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03-Jun-2004, 17:31
| | |  Tag question
Hi I just want to know hich is a correct tag question for this statement:
We ought to have some dessert.
Is it... We ought to have some dessert, shouldn't we?
Or...
we ought to have some dessert, oughtn't we?
Thanks for your response. |
03-Jun-2004, 17:51
| | Key Member | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Country: Taiwan
Posts: 1,816
Current Location: Taipei First Language: Mandarin Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: Tag question
Quote: |
Originally Posted by EMAIL REMOVED - Send PM to This User Instead Hi I just want to know hich is a correct tag question for this statement:
We ought to have some dessert.
Is it... We ought to have some dessert, shouldn't we?
Or...
we ought to have some dessert, oughtn't we?
Thanks for your response. |
oughtn't we? |
03-Jun-2004, 18:04
|  | VIP Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: USA
Posts: 6,089
Current Location: New York First Language: American English Member Type: Academic | | Re: Tag question
Quote: |
Originally Posted by EMAIL REMOVED - Send PM to This User Instead Hi I just want to know hich is a correct tag question for this statement:
We ought to have some dessert.
Is it... We ought to have some dessert, shouldn't we?
Or...
we ought to have some dessert, oughtn't we?
Thanks for your response. | I would go with "shouldn't", but I would probably also use "should" in the first. :wink: |
03-Jun-2004, 19:25
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | |
As a BE speaker, I'd use 'oughtn't'.  |
04-Jun-2004, 17:58
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 15,527
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Member Type: Other | |
About the only time Americans use "ought" is in the phrase "ought to", and that is not very often.
:) |
04-Jun-2004, 21:05
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | |
We don't use the negative much, but we would in a question tag. |
17-May-2009, 06:26
|  | Senior Member | | Join Date: May 2008 Country: Japan
Posts: 1,160
Current Location: Japan First Language: Japanese Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: Tag question
Hello.
1. She ought to be at the station, shouldn't she?
2. She ought to be at the station, oughtn't she?
Does #1 sound natural to British English speakers, and #2 to American English speakers? Both sentences are grammatically correct, aren't they? |
17-May-2009, 07:50
|  | Newbie | | Join Date: May 2009 Country: England
Posts: 3
Current Location: London First Language: English Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: Tag question
1. She ought to be at the station, shouldn't she?
2. She ought to be at the station, oughtn't she?
The right we say:
She is ought to be at the station, isn't she?  |
17-May-2009, 08:03
| | Banned | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Country: Pecs, Baranya, Hungary
Posts: 2,893
Current Location: Hungary First Language: Hungarian Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: Tag question
Quote:
Originally Posted by delamor  1. She ought to be at the station, shouldn't she?
2. She ought to be at the station, oughtn't she?
The right we say:
She is ought to be at the station, isn't she? | I am thinking of which properties of marginal modals does such non-standard syntax abuse.  |
17-May-2009, 12:51
|  | Key Member | | Join Date: Mar 2009 Country: Canada
Posts: 2,647
Current Location: Toronto First Language: English Member Type: Academic | | Re: Tag question
I think Delamor is kidding, nothing written in his recent post is good English. "Shouldn't we" sounds most natural in AE, "oughtn't we" sounds unusual to us, but they both sound natural in BE. | | The Following User Says Thank You to konungursvia For This Useful Post: | | |
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