英语语法：122 Rhetorical Questions

Grammar Girl here.

Today guest-writer Bonnie Trenga will help us talk about two kinds of peculiar¹ questions. Isn’t that going to be fun! "Isn't that going to be fun," is a rhetorical question. We’re also going to learn about its cousin. That’s called a tag question, isn’t it? That last sentence was an example of a tag question.

This all started because of a question from one of my Twitter followers². Aaron wants to know if the sentence “Isn’t it funny?” is correct, and he’d like to know if he's allowed to use such a construction in formal situations.

Rhetorical Questions

You’ve probably heard rhetorical questions more often than you realize. You start a sentence with a negative word when you mean something positive. So “Wasn’t that movie great?” means that you think the movie was great. It seems counterintuitive, but that’s the way English works. It’s called a rhetorical question, and it can end in either a question mark or an exclamation³ point, and in dialogue you can sometimes even have a speaker’s rhetorical question end in a period (1).

Another example of a rhetorical question is “Isn’t she leaving?” That question means you think the woman is leaving, but you want to confirm. Rhetorical questions like this take a negative form. If you make the “Isn’t she leaving?” question positive, it becomes just a regular question: “Is she leaving?” If you ask "Is she leaving?" you don’t know the answer; whereas with the rhetorical question “Isn’t she leaving?” you are assuming she is leaving.

Rhetorical questions have popped up in pop music. Stevie Wonder, for example, wrote a famous song called “Isn’t She Lovely,” whose lyrics⁴ begin:

“Isn't she lovely,

Isn't she wonderful,

Isn't she precious,” (2)

Mr. Wonder definitely thinks the girl is lovely, wonderful, and precious. No question about that.

These kinds of rhetorical questions seem to be quite conversational⁵. You wouldn’t want to write, “Aren’t I the perfect person for this job?” in a job cover letter, nor would you want to say, “Isn’t it obvious that you should hire me?” in an interview. There are better ways to sound more qualified⁶ and more professional. So, Aaron: no, it’s not advisable to use this kind of construction in formal situations.

Tag Questions

The second kind of question we’re talking about today is called a tag question. “Tag questions, a peculiarity⁷ of English, are usually spoken rather than written,” states the website English Online (3). The rhetorical question “Isn’t she leaving?” means about the same thing as “She is leaving, isn’t she?” Students who are learning English often find this kind of construction puzzling because the speaker uses a negative form to mean something positive. As the Interesting Thing of the Day website wisely explains, “The simplest way to make a tag question in English is to repeat the verb, negate⁸ it, and then repeat the subject. For example, ‘He is smart’ becomes ‘He is smart, isn’t he? (4)" Note how the word "isn't" is negating⁹ the verb "is" from the first part of the sentence: "He IS smart, ISN'T he?"

"If the verb is already negative, you just make it positive. ‘It won’t rain’ becomes ‘It won’t rain, will it?’(4)" So, if we wanted to change Aaron’s rhetorical question “Isn’t it funny?” into a tag question, we would say, “It’s funny, isn’t it?” Both sentences mean “I think it’s funny.”

One clue that tag questions are best left to informal situations is that you often hear them used with contractions¹¹, which themselves are a bit informal. It would sound weird¹² to ask "It will not rain, will it?" It sounds much more normal with a contraction¹⁰: "It won't rain, will it?"

Summary

In summary, rhetorical questions and tag questions are normal parts of everyday speech, but they are informal. It’s therefore best to avoid them in formal situations.

Winning Investor¹³

Also on Quick and Dirty Tips this week, The Winning Investor, Andrew Horowitz, has a podcast about how to read stock charts. If you haven't checked him out yet, give it a try.

The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier

This podcast was written by Bonnie Trenga, author of The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier, who blogs at sentencesleuth.blogspot.com, and I'm Mignon Fogarty, the author of the paperback¹⁴ book Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

 

1 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

2 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

3 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

4 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

5 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。

6 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

7 peculiarity   

n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖

参考例句：

• Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。
• The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。

8 negate   

vt.否定，否认；取消，使无效

参考例句：

• Our actions often negate our principles.我们的行为时常与我们所信奉的原则背道而弛。
• Mass advertising could negate the classical theory of supply and demand.大宗广告可以否定古典经济学的供求理论。

9 negating   

v.取消( negate的现在分词 )；使无效；否定；否认

参考例句：

• The decline of community life is negating the work of welfare services. 社区生活的下降否定了福利机构的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Post-modernity transcends modernity by the means of negating and clearing up selfhood. 后现代超越现代性是通过否定和消解主体来实现的。 来自互联网

10 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

11 contractions   

n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩

参考例句：

• Contractions are much more common in speech than in writing. 缩略词在口语里比在书写中常见得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Muscle contractions are powered by the chemical adenosine triphosphate(ATP ). 肌肉收缩是由化学物质三磷酸腺苷(ATP)提供动力的。 来自辞典例句

12 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

13 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

14 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。