Is it mandatory to use contractions in tag questions and the like?Changing subject and verb positions in statements and questionsWhat is the appropriate question tag for sentences such as “Neither of you is…”?Tag Questions “is he not”Use of 'not' in questionsUsing contractions in questions
How do we know neutrons have no charge?
How to say "respectively" in German when listing (enumerating) things
IEEE 754 square root with Newton-Raphson
Phonetic distortion when words are borrowed among languages
As a team leader is it appropriate to bring in fundraiser candy?
Do I need to use BX wire in my house?
Impossible violin chord, how to fix this?
Why has Speaker Pelosi been so hesitant to impeach President Trump?
Why isn't there armor to protect from spells in the Potterverse?
How to work around players whose backstory goes against the story?
Looking for circuit board material that can be dissolved
Can I pay some of the cost of an activated ability lots of times to get more out of the effect?
Garage door sticks on a bolt
Creating specific options in `Manipulate[]`
How to identify whether a publisher is genuine or not?
Impersonating user with Core Service App and Angular client
Would an object shot from earth fall into the sun?
Knights and Knaves: What does C say?
Why would an airline put 15 passengers at once on standby?
Should I be on the paper from another PhD student that I constantly went on his meetings?
French license plates
How many stack cables would be needed if we want to stack two 3850 switches
Smallest PRIME containing the first 11 primes as sub-strings
What would happen if I build a half bath without permits?
Is it mandatory to use contractions in tag questions and the like?
Changing subject and verb positions in statements and questionsWhat is the appropriate question tag for sentences such as “Neither of you is…”?Tag Questions “is he not”Use of 'not' in questionsUsing contractions in questions
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;
Example 1:
The weather is hot, isn't it?
vs.:
The weather is hot, is it not?
Example 2:
Aren't you going to study tonight?
vs.:
Are you not going to study tonight?
Apart from convenience in pronuncation, how do the above versions differ (contraction vs. full form)?
grammar verbs questions contractions question-tags
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment
|
Example 1:
The weather is hot, isn't it?
vs.:
The weather is hot, is it not?
Example 2:
Aren't you going to study tonight?
vs.:
Are you not going to study tonight?
Apart from convenience in pronuncation, how do the above versions differ (contraction vs. full form)?
grammar verbs questions contractions question-tags
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
It's formality.
– marcellothearcane
12 hours ago
2
Of course it's not mandatory, but "...is it not?" sounds either very formal or consciously old-fashioned. I think I might use a construction like "Are you not going to...?" if I wanted to put particular stress on the not. Also, I'm sure I have seen "Are not you...?" and the like in 19th century novels.
– Kate Bunting
11 hours ago
All that's needed for a tag question is some question intonation (note that they're always Y/N questions, never Wh-questions, and thus have intonation as part of their marker). This is where "Hmmmmmm?" and its infinite variants come into play. Syntactic tags are kludges by comparison, and they're virtually always contracted and reduced phonologically, just enough to carry the intonation. Elaborating what amounts to a question mark is pretty rococo, and correspondingly rare. It is done only for some specific effect, in a few specific circumstances, by a few people. Let's let it go at that.
– John Lawler
6 hours ago
add a comment
|
Example 1:
The weather is hot, isn't it?
vs.:
The weather is hot, is it not?
Example 2:
Aren't you going to study tonight?
vs.:
Are you not going to study tonight?
Apart from convenience in pronuncation, how do the above versions differ (contraction vs. full form)?
grammar verbs questions contractions question-tags
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Example 1:
The weather is hot, isn't it?
vs.:
The weather is hot, is it not?
Example 2:
Aren't you going to study tonight?
vs.:
Are you not going to study tonight?
Apart from convenience in pronuncation, how do the above versions differ (contraction vs. full form)?
grammar verbs questions contractions question-tags
grammar verbs questions contractions question-tags
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
asked 13 hours ago
MrGeekMrGeek
1186 bronze badges
1186 bronze badges
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
MrGeek is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
It's formality.
– marcellothearcane
12 hours ago
2
Of course it's not mandatory, but "...is it not?" sounds either very formal or consciously old-fashioned. I think I might use a construction like "Are you not going to...?" if I wanted to put particular stress on the not. Also, I'm sure I have seen "Are not you...?" and the like in 19th century novels.
– Kate Bunting
11 hours ago
All that's needed for a tag question is some question intonation (note that they're always Y/N questions, never Wh-questions, and thus have intonation as part of their marker). This is where "Hmmmmmm?" and its infinite variants come into play. Syntactic tags are kludges by comparison, and they're virtually always contracted and reduced phonologically, just enough to carry the intonation. Elaborating what amounts to a question mark is pretty rococo, and correspondingly rare. It is done only for some specific effect, in a few specific circumstances, by a few people. Let's let it go at that.
– John Lawler
6 hours ago
add a comment
|
1
It's formality.
– marcellothearcane
12 hours ago
2
Of course it's not mandatory, but "...is it not?" sounds either very formal or consciously old-fashioned. I think I might use a construction like "Are you not going to...?" if I wanted to put particular stress on the not. Also, I'm sure I have seen "Are not you...?" and the like in 19th century novels.
– Kate Bunting
11 hours ago
All that's needed for a tag question is some question intonation (note that they're always Y/N questions, never Wh-questions, and thus have intonation as part of their marker). This is where "Hmmmmmm?" and its infinite variants come into play. Syntactic tags are kludges by comparison, and they're virtually always contracted and reduced phonologically, just enough to carry the intonation. Elaborating what amounts to a question mark is pretty rococo, and correspondingly rare. It is done only for some specific effect, in a few specific circumstances, by a few people. Let's let it go at that.
– John Lawler
6 hours ago
1
1
It's formality.
– marcellothearcane
12 hours ago
It's formality.
– marcellothearcane
12 hours ago
2
2
Of course it's not mandatory, but "...is it not?" sounds either very formal or consciously old-fashioned. I think I might use a construction like "Are you not going to...?" if I wanted to put particular stress on the not. Also, I'm sure I have seen "Are not you...?" and the like in 19th century novels.
– Kate Bunting
11 hours ago
Of course it's not mandatory, but "...is it not?" sounds either very formal or consciously old-fashioned. I think I might use a construction like "Are you not going to...?" if I wanted to put particular stress on the not. Also, I'm sure I have seen "Are not you...?" and the like in 19th century novels.
– Kate Bunting
11 hours ago
All that's needed for a tag question is some question intonation (note that they're always Y/N questions, never Wh-questions, and thus have intonation as part of their marker). This is where "Hmmmmmm?" and its infinite variants come into play. Syntactic tags are kludges by comparison, and they're virtually always contracted and reduced phonologically, just enough to carry the intonation. Elaborating what amounts to a question mark is pretty rococo, and correspondingly rare. It is done only for some specific effect, in a few specific circumstances, by a few people. Let's let it go at that.
– John Lawler
6 hours ago
All that's needed for a tag question is some question intonation (note that they're always Y/N questions, never Wh-questions, and thus have intonation as part of their marker). This is where "Hmmmmmm?" and its infinite variants come into play. Syntactic tags are kludges by comparison, and they're virtually always contracted and reduced phonologically, just enough to carry the intonation. Elaborating what amounts to a question mark is pretty rococo, and correspondingly rare. It is done only for some specific effect, in a few specific circumstances, by a few people. Let's let it go at that.
– John Lawler
6 hours ago
add a comment
|
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
It’s just extremely common to see tag questions that use contractions as opposed to their uncontracted forms.
A COCA search for , _v* * * ? (comma, verb, two words, and a question mark; note that “n’t” is considered a separate word) shows that “isn’t it?“ is much more common (5395 hits) than “is it not?” (334 hits).
Still, 334 hits is not insignificant. There’s nothing wrong grammatically with the uncontracted form. It (in general as well) is just more emphatic and sounds more formal.
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
The same type of questions are appearing on ELL andELU
– JVL
9 hours ago
add a comment
|
Tag's generally use less formal language as a standard because tags themselves are a less formal way of speaking.
You could use the full form if you want, but the tone changes and makes the sentence more emphatic. Sometimes this change in tone is what you're intending.
For example:
You knew you were coming home late, didn't you?
... sounds less severe than...
You knew you were coming home late, did you not?
... which sounds like something an angry parent would say to emphasis the gravity of the situation.
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
3
Tag's what? And who is he anyway?
– David
9 hours ago
3
@David He is presumably some sort of grocer.
– Mitch
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"u003ecc by-sa 4.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
MrGeek is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f513499%2fis-it-mandatory-to-use-contractions-in-tag-questions-and-the-like%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
It’s just extremely common to see tag questions that use contractions as opposed to their uncontracted forms.
A COCA search for , _v* * * ? (comma, verb, two words, and a question mark; note that “n’t” is considered a separate word) shows that “isn’t it?“ is much more common (5395 hits) than “is it not?” (334 hits).
Still, 334 hits is not insignificant. There’s nothing wrong grammatically with the uncontracted form. It (in general as well) is just more emphatic and sounds more formal.
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
The same type of questions are appearing on ELL andELU
– JVL
9 hours ago
add a comment
|
It’s just extremely common to see tag questions that use contractions as opposed to their uncontracted forms.
A COCA search for , _v* * * ? (comma, verb, two words, and a question mark; note that “n’t” is considered a separate word) shows that “isn’t it?“ is much more common (5395 hits) than “is it not?” (334 hits).
Still, 334 hits is not insignificant. There’s nothing wrong grammatically with the uncontracted form. It (in general as well) is just more emphatic and sounds more formal.
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
The same type of questions are appearing on ELL andELU
– JVL
9 hours ago
add a comment
|
It’s just extremely common to see tag questions that use contractions as opposed to their uncontracted forms.
A COCA search for , _v* * * ? (comma, verb, two words, and a question mark; note that “n’t” is considered a separate word) shows that “isn’t it?“ is much more common (5395 hits) than “is it not?” (334 hits).
Still, 334 hits is not insignificant. There’s nothing wrong grammatically with the uncontracted form. It (in general as well) is just more emphatic and sounds more formal.
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
It’s just extremely common to see tag questions that use contractions as opposed to their uncontracted forms.
A COCA search for , _v* * * ? (comma, verb, two words, and a question mark; note that “n’t” is considered a separate word) shows that “isn’t it?“ is much more common (5395 hits) than “is it not?” (334 hits).
Still, 334 hits is not insignificant. There’s nothing wrong grammatically with the uncontracted form. It (in general as well) is just more emphatic and sounds more formal.
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
LaurelLaurel
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
37.6k7 gold badges75 silver badges128 bronze badges
The same type of questions are appearing on ELL andELU
– JVL
9 hours ago
add a comment
|
The same type of questions are appearing on ELL andELU
– JVL
9 hours ago
The same type of questions are appearing on ELL andELU
– JVL
9 hours ago
The same type of questions are appearing on ELL andELU
– JVL
9 hours ago
add a comment
|
Tag's generally use less formal language as a standard because tags themselves are a less formal way of speaking.
You could use the full form if you want, but the tone changes and makes the sentence more emphatic. Sometimes this change in tone is what you're intending.
For example:
You knew you were coming home late, didn't you?
... sounds less severe than...
You knew you were coming home late, did you not?
... which sounds like something an angry parent would say to emphasis the gravity of the situation.
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
3
Tag's what? And who is he anyway?
– David
9 hours ago
3
@David He is presumably some sort of grocer.
– Mitch
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
Tag's generally use less formal language as a standard because tags themselves are a less formal way of speaking.
You could use the full form if you want, but the tone changes and makes the sentence more emphatic. Sometimes this change in tone is what you're intending.
For example:
You knew you were coming home late, didn't you?
... sounds less severe than...
You knew you were coming home late, did you not?
... which sounds like something an angry parent would say to emphasis the gravity of the situation.
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
3
Tag's what? And who is he anyway?
– David
9 hours ago
3
@David He is presumably some sort of grocer.
– Mitch
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
Tag's generally use less formal language as a standard because tags themselves are a less formal way of speaking.
You could use the full form if you want, but the tone changes and makes the sentence more emphatic. Sometimes this change in tone is what you're intending.
For example:
You knew you were coming home late, didn't you?
... sounds less severe than...
You knew you were coming home late, did you not?
... which sounds like something an angry parent would say to emphasis the gravity of the situation.
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
Tag's generally use less formal language as a standard because tags themselves are a less formal way of speaking.
You could use the full form if you want, but the tone changes and makes the sentence more emphatic. Sometimes this change in tone is what you're intending.
For example:
You knew you were coming home late, didn't you?
... sounds less severe than...
You knew you were coming home late, did you not?
... which sounds like something an angry parent would say to emphasis the gravity of the situation.
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
answered 11 hours ago
JRodge01JRodge01
3486 bronze badges
3486 bronze badges
3
Tag's what? And who is he anyway?
– David
9 hours ago
3
@David He is presumably some sort of grocer.
– Mitch
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
3
Tag's what? And who is he anyway?
– David
9 hours ago
3
@David He is presumably some sort of grocer.
– Mitch
8 hours ago
3
3
Tag's what? And who is he anyway?
– David
9 hours ago
Tag's what? And who is he anyway?
– David
9 hours ago
3
3
@David He is presumably some sort of grocer.
– Mitch
8 hours ago
@David He is presumably some sort of grocer.
– Mitch
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
MrGeek is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
MrGeek is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
MrGeek is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
MrGeek is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f513499%2fis-it-mandatory-to-use-contractions-in-tag-questions-and-the-like%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
1
It's formality.
– marcellothearcane
12 hours ago
2
Of course it's not mandatory, but "...is it not?" sounds either very formal or consciously old-fashioned. I think I might use a construction like "Are you not going to...?" if I wanted to put particular stress on the not. Also, I'm sure I have seen "Are not you...?" and the like in 19th century novels.
– Kate Bunting
11 hours ago
All that's needed for a tag question is some question intonation (note that they're always Y/N questions, never Wh-questions, and thus have intonation as part of their marker). This is where "Hmmmmmm?" and its infinite variants come into play. Syntactic tags are kludges by comparison, and they're virtually always contracted and reduced phonologically, just enough to carry the intonation. Elaborating what amounts to a question mark is pretty rococo, and correspondingly rare. It is done only for some specific effect, in a few specific circumstances, by a few people. Let's let it go at that.
– John Lawler
6 hours ago