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Are the question tags correct?

 
 
Reply Tue 6 Aug, 2013 11:10 pm
You must come to school regularly, can't you?
You must come to school regularly, shan't you?
You must come to school regularly, shouldn't you?
You must come to school regularly, mustn't you?

Are the question tags correct?

Thanks.
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Type: Question • Score: 10 • Views: 1,101 • Replies: 14
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McTag
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 01:17 am
@tanguatlay,

Quote:
You must come to school regularly, mustn't you?


This one, as a sentence, is correct.

I'm not sure what you mean by "question tags".
tanguatlay
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 04:18 am
@McTag,
Question tags

We use tags in spoken English but not in formal written English.

They are not really questions but are a way of asking the other person to make a comment and so keep the conversation open.

Making a tag is very mechanical. To make a tag, use the first auxiliary. If there is no auxiliary, use do, does or did. With a positive sentence, make a negative tag and with a negative sentence, make a positive tag.

•It's beautiful, isn't it?
•He has been, hasn't he?
•You can, can't you?
•It must be, mustn't it?
•You know him, don’t you?
•He finished it, didn't he?
•He will come, won't he?
izzythepush
 
  -1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 06:47 am
@tanguatlay,
We would call that a leading question.
JTT
 
  -1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 08:48 am
@izzythepush,
Quote:
We would call that a leading question.


No, "we" wouldn't, Izzy. Those are known grammatically as Tag Questions and for some, most? they are used to seek confirmation of what is already known rather than asking a full blown question.
JTT
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 08:54 am
@tanguatlay,
Quote:
You must come to school regularly, can't you?
You must come to school regularly, shan't you?
You must come to school regularly, shouldn't you?
You must come to school regularly, mustn't you?

Are the question tags correct?


To determine "correct", we need context, Ms Tan. Only the last one seems possible. And I'd say that it's more probable as,

You have to come to school regularly, don't you?

The others contradict or suggest things that aren't normally found in Tag questions. I don't think that I've ever seen a Tag with different verbs as in your first three examples.
tanguatlay
 
  0  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 09:49 am
@JTT,

Thanks, JTT and McTag.
0 Replies
 
JTT
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 09:59 am
@tanguatlay,
Quote:
With a positive sentence, make a negative tag and with a negative sentence, make a positive tag.


This is true except for the "I really know" tag questions, Ms Tan.

Imaginary examples:

1. I travel to your country to meet you and upon meeting.

"So you're Tanguatlay, are you?"

Imagine there's a little girl with you and you have previously told me you have a daughter, named Kara.

"And this is Kara, is it?"

or speaking to Kara,

"And you are Kara, are you?"

2. You take me to show me Mt Everest and we come around a cliff face and I see it.

"So that's Mt Everest, is it?"

0 Replies
 
izzythepush
 
  0  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 10:02 am
@JTT,
I was talking from a UK perspective, I wouldn't dream of speaking for an American.
JTT
 
  2  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 10:08 am
@izzythepush,
Quote:
I was talking from a UK perspective, I wouldn't dream of speaking for an American.


They're called the same thing in the UK, Izzy. You're not up on grammar terminology, are you?
izzythepush
 
  0  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 10:18 am
@JTT,
You're mistaken, a leading question is not when you're trying to get confirmation of what is already known, but to get the answer you want.

'You're feeling a lot better now aren't you?' leads the answer 'Yes,' but the person might be very ill. They just want his bed.

It's seems very euphemistic to describe a question designed to get a specific response as merely confirmation of what is already known. Sounds like the sort of thinking an interrogator would engage in. You carried many interrogations JTT? Sorry, knowledge confirmation sessions.
JTT
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 10:22 am
@izzythepush,
Ms Tan's question deals with the grammar issue, Izzy. There is no grammar designation - "leading question" in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, ... .


0 Replies
 
roger
 
  2  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 10:36 am
@izzythepush,
Same answer for both - for once.
0 Replies
 
contrex
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 11:47 am
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:
I wouldn't dream of speaking for an American.


You'd need to get your mouth enlarged, and they won't do that on the NHS.
0 Replies
 
laughoutlood
 
  2  
Reply Wed 7 Aug, 2013 09:46 pm
@tanguatlay,
You CAN come to school regularly, can't you?
You SHALL come to school regularly, shan't you?
You SHOULD come to school regularly, shouldn't you?
You must come to school regularly, mustn't you?

SCHOOL IS FUN, ISN'T IT?
0 Replies
 
 

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