Question tags

[petertsui]

Let's go, shall we?

The "shall we" tag is not very common in everyday speech, is it?

[RonBee]

No, it isn't, is it?

:wink:

[petertsui]

Originally Posted by RonBee

No, it isn't, is it?

:wink:

To the best of your knowledge, is it common both in BE and AE? Incidentally, I feel quite comfortable with it. :D

[Tdol]

It's common enough in British English. We use 'shall' quite a lot in questions.

[petertsui]

How about this one:

We shall talk, shan't we?

I heard the tag occasionally a couple of years ago. Is it common these days, in your experience?

[Tdol]

Definitely. What we don't use so much nowadays is the ordinary declarative 'I shall go', though it is used by many in more formal contexts.

[petertsui]

Thank you. You're so helpful. :D

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by petertsui

To the best of your knowledge, is it common both in BE and AE? Incidentally, I feel quite comfortable with it. :D

I don't hear "shall" very much. It isn't used much in AE except in some fixed expressions such as Shall we dance? (Apparently, it is fairly common in BE.)

:)

[Tdol]

If I've asked an American a question with 'shall',they seem to answer with 'should'.

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by tdol

If I've asked an American a question with 'shall',they seem to answer with 'should'.

• A: Shall we go?
  B: We should.

Eh?