¿A QUÉ NOS REFERIMOS?

 Como ya hemos dicho nos referimos a un tipo de preguntas que, en conversación, hacemos los hablantes para intentar recabar más información. En la explicación utilizaremos dos frases; la principal, que es la que dice el primer hablante, y la 'echo question', que es la pregunta que formula el segundo hablante.

 

¿CÓMO SE FORMAN?

 Para formar este tipo de preguntas tenemos que utilizar un auxiliar y un pronombre personal. Veamos una frase principal y la 'echo question' correspondiente. 

- Ella está muy feliz hoy.- She is really happy today.

 - ¿sí?

- Is she? Recuerda que el auxiliar que utilicemos debe ser el mismo que utilizaríamos para formar una pregunta normalmente. Además, no importa si la frase es negativa. En ese caso respetamos esa característica en la 'echo question'.  

- No me gustó el coche azul.- I didn’t like the blue car.

 - ¿Sí?

- Didn't you?  Si utilizamos un modal debemos utilizarlo también en la 'echo question'. 

- Yo sé hablar inglés.- I can speak English.

 - ¿Sí?

- Can you?  

¿QUÉ DEBO RECORDAR?

 Lo importante que debemos tener en cuenta es lo siguiente: 

·         Recuerda que este tipo de preguntas no tienen una equivalencia exacta en español. Simplemente recuerda que se utiliza para pedir más información.

 ·         Es importante notar que el verbo modal o auxiliar que utilicemos debe coincidir con el utilizado en la frase principal.

 ·         Recuerda que las 'Question Tags' son similares, pero se usan de otra forma (I.e. You like apples, don't you?)

 

 

HO QUESTIONS

We use echo questions   to show interest or surprise. For this purpose, the listener makes a shortquestion using the auxiliar or helping verb of the statement the speaker has just said.EXAMPLE:S: She is visiting relatives at this moment.L. Is she?S: They bought a new Television set last week.

L.    Did they?S: I live in the centre of New York.L. Do you?S: Alan´s got a job as a lifeguard.L. Has he?

QUESTION TAGS

These short questions are used to check information. We use a positive statement followed by a negative tag when we expect the answer YES.E.g. "You are American, aren't you?"

We use a negative statement followed by a positive tag when we expect the answer NO. E.g. "They haven't arrived yet, have they?"

EXAMPLES:I told you, didn't I?It'll be sunny tomorrow, won't it?He can't dive, can he?They don't eat meat, do they?She cooks well, doesn't she?I am slim, aren't I?Publicado por Intermedio 2 Inglés en 8:00 

Hello..Could you help please with 'echo questions'...I hope I understand the difference between echo questions and question tags, for example:

A: You are going to move to Italy, aren't you? 

A: I am going to move to Italy.B: Are you?

What about negative sentences and echo questions:

A: You shouldn't eat so much chocolate.B: Shouldn't I?

I have thought that we should always keep the nagation from the original sentence as far as 'echo questions' are concerned,but I have seen such a sentence in a grammar book:

A: That was the best film we've ever seen!B: Yes, wasn't it?

Shouldn't it be 'was it?' ?

(I have just noticed the present perfect in the second part of this sentence. Shouldn't it be 'that was the best film we had ever seen'?Maybe the present perfect refers it to the whole life span of a person (until now), whereas the past perfect refers to the time period up to the moment in the past when sb saw that film?)

Thank you for your help!Kind regards.

4th June 2012Full Member283

REPLY

Anonymous:The exchange:

A: That was the best film we've ever seen!B: Yes, wasn't it?

is correct. Changing B's response to "Yes, was it?" would be incorrect, a very bad grammatical error, in fact. A technical explanation for this is difficult to formulate, because this type of construction is apparently of an idiomatic nature and as such may not make any kind of grammatical sense. 

Changing A's statement to "That was the best film we had ever seen!" would be incorrect. The past perfect is used for completed action in the past, and here you have two people talking in present time (although they are using past-type constructions because the film is already over). In fact, I can't think of a situation where you'd use the past perfect in conversation. 

The following would be correct:

When we came out of the theater I told her it was the best film we had ever seen. She agreed. "Yes, wasn't it?" she replied.

4th June 2012

REPLY

Coincidence:Thank you for your explanation..

I have the impression that if we say:

A: That was the best film we've ever seen!B: Yes, wasn't it?(I agree with the person A)

A: That was the best film we've ever seen!B: Hmmm.....was it?

(I have some doubts about it..I don't agree)

Am I right? 

I would be grateful for your help.Kind regards!

5th June 2012

REPLY

Anonymous:The response, "Yes, wasn't it?", is something more than mere agreement. One might consider this agreement with a kind of emphasis.

The response, "Hmmm...was it?", again, is something more than a mere expression of doubt or disagreement. This is a rude, offensive response.

6th June 2012

REPLY

Coincidence:Thank you!Ok, I hope I understand...

I would like to ask the last question about 'was it'..

A: It was the best concert I have every been to!B: Ah..was it?? I have always thought you didn't like pop music?

I only want to express my surprise. Maybe it depends a bit on the way I say it?If I say it with a lot of 'surprise' in my voice, is it still very rude?

I understand, though, it may sound spiteful if I want my voice to be ironic...

A: It was the best concert I have ever been to!B: Yes, wasn't it?

I think it implies I saw the concert too and I agree with person A.

Exercise 3

Elige la opción más adecuada para terminar cada oración con su correspondiente question tag.

You are a student,are you?aren't you?

She can drive,can't she?can she?

That car is too expensive,isn't it?isn't that?

Larry wasn't at home yesterday,is he?was he?

Lisa is going to the party,doesn't she?isn't she?

There aren't enough chairs for everyone,are there?is there?

The bus stops here,doesn't it?isn't it?

She doesn't agree with you,does she?do you?

Is 'was it' in this context really very rude? What about expressing surprise?

Thank you for your help!Best regards.

En esta parte podrás aplicar lo aprendido, practicar y comprobar que recuerdas tanto el vocabulario como la gramática de la lección. Si cometes errores, se recomienda repasar los temas y volver a realizar los ejercicios.

 

Exercise 3

Elige la opción más adecuada para terminar cada oración con su correspondiente question tag.

You are a student,

are you?

aren't you?

She can drive,

can't she?

can she?

That car is too expensive,

isn't it?

isn't that?

Larry wasn't at home yesterday,

is he?

was he?

Lisa is going to the party,

doesn't she?

isn't she?

There aren't enough chairs for everyone,

are there?

is there?

The bus stops here,

doesn't it?

isn't it?

She doesn't agree with you,

does she?

do you?