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Olgaa Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Tag question

If I want to emphasize negation to the object but not the verb, which form should i use in tag question after the comma? For example: "You thought of that not yesterday, didn't you/did you?" Here the person thought but the time was different rather than he didn't think of that at all.
  

Top answer

" In other words, you're admonishing the respondant for failing to think of it when he should have. You could also reverse the inflection, and make it a true question (expecting an answer). It still has the feel of a "lecture," but we expect the conversation to continue.

— Avangi

  • " In other words, you're admonishing the respondant for failing to think of it when he should have.
  • You could also reverse the inflection, and make it a true question (expecting an answer).
  • It still has the feel of a "lecture," but we expect the conversation to continue.
  • I'm a bit confused by the "object/verb" aspect of your question.
  • " (rhetorical) Your original wording is not idiomatic, by the way.
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8 Answers
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Olgaa"You thought of that not yesterday, didn't you/did you?"
If I understand your question, I'd say, "You didn't think of that yesterday, did you?"
I take it as a rhetorical question, in which the voice would rise on "did" and fall on "you."

In other words, you're admonishing the respondant for failing to think of it when he should have.
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By placing NOT before "yesterday" instead of the verb I tried to emphasize that in my question i realise that the person really thought of smth, but it happened not yesterday, here the question reffers to the time of the action. If i say "You didn't think of that yesterday, did you?" wouldn't it mean that the person just didn't do that and oh, by the way the action was done yesterday, which is no
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sorry, i meant the adverb of time Emotion: embarrassed
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I have to rush out for a few hours. It will take me a few minutes to be sure I have your explanation right. (Maybe someone else will jump in!)

- A.

The only way you could use your "not" placement would be:

You thought of that not yesterday but today, didn't you? (rhetorical)
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AvangiYou thought of that not yesterday but today, didn't you? (rhetorical)
Okay, I'm quite sure that this is what you need.

Since the "not" goes with the adverb, the main verb is still positive, calling for a negative tag.

I hope you're happy with the "but today." We simply can't leave "not yesterday" hanging there.
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OlgaaIf I want to emphasize negation to the object but not the verb, which form should i use in tag question after the comma? For example: "You thought of that not yesterday, didn't you/did you?" Here the person thought but the time was different rather than he didn't think of that at all.

Confirmatory tags seek confirmation of something one says, so of c
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I believe Olga understands that, and is seeking a way to eliminate some of the options.

You brought not beef steaks but lamb chops, didn't you?

Did you read her question?

- A.
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Avangi, thank you, that's exactly what I wanted Emotion: smile
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