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Nokia88 Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

"Question tag" by N88

Dear sir,

According to grammar books, only short sentence can form question tag.

What is the difference between sentence 1 & sentence 2 ?
Can both sentences form question tag?

sentence 1.
She must have been scolded by her father, didn't she? (question tag)

sentence 2.
She must have been scolded by her father yesterday, _____ ( didn't she?) ?

Thanks in advance
  

Top answer

I wouldn't use a question tag on either one of those. But if I absolutely had to, I would use mustn't she have? (on both), which seems very awkward to me.

— CalifJim

  • I wouldn't use a question tag on either one of those.
  • But if I absolutely had to, I would use mustn't she have?
  • (on both), which seems very awkward to me.
  • CJ
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4 Answers
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I wouldn't use a question tag on either one of those.
But if I absolutely had to, I would use mustn't she have? (on both), which seems very awkward to me.
CJ
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again Sir,

when we write a sentence with "must have been". Does it mean the whole sentence become past-tence ?

thanks.
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I make a distinction between past tense and past time. Verb phrases with modal verbs do not form true tenses, in my opinion. They are modal verb phrases. (must is one of the modal verbs.)

must have been contains a combination of present time and past time.
It is a present time evaluation: The only possible conclusion is that ...
concerning a past ti
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Thanks!

Best Regards, Nokia88
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