Don’t you think ? | Haven’t you heard ?

In English, the auxiliary verbs “do” and “have” are often used to form negative “yes/no” questions. This construction is commonly used when seeking confirmation or clarification in a negative context. Here’s how it works:

1. The auxiliary verb “do” + “not” contraction (“don’t”) + subject + base form of the main verb: Example: Statement: He plays tennis. Negative question: Doesn’t he play tennis? In this example, the auxiliary verb “do” is used in its negative form “doesn’t” (a contraction of “does not”), followed by the subject “he” and the base form of the main verb “play.”
2. The auxiliary verb “have” + “not” contraction (“haven’t”) + subject + past participle of the main verb: Example: Statement: She has finished her homework. Negative question: Hasn’t she finished her homework? Here, the auxiliary verb “have” is used in its negative form “hasn’t” (a contraction of “has not”), followed by the subject “she” and the past participle of the main verb “finish.”

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In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 17 in the category of  QUESTIONS is defined as:

auxiliary ‘do’ and ‘have’ + ‘n’t’ + subject + main verb to form negative ‘yes/no’ questions.

This overlaps point 24 in the category of PRESENT/simple:

NEGATIVE TAG QUESTIONS ‘don’t you think’ or ‘don’t you agree’ to look for agreement or an opinion.

This also overlaps with point 18 in PAST:

present perfect simple – negative question form.

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This is hard to catch for variable-length searches, but we can get some short checking questions from this Do|Have _x _p _v ? on iWeb:

1 DON’T YOU THINK? 5711

2 DON’T YOU AGREE? 760
3 DON’T YOU SEE? 493
4 DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND? 396
5 DON’T YOU KNOW? 342
6 DON’T YOU REMEMBER? 187
7 DON’T YA THINK? 175

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8 HAVE N’T YOU HEARD ? 16

9 DON’T YOU LIKE? 95
10 DON’T YOU CARE? 45