tags – English Grammar Profiler

I don’t quite trust the CEFR level Pearson gives to the following grammar construct. GSE 58 B1+ is defined: ‘so’ in sentence-final positions as a placeholder (substitute) for verbs and verb phrases. It was too expensive. – I told you so. John is from Seattle. – I thought so.   ‘So’ has many possible meanings and uses near the end of sentences.  When we look at the English […]

‘SO’ (end of the sentence) Read More »

Negative questions usually show the speaker’s expectation that the response should be positive. In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 12 in the category of NEGATION is defined as: negative question forms in main clauses and question tags. This is such a general point that overlaps and clashes against so many other points in the

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In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 21 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: negative ‘yes/no’ questions to involve the listener or reader by seeking agreement. B1 point 4 in the category of PRESENT/simple is defined as: NEGATIVE TAG QUESTIONS ‘don’t you think’ or ‘don’t you agree’ to look for agreement or an

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There are a number of similar points for questionS in the EGP.  Some are clearly different, while others get harder to differentiate. 18 QUESTIONS tags B1 increasing range of affirmative ‘be’, ‘do’ and ‘have’ tags with negative main clauses. 19 QUESTIONS yes/no B1 use main verb ‘be’ + ‘n’t’ to form negative ‘yes/no’ questions. 20

QUESTION TAGS (range) Read More »

Point 16 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: ‘RIGHT’ AS AN INFORMAL TAG in informal contexts. A search in iWeb for: * * , right ? 1 I KNOW , RIGHT ? 1260 2 MAKES SENSE , RIGHT ? 866 3 PRETTY COOL , RIGHT ? 735   National Law Review New Jersey

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Question tags are short phrases added at the end of a statement to transform it into a question or to seek confirmation or agreement from the listener. There are no prizes for telling us what the problems are, are there? TED The following example show that native speakers do not always use the correct form of ‘BE’: Yeah, there’s only two options here, isn’t there? TED There are only two options here, aren’t

, is there? Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 28 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: affirmative or negative tag after an imperative clause to soften the imperative. *Some examples don’t seem to soften but instead add a touch of sarcasm. iWeb corpus doesn’t allow searching for such a complex string. We can start with

imperative clause + question tag Read More »

These constructions allow for the formation of negative questions by adding the negative contractions (“don’t” or “doesn’t” for “do,” and “haven’t” or “hasn’t” for “have”) before the subject and the base form or past participle of the main verb. This structure is particularly useful for seeking confirmation or clarification when expressing negation.

Don’t you think ? | Haven’t you heard ? Read More »