question in the affirmative form

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Hela

#335609 Sun, 04 Mar 07 05:09 PM

Dear teachers,

When / For what purpose do we ask a question in the affirmative form? What difference does it make with the interrogative form?

It seems that when we ask a question in the interrogative negative form, we expect a positive answer.

Thank you for your help.

Hela

Hela

Joined on Mon, Nov 15 2004

Tunisia

Regular Member (831)

Negatives

Clive

#335615 Sun, 04 Mar 07 05:25 PM

Hi Hela,

It's good to provide examples. Do you mean these kinds of questions?

When / For what purpose do we ask a question in the affirmative form? What difference does it make with the interrogative form?

"You like Tom, don't you?" Here, I'm expecting 'Yes, I do'.

It seems that when we ask a question in the interrogative negative form, we expect a positive answer.

"You don't like Tom, do you?' Here , I'm expecting 'No, I don't like him'.

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (21,162)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

Negatives

Hela

#335621 Sun, 04 Mar 07 05:37 PM

Good afternoon, Clive

Not quite, but maybe when we use the affirmative form we have to use a tag in English (unlike French).

eg. a) Do you forget your old friends now? You never call up.

b) You forget your old friends now? You never call up.

c) Don't you remember your old friends now? (You never call up. ?)

See you Smile [:)]

Hela

Grammar Geek

#335626 Sun, 04 Mar 07 05:41 PM

The negative can go both ways in terms of expectations. I think if it's stated as more of a statement: You don't like Tom, do you? without much of an upward inflection, then you are expecting a negative.

But if you ask it with a real upward inflection: You're not dating him, are you??, then you expect that, in fact, she is dating him.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (15,565)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Negatives, Inflections

Clive

#335686 Sun, 04 Mar 07 09:50 PM

Hi,

You can also make what I would call positive and negative questions in the following way.

Do you like Tom?

Do you not like Tom?

Very generally speaking, we temd to avoid negative questions. as the answer can sometimes be a little confusing. eg For #2 above, what does the answer 'No' mean? It's not intuitively obvious.

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Negatives