Teo: 1. So your father is out, is he?2. This is the last bus, is it? 3. I see. You don't like my cooking, don't you? (British English) Shoud I use a falling intonation or a rising intonation? Taiwan Contributing Member 1,620Thank you very much for your reply. 1 and 2 rise or fall depending on the speaker's beliefs. 3 sounds weird to me (AmE); I would also rise or fall on do you?, depending. In BrE number 3 should be "I see. You don't like my cooking, do you?' The name says it all. Or, you like my cooking, do you? It seems that the 'same way' tag works only in the affirmative, Teo. Ah....now there I would disagree. In Britain we might say 'You like my cooking, don't you' or 'You like my cooking, do you'. The name says it all. No need to disagree, Nona-- we are discussing only the 'same way' tags: those in which the main clause and tag are both affirmative (common) or negative (non-existent). The 'opposite way' tags exist in both forms, of course, and in abundance-- Affirmative-negative: You like me, don't you? Negative-affirmative: You don't like me, do you? Sorry, but the negative-negative patterns don't sound hostile tome. They just sound dumb! That is, they don't even soundlike grammatical patterns. CJ "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche English Club has a very extensive discussion at that link, Teo, but all it has to say about negative-negatives is that single line you quoted. I have a feeling that the writer of that section felt s/he had to 'complete' the paradigm, whether it was possible or not. Unless a BrE speaker who will accept that tag comes along, you now have 3 votes against it (Jim and Nona and me-- that's two AmEs and a BrE). Teo: Negative 'same-way' tags are occasionlly heard; they usually sound aggressive.I see. You don't like my cooking, don't you? Practical English Usage, by Michael Swan, Oxford University Press 2005 Taiwan Contributing Member 1,620Thank you very much for your reply. More
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