A contrastive analysis of negative questions in English and Vietnamese



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Negative Tag- questions:


A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.



The basic structure is:

Positive statement,

+

negative tag?

-

Snow is white,

isn't it?

Negative statement,

-

positive tag?

+

You don't like me,

do you?


Examples with positive statements:

positive statement [+]

negative tag [-]

notes:

subject

auxiliary

main verb




auxiliary

not

personal
pronoun
(same as subject)




You

are

coming,




are

n't

you?




We

have

finished,




have

n't

we?




You

do

like

coffee,

do

n't

you?




You




like

coffee,

do

n't

you?

You (do) like...

They

will

help,




wo

n't

they?

won't = will not

I

can

come,




can

't

I?




We

must

go,




must

n't

we?




He

should

try

harder,

should

n't

he?




You




are

English,

are

n't

you?

no auxiliary for main verb be present & past

John




was

there,

was

n't

he?


Examples with negative statements:

Negative statement [-]

positive tag [+]

subject

auxiliary




main verb







auxiliary

personal
pronoun
(same as subject)

It

is

n't

raining,







is

it?

We

have

never

seen




that,

have

we?

You

do

n't

like




coffee,

do

you?

They

will

not

help,







will

they?

They

wo

n't

report




us,

will

they?

I

can

never

do




it right,

can

I?

We

must

n't

tell




her,

must

we?

He

should

n't

drive




so fast,

should

he?

You







are

n't

English,

are

you?

John







was

not

there,

was

he?


Statements with negative adverbs:

Adverbs never, rarely, seldom, hardly, barely and scarcely have a negative sense. Even though they are in a positive statement, the feeling of the statement is negative. We treat statements with these words like negative statements, so the question tag is normally positive. Examples:



  • He never came again, did he?

  • She rarely comes, does she?

  • You hardly ever come late, do you?

  • I barely know you, do I?

  • You can scarcely expect her to know that, can you?

Some more special cases:

I am right, aren't I?

aren't I (not amn’t I)

You have to go, don't you?

you (do) have to go...

I have been answering, haven't I?

use first auxiliary

Nothing came in the post, did it?

treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements

Let's go, shall we?

let's = let us

He'd better do it, hadn't he?

he had better (no auxiliary)


Here are some mixed examples:

  • But you don't really love her, do you?

  • This will work, won't it?

  • Well, I couldn't help it, could I?

  • But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?

  • We'd never have known, would we?

  • The weather's bad, isn't it?

  • You won't be late, will you?

  • Nobody knows, do they?

Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example, instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the police station is, would you?". More examples:

  • You don't know of any good jobs, do you?

  • You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?

  • You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?


Question tags with imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.






imperative + question tag

notes:

invitation

Take a seat, won't you?

Polite

order

Help me, can you?

quite friendly

Help me, can't you?

quite friendly (some irritation?)

Close the door, would you?

quite polite

Do it now, will you?

less polite

Don't forget, will you?

with negative imperatives only will is possible


Same-way question tags

Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-negative or negative-positive, it is sometimes possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. We use same-way question tags to express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to make real questions. Examples:



  • So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!

  • She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!

  • So you think that's amusing, do you? Think again.

Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:

  • So you don't like my looks, don't you?

In Vietnamese, the fixed expression can be substituted by “(có) đúng không”, “(có) phải không”, “không phải”, “không đúng” combining with particles like à/ cơ à/ hả/ nhỉ/ đấy hả/ đấy nhỉ/ chứ/ ư/ vậy sao. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to pay much attention to whether the statement in affirmative or negative form, or the subject. The only thing needs focusing is the item added. Which item should be used is dependent upon the purposes of the speakers.



E.g.1: Father has come home, hasn’t he? (Ba về rồi hả?)

E.g.2: Father hasn’t come home, has he? (Ba chưa về ư?)

E.g. 3: This is your bag, isn’t it? (Đây là cặp của bạn phải không?)


    • Items like được không, được chứ, etc are usually used for imperative purpose.

E.g.: Shut up, can’t you? (Câm miệng lại được không?)

This type of the question also expresses speaker’s doubt or emotive value by adding phải, phải chăng, có đúng, chắc hẳn preceding the statement or “sao” at the end.

E.g.1: You met Mr.Vũ yesterday, didn’t you?

(Có phải hôm qua bạn gặp thầy Vũ?)

E.g.2: Marry marries James, doesn’t she?

(Mary cưới James không phải vậy sao?)


Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:






intonation




You don't know where my wallet is,

do you?

/ rising

real question

It's a beautiful view,

isn't it?

\ falling

not a real question

In the other hand, it cannot be based on the intonation patterns of Vietnamese translation equivalence because Vietnamese people have flat intonation. It should be dependent upon the items added to the statement as mentioned earlier, or upon the facial expressions and the context the question are in.

E.g.: So you have missed the bus again, haven’t you?

(Vây ra em lại trễ xe buýt nữa hả?)

The suggested context of these questions is that they are the teacher’s response to a pupil’s confession of being late. This use lends to sarcasm.
Answers to tag questions

How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may repeat the tag and reverse it (..., do they? =>Yes, they do). Be very careful about answering tag questions. In some languages, an opposite system of answering is used, and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion! Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts, not (necessarily) the question.

For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the correct answers:

tag question

correct answer







Snow is white, isn't it?

Yes (it is).

The answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS WHITE!

Notice the change of stress when the answerer does not agree with the questioner.

Snow isn't white, is it?

Yes it is!

Snow is black, isn't it?

No it isn't!

The answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS NOT BLACK!

Snow isn't black, is it?

No (it isn't).

Meanwhile, when Vietnamese say “Đúng / Ừ / etc.” (Yes) to the translation equivalence, they agree with the statement; when they say “Không / Không phải / Đâu có / etc.” (No), they disagree with the statement. For example:

A: Mary xinh lắm phải không? (Mary is beautiful, isn’t she?)

B: Ừ. (Yes, she is beautiful)

Đâu có. (No, she isn’t beautiful)

And:


A: Mary đâu có xinh phải không? (Mary isn’t beautiful, is she?)

B: Ừ. (Yes, she isn’t beautiful)

Không phải. (No, she is beautiful)



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