Negative questions

I absolutely hate that construction.

If you say 'yes', it means "Yes, I do not like him". Yet, the questioner is entirely likely to infer exactly the opposite. When faced with the choice I explicitly answer "Yes, I like him" or "No, I do not like him". Tedious, but clear.

You typically answer them like they were positive questions. You would say, "no, I don't like him" rather than saying "yes, I don't like him".

You've made a lifelong friend of OmSigDavid, Roger. Lucky you.



I wonder why Engineer is invariably able to come up with well thought out responses to questions of English and the rest of you seem unable to escape the dismal education you received in English.



You can't imagine, Roger, how terribly disappointed I am to learn that not everything can be answered with a 'yes' or 'no'.

You deserve an explanation, Roger. The reason why I said,

I wonder why Engineer is invariably able to come up with well thought out responses to questions of English and the rest of you seem unable to escape the dismal education you received in English.

is because remarks such as yours don't help people learning English or even those learning about English. You give the impression that negative questions are difficult to understand constructions, constructions that should be avoided.

They aren't of course. They are just another invaluable tool in a speaker's toolbox.

Little children don't have a problem with them.

The thing is, dollars to donuts, this is simply a repetition of something you heard from some wag sometime in your life. If folks like you were to take the time to think things thru, to ask questions, you wouldn't be saddled with all these old canards. And more importantly you wouldn't saddle another generation with these nonsensical ideas.

Lord, we just had a person, who will go unnamed, parading the "don't end a sentence with a preposition" as a real rule of English grammar.

I hope you can see how destructive it is to just keep throwing out all these old falsehoods that were drummed into your head as an impressionable youth. You'll never come to understand the beauty and the complexity of language with this kind of an attitude.

Have to agree with JTT here. Negative questions have a use.

If you don't like him, as the questioner clearly surmises, you could simply say "No". If you actually do like him, you could say something like "I like him".

In bold - so vitally important to understanding one of the reasons for negative questions.

Negative questions carry implications. They are usually asked to elicit an extended reply such as an explanation or a justification, not just "yes" or "no". They may be intended to express a feeling on the part of the questioner such as surprise, anger or confusion. Sometimes they are intended as a rebuke.

See, Roger, that's exactly what is needed for people to understand the complexities of language.

Good stuff, C, damn good!

Besides isn't this all a tempest in a teapot

That's why when asked a question like that, in which I'm made to feel the questioner is leading me, I usually say something like "hmmm...."

That lobs the ball back in their court.

Let them do the work.

Many negative questions are disguised statements of opinion. English people are fond of indirect ways of expressing negative feelings about others, and that type of question is useful, often combined with understatement and a self-deprecatory pretence of tentativeness, ignorance or naivete.

Isn't it a bit soon to be dating? (Your wife has only been dead three weeks)

Isn't the curry a bit strong? (It's inedible)

Aren't you being a little severe? (You're worse than Hitler)

Haven't you heard of Justin Beiber? (You ignorant dick)

Isn't your tablet an Apple? (You cheapskate)

Don't you have a smartphone? (You hick)

Such questions may be, I think, what modern folks call "passive-aggressive".

I agree with you contrex, it is very passive aggressive.

If you'd lived in the Southern U.S., you'd eventually find yourself conversing with someone (especially a woman IMNSHO) who could stand up to, or wipe up the floor with a Brit trying to "out-tentative", "out self-deprecate" her (or him)

That way of conversing is probably one of the reasons why some consider Southerners backwards. In fact, it's a very sophisticated campaign to say everything, without saying anything.

2 of my favorites....

Well, bless her heart.
That's different.

Exactly.

If I didn't like him, I'd answer, "No, I don't". If I did, I'd answer, "Why yes, I do".

Ah, loaded questions. They're used in cross-examination all the time, as they fluster people and also get the listener (in this case, a jury) to assume a fact.

E. g. Didn't you have a gun with you on the night of the murder?

To the jury, the assumption is that the gun was definitely present, and the attorney asking the question somehow knows this.

Never mind what's accurate - it's an implication and it does work on jurors subconsciously, just as it works on witnesses.

These questions generally aren't permitted during direct examination. The standard objection is "leading the witness".

Wonderful thread. There's so much more to language than silly prescriptions.