Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!
Dragon27
Blue Belt
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:40 am
Languages: Russian (N)
English - best foreign language
Polish, Spanish - passive advanced
Tatar, German, French, Greek - studying
x 1375

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Postby Dragon27 » Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:58 pm

The problem is that unbalanced tag questions are pretty common as well (when both the statement and the tag have the same polarity), and they convey certain shades of meaning as well. So it may be not as easy to differentiate between these two possibilities (a negative main statement + positive tag question - balanced, vs. a positive main statement + positive tag question - unbalanced).
I know that certain words make the main statement negative without the "not" particle (adverbs like "never", "barely", etc., "nobody" as subject), but I'm not sure whether the word "nothing" (when it takes the role of object) falls into this category.
3 x

User avatar
smallwhite
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:55 am
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Native: Cantonese;
Good: English, French, Spanish, Italian;
Mediocre: Mandarin, German, Swedish, Dutch.
.
x 4877

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Postby smallwhite » Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:56 pm

Yes, I’ve been doing nothing.
or
No, I’ve been doing nothing.
:?:
0 x
Dialang or it didn't happen.

User avatar
luke
Brown Belt
Posts: 1243
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:09 pm
Languages: English (N). Spanish (intermediate), Esperanto (B1), French (intermediate but rusting)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16948
x 3631

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Postby luke » Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:24 pm

smallwhite wrote:Yes, I’ve been doing nothing.
or
No, I’ve been doing nothing.
:?:

Q: You've been doing nothing, haven't you?
A: Yes, I’ve been doing nothing.

Q: Have you been doing anything?
A: No, I’ve been doing nothing.
4 x

User avatar
smallwhite
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:55 am
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Native: Cantonese;
Good: English, French, Spanish, Italian;
Mediocre: Mandarin, German, Swedish, Dutch.
.
x 4877

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Postby smallwhite » Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:21 pm

Sorry for the late response. When I had some time for Llorg, I found this 虫儿飞 song thread more interesting to answer :D

Thank you for your answers. Helpful input from native speakers and great insights from fellow learners.

I can't decide if English is fun or not... :?
1 x
Dialang or it didn't happen.


Return to “Practical Questions and Advice”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: iguanamon and 2 guests