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Question tags (I am late, aren't I?)



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Sentence correct? - His brother made him to do it again. | To Be Captured Among Four Walls
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Question tags (I am late, aren't I?) #1 (permalink) Sun Sep 24, 2006 17:44 pm   Question tags (I am late, aren't I?)
 

Hello! Just some questions about question tags.
Thanks in advance

1.- I am late, aren?t I?

I know that?s right.

But, I am not late, are I?

2.- Shut the door, will you/won?t you?

I am afraid both of them are possible, but I
can?t understand what the difference is

3.- Do not run, will you/won?t you?

I am afraid both of them are right as well, but
I don?t grasp the difference either.

4.- Sometimes I find it difficult to choose between
a question tag and a comment tag.

I can not see the difference clearly.

For instance,

a.- You saw him, didn?t you?
b.- You say him, did you?

What?s the difference?

Jes?s
Jesus1
I'm here quite often ;-)


Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 192

QUESTION TAGS #2 (permalink) Sun Sep 24, 2006 18:17 pm   QUESTION TAGS
 

Jesus1 wrote:
Hello! Just some questions about question tags.

Thanks in advance

1.- I am late, aren?t I?

I know that?s right.

But, I am not late, are I? No, the tag here should be: am I

2.- Shut the door, will you/won?t you? I'd only use will you. This isn't a simple tag that asks for confirmation because it adds the idea of willingness to and softens the command.

I am afraid both of them are possible, but I
can?t understand what the difference is
You'll shut the door, won't you?

3.- Do not run, will you/won?t you? Personally, I wouldn't say either one.
I'd say:
Please don't run. - OR -
You won't run, will you? - OR -
Don't run. OK? :D


I am afraid both of them are right as well, but
I don?t grasp the difference either.

4.- Sometimes I find it difficult to choose between
a question tag and a comment tag.

I can not see the difference clearly.

For instance,

a.- You saw him, didn?t you? (I want to know yes or no)
b.- You say him, did you? (That's interesting/surprising.)

When the sentence is positive and the tag is negative (or vice versa) and the tag is the same verb, you are probably simply asking for confirmation: Is that true? Yes or no?

When you have a positive sentence along with a positive tag as in (b.), it's probably something else, and in your (b) sentence it sounds to me as though the person finds the fact that you saw him interesting or possibly surprising. So, the tag is used to indicate this.


What?s the difference?

Sentence tags are used in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. Wikipedia has an interesting article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_question

Jes?s
Yankee
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA

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Question tags #3 (permalink) Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:15 am   Question tags
 

Just in addition to Amy's excellent explanation!

Quote:
.- I am late, aren?t I?


You may also say:

I am late, am I not? :wink:
Pamela
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 1239
Location: Rf

Am I not? #4 (permalink) Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:49 am   Am I not?
 

Pamela wrote:
You may also say:

I am late, am I not? :wink:


I agree with Pamela. Yet keep in mind that this sounds very formal and isn't much used in conversation.
Conchita
Language Coach


Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 2826
Location: Madrid, Spain

Question tags (I am late, aren't I?) #5 (permalink) Sun Apr 26, 2009 19:00 pm   Question tags (I am late, aren't I?)
 

I find it quite hard introducing this exceptional case to my students since they near to always ask for rules and guidelines.
Any ideas?

:-)
BammBamm
New Member


Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Posts: 1

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