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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Is there any problem in the question?

0－You didn't wait for Mr.Smith last night,didn't you?02br
02br
00－01font00No, but we02font00 01i00______02i00.He didn't return home at all.02br
02br
00A.couldn't have waited. B.needn't have C.didn't need to D.should wait02br
02br
00Key: C02br
02br
00Is there any problem in the question?0-
  

Top answer

0When the question is in the negative, the question tag should be in the positive, and vice-versa:02br 02br 00You didn't wait for Mr S. 02br 02br 00You waited for Mr S. 0-

— Pieanne

  • 0When the question is in the negative, the question tag should be in the positive, and vice-versa:02br 02br 00You didn't wait for Mr S.
  • 02br 02br 00You waited for Mr S.
  • 0-
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3 Answers
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0When the question is in the negative, the question tag should be in the positive, and vice-versa:02br
02br
00You didn't wait for Mr S. ..., 01b00did 02b00you?02br
02br
00You waited for Mr S. ..., 01b00didn't 02b00you?0-
0
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0Apart from the tag, it seems to be slightly self-contradictory. If the question-setter had this scenario in mind, for instance:01blockquote
02br
12br
10MrA: You didn't wait for Mr Smith (outside his house) last night (as you were instructed), did you?12br
12br
10MrB: "No, but we didn't need to. He didn't return home at all."12br
1
0
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didn't need to: to say that it wasn't necessary to do something in the past, and it wasn't done.
needn't have: to say that something was done, but it wasn't necessary.

According to this, should the dialogue be like this?

MrA: You didn't wait for Mr Smith (outside his house) last night (as you were instructed), did you?

MrB: "Yes, we did! But we needn't have.
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