Q&A - PSLE English

[Alchemist]

Verysuperkiasu:

Question tag


She likes neither of the twins, _____ she?

Should the answer be does or doesnt?

I think it should be does she . Since there is already a negative implied in the neither, so the question should be does she? ( it is like saying - She does not like either of the twins, does she?)

I think there was another query using 'rarely' - which was similar.

John is rarely late for school, isn't he?

In this case - John is rarely late - implies something positive - as in he is always early for school . In other words it would be - John is always early for schoolm, isn't he?

Makes sense?

[Verysuperkiasu]

vidhyalog:

I think it should be does she . Since there is already a negative implied in the neither, so the question should be does she? ( it is like saying - She does not like either of the twins, does she?)

I think there was another query using 'rarely' - which was similar.

John is rarely late for school, isn't he?

In this case - John is rarely late - implies something positive - as in he is always early for school . In other words it would be - John is always early for schoolm, isn't he?

Makes sense?

Hmm....yes, it does make sense. Thanks!

[Verysuperkiasu]

vidhyalog:

Hi - Would appreciate assistance with this S&T.


Mala is a perfectionist who will be satisfied only the best results.

Nothing but _________________________________________

Ans : Nothing but the best results satisfy Mala who is a perfectionist.

or

Nothing but the best resutls will satisfy Mala who is a perfectionist.

I think the second one as it is best to try as much as possible to retain the words in the original sentence.

[ridcully]

Verysuperkiasu:

vidhyalog:

I think it should be does she . Since there is already a negative implied in the neither, so the question should be does she? ( it is like saying - She does not like either of the twins, does she?)

I think there was another query using 'rarely' - which was similar.

John is rarely late for school, isn't he?

In this case - John is rarely late - implies something positive - as in he is always early for school . In other words it would be - John is always early for schoolm, isn't he?

Makes sense?

Hmm....yes, it does make sense. Thanks!

I was the one who previously answered about 'rarely'.

The issue is grammatical: Implying something positive is not what determines the question tag.

'Rarely' is grammatically negative. It means 'not often'. Thus, the sentence 'John is rarely late for school can be rewritten:

John is not often late for school.

Now you can see that the question tag has to be positive:

John is not often late for school, is he?

John is rarely late for school, is he?

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

Some unusual question tags:


Ridcully hardly ever complains, does he?

Mr and Mrs Ridcully rarely eat at the Raffles Hotel, do they?

I am a grammarian, aren’t I?

Let’s enjoy the PSLE, shall we?

This is good fun, isn’t it?

That is even more entertaining, isn’t it?

Rgds
R

[Verysuperkiasu]

ridcully:

The issue is grammatical: Implying something positive is not what determines the question tag.

'Rarely' is grammatically negative. It means 'not often'. Thus, the sentence 'John is rarely late for school can be rewritten:

John is not often late for school.

Now you can see that the question tag has to be positive:

John is not often late for school, is he?

John is rarely late for school, is he?

Rgds
R

I must say it's a little bit confusing :scratchhead:

Taking the sentence 'John is rarely late for school'
can also be written as

1) John is not often late for school - in which case then the answer is 'is he'.

2) John is often early for school - in which case the answer is 'isn't he'.

pls correct me if i'm wrong - we should not use no. 2) but use no. 1) is that right?

[ridcully]

Verysuperkiasu:

I must say it's a little bit confusing :scratchhead:


Taking the sentence 'John is rarely late for school'
can also be written as

1) John is not often late for school - in which case then the answer is 'is he'.

2) John is often early for school - in which case the answer is 'isn't he'.

pls correct me if i'm wrong - we should not use no. 2) but use no. 1) is that right?

The source sentence uses 'late', not 'early'. Do not change stated adjectives after adverbs in S&T otherwise you will end up in a quagmire.

Rgds
R

[indigoblue]

ridcully:

I was the one who previously answered about 'rarely'.

The issue is grammatical: Implying something positive is not what determines the question tag.

'Rarely' is grammatically negative. It means 'not often'. Thus, the sentence 'John is rarely late for school can be rewritten:

John is not often late for school.

Now you can see that the question tag has to be positive:

John is not often late for school, is he?

John is rarely late for school, is he?

Rgds
R

[/quote][/quote]

thanks, it clears my doubt

Teacher Ridcully is rarely wrong,is he? :rahrah: :rahrah:

[Verysuperkiasu]

ridcully:

The source sentence uses 'late', not 'early'. Do not change stated adjectives after adverbs in S&T otherwise you will end up in a quagmire.


Rgds
R

Thank you so much, Ridcully. Will 'impart' that knowledge to my son.... hope it'll come into good use this Thursday.

:thankyou:

[blitz]

Thanks Niedino and Ridcully for answering.