Ch 16 · Lesson 16English · Chapter 16 · Lesson 16 · Grammar primer
Aren't I, shall we, will you
Three common tags that break the mirror rule. And after nobody, never and nothing, a yes tag: Nobody called, did they?
The short version
Aren't I, shall we, will you
, ?
Why?Hide
Three very common tags ignore the mirror rule. Standard English has no amn't, so the tag after I am borrows aren't (amn't I is heard in Scotland and Ireland). Let's makes a suggestion, so its tag is shall we. And an order has no helper verb, so it takes will you, won't you, would you or can you.
Negative words already make the sentence negative
, ?
Why?Hide
The mirror rule is simple: repeat the auxiliary and flip the polarity. What trips almost everyone is that a sentence can be negative without containing not. Nobody, nothing, never, hardly, rarely and few all make the statement negative, so the tag has to be positive.
Aren't I, shall we, will you
Three very common tags do not follow the mirror rule. Learn them as they are:
| Sentence | Tag | Why |
|---|---|---|
, | ? | |
, | ? | |
, | ? |
- . Standard English has no short not form of am, so it borrows aren't. Amn't I? is heard in Scotland and Ireland. Am I not? is correct but formal.
- . This one is regular:
, ? - . Will you is the usual tag. Would you and could you
are more polite:
, ?After a not order, use will you:, ?
Nobody, never, nothing: a yes tag
Some words make a sentence a sentence without not. Then the tag is :
, ?, ?, ?
Two more things the tag keeps or changes:
| Sentence has | Tag uses | Example |
|---|---|---|
| , | , ? | |
| , | , ? | |
| , | , ? |
Going further: The mirror rule and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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