Usage of 'right?' to replace 'isn't it?' or 'don't they?'

[Nessie]

Hi,

In tag question, we can use 'right?' to replace 'isn't it?' or 'don't they?', or the like (without changing the idea), can't we?
And what I wonder is if the use of 'right?' instead of other normal ways of tag questions make it sound more informal and sometimes not very polite.

Many thanks,
Nessie.
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[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

Tag questions can be used for a variety of reasons. One of the most common uses of a tag question is to elicit confirmation of or agreement with what has just been said. For that sort of tag, you can use "right" instead. Replacing a negative tag with "right" might be a bit more common than replacing a positive tag with "right".

I would say that "right" would tend to sound more informal, but not necessarily impolite.
.
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[Nessie]

Hi Amy,

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

Here are some example sentences with tags which cannot be replaced by the word "right":

- Open the window, will you? (request)
- Watch what you're doing, will you! (irritation)
- Oh, so you think I'm wrong, do you? (confrontational)
- A: I hate your cooking. B: Oh, you do, do you? Then you can just cook for yourself!
.
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Molly]

[MrPedantic]

Hello Nessie,

[Molly]

[Yankee]

[MrPedantic]

1. There are too many blacks round here, right?

— a distinctly aggressive statement. The speaker probably has his nose and halitosis thrust in my face.

2. There are too many blacks round here, aren't there?

— a distinctly languid statement. The speaker is probably reclining in his corner of the taxi I was unwise enough to share.

3. The weather's lovely today, right?

— a distinctly unidiomatic statement. The speaker has combined a phrase from his ESL textbook with a "hazy memory" of M's unsound advice in the ET "tags" thread.

MrP

[Molly]

MrP unwilling to back up his rather poorly thought out statement here:

[Molly]

As a, self-appointed, more sophisticated user, MrP wants to tell us that he doesn't like people using the question tag "right" around him. :wink:

Just look at how many less unsophisticated Brits there are:

BNC

The search , right ? = 524 per 1 million words.
The search , does n't [pn*] ? = 310 per 1 million words.
The search , did n't [pn*] ? = 661 per 1 million words
The search , was n't [pn*] ? = 395 per 1 million words
The search , do n't you ? = 581 per 1 million words

Mind, tops is , IS N'T IT ? with a score of 1306 per 1 million words. Now, if MrP is right on "right", I'm sure that we cannot find many examples where, when using "isn't it?", 'The "impoliteness" probably resides in the implication that the addressee will agree with the speaker.', right?

So what is MrP telling us? He seems to be telling us that one of the functions of the tag "right?" is to ask "Am I right?", i.e. to allow the speaker to ask the listener to agree with him/her. Is that news to anyone? Many questions tags have the same function, especially when used with falling intonation.

[Molly]

[MrPedantic]

To tell a student that "right?" does not have an impolite air in BrE is slightly misleading.

In an interview, for instance, or some other situation where politeness was important, even the people who otherwise use the tag would probably avoid it.

It's possible though that you've confused the terminal "(am I) right?" tag with the "right" which occurs in the middle of an utterance, and asks for reassurance that the speaker is on the right track.

MrP

[Molly]

[MrPedantic]