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You' d better hurry, hadn't / shouldn't you?

Which question tag should I use? If neither, what is the correct answer?

Many thanks.

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@tanguatlay,

Since "you'd" in your example is short for 'you had', the correct answer is 'hadn't'.

Alternatively,

You should hurry, shouldn't you?

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@tanguatlay,

Quote:

You' d better hurry, hadn't / shouldn't you?

Which question tag should I use? If neither, what is the correct answer?

I don't think it's a matter of correct so much as what a speaker might want to say. <hadn't> is stronger than <shouldn't>, so the latter could be used should/if the speaker wants to soften the suggestion.

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@JTT,

JTT, I think you're answering a different question from the one which was asked. Since the 'd in 'you'd' is short for 'had', then surely 'hadn't you?' is needed later.

1 Reply

@contrex,

I agree with you, Contrex, as regards numbers. Certainly, <hadn't> would be the most common choice. But to my mind, tosuggest that only one answer is "correct/needed", we disallow the possibility of other situations occurring in life. Surely you can see that that just isn't how life and language work.

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@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Certainly, <hadn't> would be the most common choice.

But there isn't really a "choice". If you use "had" to start the contruction, you use "hadn't you?" to finish it.

Quote:

But to my mind, tosuggest that only one answer is "correct/needed", we disallow the possibility of other situations occurring in life. Surely you can see that that just isn't how life and language work.

The OP quoted a sentence and asked what, in the quoted sentence, is the correct option out of two possibilities. To discuss other ways of writing the sentence would be a digression.

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@contrex,

Quote:

But there isn't really a "choice". If you use "had" to start the contruction, you use "hadn't you?" to finish it.

Contrex, I noted that the normal neutral would use "hadn't you?" but there are situations in life, and therefore in language where we don't always use the normal neutral.

Quote:

The OP quoted a sentence and asked what, in the quoted sentence, is the correct option out of two possibilities. To discuss other ways of writing the sentence would be a digression.

I agree. I digressed. [Is that a capital offence?]

Why? In order to illustrate to Tanguatlay that there could be a language/life situation where there could be other choices.

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@JTT,

JTT wrote:

I agree. I digressed. [Is that a capital offence?]

Why? In order to illustrate to Tanguatlay that there could be a language/life situation where there could be other choices.

But when an ESL learner is asking a clearly defined question, it is more likely to be confusing and therefore unhelpful to provide such "illustrations". A good principle of language teaching is to provide the standard form first, and allow the student to discover variant usages, slang, informal constructions and differences of register later, when they have mastered the basics.

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@contrex,

Thanks, fellow members, for being so helpful.

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@contrex,

Quote:

A good principle of language teaching is to provide the standard form first, and allow the student to discover variant usages, slang, informal constructions and differences of register later, when they have mastered the basics.

That is a good principle, Contrex, for beginners.

From my long experience teaching ESL, I've found that it is imperative to point up to students that there is rarely a "correct" answer. This is often what they've been taught in their homeland schooling.

It is more important that they realize that language isn't simply just a rote, fill in the blanks exercise. These changes to the normal neutral are nuances and language is all about nuance.

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@JTT,

Surely, if the student is sufficiently astute and motivated, they will realise those things by themselves, and if they are not, you are wasting your time?

1 Reply

@contrex,

It seems to me that the nuances of language are more difficult to grasp than the givens, Contrex.

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