What is the right question tag (in British English) when we use the verb have?
I have interviewed a few native speakers and none of them could explain why sometimes they prefer "haven't/hasn't" and why other times they prefer "don't/doesn't".
Here are 4 different groups of sentences. Which ones are correct and which ones aren't and why?
Group 1
- I've got a good voice, haven't I?
- You've got a dog, haven't you?
- She's got a new boyfriend, hasn't she?
- We've got very good friends, haven't we?
- They've got our address, haven't they?
Group 2
- I have a good voice, don't I?
- You have a dog, don't you?
- She has a new boyfriend, doesn't she?
- We have very good friends, don't we?
- They have our address, don't they?
Group 3
- I've got a good voice, don't I?
- You've got a dog, don't you?
- She's got a new boyfriend, doesn't she?
- We've got very good friends, don't we?
- They've got our address, don't they?
Group 4
- I have a good voice, haven't I?
- You have a dog, haven't you?
- She has a new boyfriend, hasn't she?
- We have very good friends, haven't we?
- They have our address, haven't they?
Answer
From the wikipedia article on question tags:
The English tag question is made up of an auxiliary verb and a pronoun. The auxiliary has to agree with the tense, aspect and modality of the verb in the preceding sentence. If the verb is in the present perfect, for example, the tag question uses has or have; if the verb is in a present progressive form, the tag is formed with am, are, is; if the verb is in a tense which does not normally use an auxiliary, like the present simple, the auxiliary is taken from the emphatic do form; and if the sentence has a modal auxiliary, this is echoed in the tag.
But then later on:
If the main verb is to have, either solution (does/has) is possible
Using this rule, group 2 and group 4 would both be correct. (As an AmE, I prefer group 2 with group 4 sounding awkward to a degree approaching incorrect, but I'm unsure about BritE)
Following the same rule, group 1 would be correct and group 3 incorrect as has/have is the auxiliary verb, and so it should be used in the question. However, as a native AmE speaker, this actually runs counter to my intuition as I would prefer group 3. I have a feeling this has to do with the 'have got' construction somehow affecting things.
Edit: updated because I should have read the whole thing
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