vid ět ("to see") — literally "you see?" — and it is affectionate and conversational, inviting the listener into a shared view. It is the one tag that does change form, but only for the familiar-versus-polite distinction: viď? to someone you address as ty, viďte? to someone you address as vy or to several people. This is the same tykání/vykání split you already track elsewhere (see tykání vs. vykání).

Ty mi pomůžeš, viď?

You'll help me, won't you? (to one familiar person)

Počkáte na mě, viďte?

You'll wait for me, won't you? (polite/plural)

Nezapomeneš na to, viď?

You won't forget it, will you? (warm, familiar)

💡

The only "conjugation" in the whole tag system is viď? (familiar) vs viďte? (polite/plural) — and even that just mirrors how you'd address the person anyway. Everything else is invariant.

ne? and že jo? — the casual end

Ne? ("no?") is the most colloquial neutral tag, a little like the English "…, no?" or "…, right?" It sounds relaxed and is extremely common in speech. In very casual talk you'll also hear že jo? (often written žejo?), a warm "right? / yeah?", and its negative-statement partner že ne?

Tohle je tvoje, ne?

This is yours, isn't it?

Půjdeme spolu, žejo?

We'll go together, right? (very casual, warm)

Ty se na mě nezlobíš, že ne?

You're not angry with me, are you? (že ne after a negative statement)

Note the neat logic of že jo? / že ne?: after a positive statement you can add že jo? ("right, yeah?"), and after a negative statement že ne? ("right, no?"). These are the one place where polarity peeks through — and even here you're just choosing between two fixed phrases, not conjugating anything.

Why this is so much easier than English

It's worth dwelling on just how much labour Czech saves you, because the temptation is to over-engineer. To tag "They haven't arrived yet, ?" English demands you retrieve the auxiliary have, negate-flip it to positive, and match the subject: "…have they?" Get any piece wrong and it sounds foreign. Czech's entire answer to that sentence is one syllable:

Ještě nedorazili, že?

They haven't arrived yet, have they?

Byl tam Petr, ne?

Petr was there, wasn't he?

To se ti líbí, viď?

You like that, don't you?

Three sentences, three wildly different English tags (have they? / wasn't he? / don't you?), and on the Czech side just že? / ne? / viď? — none of them derived from the verb at all. This is one of the rare corners where Czech grammar is dramatically simpler than English, so lean into it.

A punctuation note

The tag is set off by a comma, exactly like any other clause boundary (Czech commas by structure — see subordinate clauses and the comma rule). The whole sentence then ends in a question mark, because the tag makes it a question. Intonation rises on the tag itself, the same rising contour you already use for plain yes/no questions (see yes/no questions: intonation only).

Máš rád čaj, že?

You like tea, right? (comma before the tag, question mark at the end)

Common Mistakes

❌ Přijdeš, nepřijdeš? (building an English-style mirrored tag)

Overbuilt — don't mirror the verb; Czech uses one fixed particle: 'Přijdeš, že?'

✅ Přijdeš, že?

You'll come, right?

❌ Je to hezké, není to? (calquing 'isn't it')

Calque of English 'isn't it' — Czech has no such construction; use 'viď?' or 'že?'

✅ Je to hezké, viď?

It's nice, isn't it?

❌ Počkáš na mě, viďte? (familiar statement, polite tag)

Mismatch — if you address the person as 'ty', use 'viď?'; 'viďte?' is for 'vy'/plural

✅ Počkáš na mě, viď?

You'll wait for me, won't you?

❌ Bydlíš tady ne?

Missing comma — a tag is a clause boundary and needs a preceding comma

✅ Bydlíš tady, ne?

You live here, don't you?

❌ Nezlobíš se, že jo? (positive tag on a negative statement)

Polarity clash — after a negative statement use 'že ne?', not 'že jo?'

✅ Nezlobíš se, že ne?

You're not angry, are you?

Key Takeaways

Czech tags are invariant particles — no mirroring the verb, no flipping polarity like English.
že? = neutral "right?"; ne? = casual "…, no?"; viď? / viďte? = warm "right?" (familiar / polite-plural).
The only variation: viď? vs viďte? (tracking ty vs vy), and že jo? (after positive) vs že ne? (after negative).
Always put a comma before the tag and a question mark at the end.
This is a place where Czech is far simpler than English — resist the urge to reconstruct an English tag.

Now practice Czech

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Czech→