Is this a concord mistake?

Question

The weather gets warmer in summer, doesn’t it?

The verb "doesn't" doesn't belong in this sentence. But, would you say that this is a concord mistake or just a wrong word?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Philip · Accepted Answer

It's a tag question, and it's correctly used here. It takes the tense of the verb in the sentence and reverses the negative/positive.

It doesn't get very cold here in the winter, does it?
John and Mary got married last year, didn't they?
You are coming to the party, aren't you?
Katherine hasn't had her baby yet, has she?

[ For future reference, I think you'd be better off using 'agreement' rather than 'concord' when referring to grammatical points. I wasn't sure what you meant, at first. ]

Clive · Answer

Your sentence is fine. The auxiliary verb is used to form a tag question.

eg She likes cake, doesn't she?
eg She doesn't like dirt, does she?

Clive

MelonieG · Answer

Thank you for your help. I'm working on an exercise for an English class, and they use the word "concord". I know it sounds formal, but the whole course is all in British English.

Okay, if the verb "does" in the sentence above is replaced with "is". Would you say that the sentence has an "agreement" error or word error?

This exercise really has my head spinning!

Clive · Answer

The weather gets warmer in summer, isn't it?

Isn't is a grammar error. 'Is' is not the correct auxiliary verb. for the Simple Present tense of the main verb 'get'.

Clive

MelonieG · Answer

Clive, thank you so much for your help.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

MelonieGThe weather gets warmer in summer, doesn’t it?

As the others have said, you take the helping verb from the main sentence, and negate it to form a tag question.

If there is only a main verb, and no helping verb, then write the sentence as a question. That will give you the clue to writing the tag question.

The weather is warm in the summer, isn't it? (Is the weather warm in the summer?)
The weather gets warm here in the summer, doesn't it? (Does the weather get warm here in the summer?)
Platypuses are strange animals, aren't they? (Are platypuses strange animals?)
He should write me more often, shouldn't he?

There are a couple of exceptions.
Apparently, in British English. they do not use "must" with the negative.
And for "let," they will likely teach you to use "shall".

He must be a very good musician, mustn't he? (My American English ear tells me this is fine. A British speaker might suggest their tag question. can't he?)

Let's go to the movies today. (My American English ear does not register any tag question except OK?)
Let's go to the movies today, OK?

But the British speaker might form the equivalent question "Shall we go to the movies?" and use that as a tag. )
Let's go to the movies today, shall we?

MelonieG · Answer

Thank you for explaining this to me in such detail.  It's much clearer to me now.  That aside, I have a little bit of a hard time with British English (reading and listening).  They have a different way of expressing themselves.

Clive · Answer

This ex-pat British person finds it very hard to believe that in Britain they'd say
He must be a very good musician, can't he?

MelonieG · Answer

Is this a concord mistake?

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