Separating questions in English: education and usage patterns

To get information, it is important to correctly formulate the question. There are 5 types of different questions in English. One of them is a separative one, which is asked to clarify something or to be convinced of one's own correctness.

Why do we need separating questions in English?

Tag questions (or questions with a tail) are an integral part of everyday speech. In Russian, they correspond to the phrases "is not it", "is not it", "yes" added at the end of the sentence. Sometimes the tail of the separative question in English is not translated into Russian at all. This is relevant for requests, reminders to do something, including with a negative connotation, for example:

• Do not phone me again, will you? ("Do not call me more").
• Close the window, would you? ("Close, please, the window").

Classic variants of questions with a tail allow you to ask the interlocutor about something, get an affirmative or negative question. At the same time, divisive questions in English differ from general questions by way of education, intonation and purpose. But the answers to them may coincide.

• It's bitter cold today, is not it? - Yes, it is. ("It's very cold today, is not it?" - "Yes").
• You have done your homework, have not you? - No, I have not. ("You did your homework?" "No").

If in the second case it was possible to ask a general question, although it would be less polite, in the first case it is inappropriate: the speaker himself knows perfectly well what the weather is worth.

How are the questions formed?

The first thing to be learned in the formation of this type of question is that if the phrase is affirmative, the tail will be negative and vice versa. Simply put, if there was no denial before the verb, it appears after the comma. And if there is a negative particle next to the verb not, it will disappear in the second part of the question.

Of course, separative questions in the English language are constructed taking into account the temporal form of the predicate. The easiest way to understand this is on the forms of the verb to be. It should also be noted that any noun serving as a subject is replaced in the tail by a similar personal pronoun.

• George is a doctor, is not he? ("George is a doctor, is not it?")
• Your parents were in Spain last summer, were not they? ("Your parents were in Spain last summer, right?")
• Mary will be ten days in two weeks, will not she? ("Mary will be 10 in 2 weeks, is not it?")

When the verb is in the predicate (read, sleep, drive), you first need to determine the time of the sentence. The endings (-s in the present tense in the forms of 3 persons of the singular number; -ed from the correct verbs in the past tense) will help to do this. If the verb is difficult to identify, it means that in the sentence it is used in 2 or 3 forms, it should be searched in the table for irregular verbs.

For the negative tail in the present tense, an auxiliary verb do or does; In the past tense, respectively, did.

Another nuance that allows you to quickly master the separation issue in English is to pay attention to the number of words in the predicate to the decimal point. If the verb is one (but not the verb form to be be), the do / does / did helper will be needed in the tail (as in the examples above). If there are two or three verbs, the tail will be formed with the first of them. The latter case includes both difficult times (the future, the present long, past long, all completed times), and the use of modal verbs. The same is true for the negative first part, when the tail is positive. For example:

• a lot of money, hasn't he? This businessman has made a lot of money, has not he?
• a tree faster than others, can't he? Your brother can climb a tree faster than others, can not he?
• for a walk today, are you? You are not going for a walk today, are you?
• basketball, does she? His sister does not like basketball, does she?

Complicated cases of use

These include the imperative mood, sentences with a negative adverb or pronoun, some exceptions. Faced with them, you need to substitute a certain verb in the tail, which does not always correspond to the predicate from the first part.

In the imperative mood, sentences begin immediately with the verb, including with Let's or negative, they are addressed to the interlocutor, so in the tail there will always be a pronoun you , and in the case of Let's - we . For example:

• Listen to your teacher attentively, will you? ("Listen carefully to the teacher").
• Do not be late, will you? ("Do not be late").
• Let's go out tonight, shall we? ("Let's go somewhere today").

The pronouns nobody, none, few, not many, nothing, little, neither, hardly any, scarcely any have a negative meaning, which means that in the sentences with them after the comma the verb will stand in affirmative form, as well as in the predicate itself One negation). The presence of one of the negative adverbs ( never, seldom, scarcely, rarely, nowhere, hardly, barely ) also requires a positive conclusion of the question.

Turns beginning with There ... retain this word in the tail after the auxiliary verb. Finally, after I am at the beginning of the sentence, are not I?

The role of intonation

From the intonation with which the separative question is asked, its exact meaning depends. If at the end of the question the tone of the voice rises, the speaker is not sure of the information and wants to receive an answer. If the intonation is descending, it requires a simple confirmation of the sounded thought, often such questions are asked in order to support the conversation.

How are answers to dividing questions built?

Before giving a response, the question itself must be analyzed, without a tail: the positive or negative first part requires different response formulas. A simple variant, when the speaker uses the affirmative form of the predicate, requires the same Yes and No, as in the answers to the general question. Next comes the pronoun corresponding to the object of the question, and the auxiliary verb.

It is slightly more difficult to answer separative questions in the English language, when the first part is negative. Agreeing with the speaker, you need to start the answer with Yes; Disagreeing with - No. Next, the pronoun and auxiliary verb. For example:

• Karen is a good tennis player, is not she? - Yes, she is (consent).
• We can take a car, can not we? - No, we can not (disagree).
• He did not return the book, did he? - No, he did not (consent).
• It does not rain often here, does it? - Yes, it does (disagreement).

It is impossible to ignore the separation issues while learning English. Exercises, for example, on R. Murphy 's textbooks and constant practice will help to overcome the difficulties associated with this grammatical phenomenon.