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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Tag questions "..., will you?" vs "..., won't you?"

0What is the difference in nuance between "Shut the door, 01b00will you02b00?" and "Shut the door, 01b00won't you02b00?" When do you use the former instead of the latter and vice versa?02br
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00I would really appreciate your help.0-
  

Top answer

0I sense no difference between the affirmative and negative tags in such a request. )0-

— Mister Micawber

  • 0I sense no difference between the affirmative and negative tags in such a request.
  • )0-
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7 Answers
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0I sense no difference between the affirmative and negative tags in such a request. If there is a logic here, it is that the negative is marginally more courteous.02br
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00Interestingly, a negative request is not so accepting in its tag: 01i01b00Don't02b00 forget our date,01b00 will02b00 you?02i00 (01i
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0 Thank you very much for your help. 0-
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0 Thank you very much! 0-
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0 I sense that 01i00will you02i00 expresses impatience, and 01i00won't you02i00 expresses politeness, but tone of voice could counteract either of these.02br
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00 CJ0-
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0Thank you very much.02br
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00The question of tone of voice aside, do you think we can draw a general conclusion as follows?02br
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00(a) Shut the door.02br
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00(b) Shut the door, will you?02br
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00(c) Shut the door, won't you?02br
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00Conclusion:02br
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00(b) i
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0I am sorry, but I do not think such a conclusion can be drawn: the differences in meaning are too protean. They are more a matter of ideolect, and as Jim suggested, the tone of voice is an important determiner.0-
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Thanks, this discussion helped me too. I had the same question:) S.
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