English tag questions are a small engineering feat: "You're coming, aren't you? She left, didn't she? They won't mind, will they?" Each tag rebuilds the auxiliary, matches the subject, and flips the polarity — a fresh mini-verb every time. Russian does none of this. To turn a statement into a "..., right?" it appends one invariable word that never changes for person, tense, or polarity. There is nothing to conjugate, nothing to match, nothing to flip. Learn the handful of tag words below and you can check any statement in the language.
The everyday tag: …, да?
The workhorse is да? ("right? / yeah?"), tacked onto the end of a statement after a comma and said with a rising ИК-3 intonation. It is neutral-to-informal and fits almost any spoken situation. Crucially it is the same word regardless of what the sentence says — there is no agreement to compute.
Ты согла́сен, да?
You agree, right? (informal)
Мы встреча́емся за́втра, да?
We're meeting tomorrow, right?
Notice that English would have demanded three different tags for three different sentences ("aren't you?", "don't we?", "won't they?") — Russian uses да? for all of them.
…, пра́вда? — "true?"
пра́вда? literally means "(is it) true?" and works just like да?, perhaps a touch warmer. It is extremely common in speech.
Фильм был отли́чный, пра́вда?
The film was great, wasn't it? (literally: the film was great, true?)
Ты же не серди́шься на меня́, пра́вда?
You're not angry with me, are you? (the inner же softens it to 'surely')
The formal tags: …, не так ли? and …, не пра́вда ли?
For writing, speeches, or polished speech, Russian uses the fixed phrases не так ли? ("is it not so?") and не пра́вда ли? ("is it not true?"). Both are invariable set expressions — you do not decline or conjugate anything inside them. They sound bookish or genteel and would be out of place in casual chat.
Прекра́сная пого́да сего́дня, не пра́вда ли?
Lovely weather today, isn't it? (formal / genteel)
Вы уже́ быва́ли здесь ра́ньше, не так ли?
You've been here before, haven't you? (formal)
…, ведь так? and the embedded ведь
The particle ведь ("after all, you know, surely") is the native engine of confirmation-seeking. As a tag you can append ведь так? ("that's so, isn't it?"):
Ты ему́ позвони́л, ведь так?
You called him, didn't you?
But the more idiomatic move — and the one that has no English structural parallel — is to slip ведь inside the sentence, usually right after the subject. This bakes the "surely / I assume" straight into the statement, so it functions as a built-in tag without any word at the end:
Ты ведь придёшь?
You're coming, aren't you? / You'll come, right? (the ведь carries the 'surely')
Вы ведь меня́ по́мните?
You do remember me, don't you?
For the full range of ведь (and its incredulous cousins разве and неуже́ли), see ведь, разве, and неуже́ли.
The casual nudge: …, а?
In relaxed speech Russians append а? to coax or persuade — closer to English "huh? / eh? / c'mon?" than to a true tag. It is informal and friendly.
Пойдём в кино́, а?
Let's go to the movies, eh? / c'mon? (informal, coaxing)
Дай попро́бовать, а?
Let me have a taste, c'mon? (informal)
The distinguishing insight: one frozen tag vs. a rebuilt one
This is the whole point, so it is worth stating plainly. English tags are derived — the grammar generates a new tag for every sentence by copying the auxiliary, matching the subject's person and number, and reversing the polarity. That machinery is precisely what trips up learners of English. Russian threw the machinery away. Its tags are frozen, invariable particles: да?, пра́вда?, ведь так?, не так ли? Pick one for the register you want, attach it, and you are done. There is no sentence — present, past, future, positive, negative, first person, third person — that needs a different tag word. The only thing that ever changes is your choice of register, not your grammar.
| English (rebuilt each time) | Russian (one frozen tag) | Register |
|---|---|---|
| …, isn't it? / don't you? / won't they? | …, да? | neutral / informal |
| …, isn't that right? / true? | …, пра́вда? | neutral / warm |
| …, isn't it? (polished) | …, не так ли? / не пра́вда ли? | formal / written |
| …, right? (you do … , don't you?) | Ты ведь …? / …, ведь так? | neutral, "surely" |
| …, eh? / c'mon? | …, а? | casual, coaxing |
Common Mistakes
❌ Ты придёшь, не придёшь ли?
Incorrect — there is no English-style verb-matching tag in Russian; don't rebuild the verb. Use a frozen tag: Ты придёшь, да?
✅ Ты придёшь, да?
You're coming, right?
❌ Она́ ушла́, не ушла́ ли она́?
Incorrect — same error: Russian never copies and re-conjugates the verb as a tag. Append да? or пра́вда?.
✅ Она́ ушла́, да?
She left, didn't she?
❌ Кла́ссный конце́рт, не так ли?
Mismatched register — the slangy кла́ссный clashes with the formal не так ли?. In casual speech use да? / пра́вда?.
✅ Кла́ссный конце́рт, да?
Awesome concert, wasn't it? (informal throughout)
❌ Ты придёшь ведь?
Awkward placement — embedded ведь sits after the subject, not floating at the end. Either Ты ведь придёшь? or the tag Ты придёшь, ведь так?
✅ Ты ведь придёшь?
You're coming, aren't you?
Key Takeaways
- Russian has no conjugating tag — nothing matches English isn't it / doesn't he / won't you, which rebuild the auxiliary each time.
- Use invariable tag words: …, да? and …, пра́вда? (everyday), …, не так ли? / не пра́вда ли? (formal/written), …, ведь так? — none of them ever change for person, tense, or polarity.
- The particle ведь can be embedded after the subject (Ты ведь придёшь?) to build the "surely" right into the question.
- Casual …, а? coaxes or nudges (Пойдём, а?).
- The only decision you make is register, never grammar: pick the tag that matches how formal you want to sound, attach it, done.
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