He has few friends, does/doesn't he?

[sitifan]

1. He has no friends, does he?
2. He has few friends, does/doesn't he?
3. He has no money, does he?
4. He has little money, does/doesn't he?
5. Nobody will go, will they?
6. Few people will go, will/won't they?
7. No money is spent on the project, is it?
8. Little money is spent on the project, is/isn't it?

If "few" and "little" are negative, the above tag questions should be positive.
If "few" and "little" are positive, the above tag questions should be negative.

Which kind of tag questions would native speakers use in the above sentences?

 

[Tarheel]

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I don't think "few" and "little" are necessarily either positive or negative.

 

[probus]

Use few with countable nouns and little with uncountable.

 

[jutfrank]

You seem quite confused about the positive/negative rule. When we say 'negative sentence', we usually mean one that has a negated auxiliary (with the word not), not necessarily a negative meaning.

He doesn't have friends, does he?
He has friends, doesn't he?

Confusingly, the sentence below is a positive sentence:

He has no friends, doesn't he?

It's not very natural to say that, but the no friends part does not make the sentence negative. The important part is He has, which is positive, so a negative tag follows.

Also, if the subject of the sentence includes a negator (not or no), then the sentence is negative:

Nobody came, did they?
Not one person came, did they?

Remember also that although you can use positive tags with positive sentences sometimes, depending on context, you can't really use negative tags with negative sentences.

 

[5jj]

He has no friends, doesn't he?

It's not very natural to say that, but the no friends part does not make the sentence negative. The important part is He has, which is positive, so a negative tag follows.

I find that very unnatural. I would expect He has no friends, does he?

 

[jutfrank]

I find that very unnatural. I would expect He has no friends, does he?

Perhaps a better example is the following:

He has nothing to do, doesn't he?

 

[emsr2d2]

Perhaps a better example is the following:

He has nothing to do, doesn't he?

I wouldn't use that.

He has nothing to do, does he?
He doesn't have anything to do, does he?

 

[jutfrank]

I wouldn't use that.

I wouldn't, either. I was trying to make a point about the logical rule.

He has nothing to do, does he?

That's a different kind of tag. The sentence itself is positive, so it's the same as when you use a positive tag on a positive sentence, as in He has a lot to do, does he?

He has a lot to do, doesn't he?
He has a lot to do, does he?

They're both correct but the tags have different uses. Think about how the intonation differs.

He doesn't have anything to do, does he?

Yes, this follows the normal logical rule that we're discussing.

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't, either. I was trying to make a point about the logical rule.

I thought you were giving it as an example of an acceptable sentence.

That's a different kind of tag. The sentence itself is positive, so it's the same as when you use a positive tag on a positive sentence, as in He has a lot to do, does he?

He has a lot to do, doesn't he?
He has a lot to do, does he?

They're both correct but the tags have different uses. Think about how the intonation differs.

Yes, I know they have different meanings. I was trying to show that my two sentences mean the same as each other.

 

[jutfrank]

I thought you were giving it as an example of an acceptable sentence.

No, I was trying to show the logic of what we mean by 'positive' and 'negative' sentences.

I was trying to show that my two sentences mean the same as each other.

I see. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I wanted to say that although He has nothing to do and He doesn't have anything to do have the same meaning, the former is a positive sentence whereas the latter is a negative sentence, logically speaking. And it's this logic that bears the 'positive/negative' rule that sitifan is thinking about, not the sentence meaning per se. I hope that's clearer now.

 

[5jj]

I wanted to say that although He has nothing to do and He doesn't have anything to do have the same meaning, the former is a positive sentence whereas the latter is a negative sentence, logically speaking. And it's this logic that bears the 'positive/negative' rule that sitifan is thinking about, not the sentence meaning per se

But it doesn't.

He has nothing to do, does he?

 

[jutfrank]

But it doesn't.

It doesn't what? I don't follow.

 

[5jj]

You wrote:

And it's this logic that bears the 'positive/negative' rule that sitifan is thinking about, not the sentence meaning per se. I hope that's clearer now.

I replied.

But it doesn't.

 

[jutfrank]

I replied.

But it does.

 

[Ostap]

I personally like this explanation:

 

[Peedeebee]

Leaving the positive/ negative aspect aside, items 1,2,3,4, in the original question should be .. has he? or ..hasn't he.. , shouldn't they? #
"Does" doesn't come into the sentences in the first place, does it?

 

[Ostap]

"Does" doesn't come into the sentences in the first place, does it?

I believe it depends on the version of English (in AmE, "do" is more common in the tags than in BrE when the main verb is "to have").

 

[probus]

I think you are right @Ostap. In AmE we have a very strong preference for "does" over "has" in question tags.

 

[5jj]

"jutfrank:

. I wanted to say that although He has nothing to do and He doesn't have anything to do have the same meaning, the former is a positive sentence whereas the latter is a negative sentence, logically speaking. And it's this logic that bears the 'positive/negative' rule that sitifan is thinking about, not the sentence meaning per se. I hope that's clearer now.

Are you saying that the natural question tag fir the first sentence is hasn't he?

 

[jutfrank]

"jutfrank:

Are you saying that the natural question tag fir the first sentence is hasn't he?

Yes. Or doesn't he?

What I think we're disagreeing on is where the positive/negative comes from. I'm saying that He has no friends is positive, so the question tag is negative.

He has one friend, doesn't he?
He has no friends, doesn't he?

Both sentences there are positive as they don't have not operating on has.

He doesn't have one friend, does he?
He doesn't have no friends, does he?

Those are negative sentences, because of not operating on the auxiliary. When you get a double negative like the last example here, it creates a positive meaning in some sense (- + - = +), but the negated verb phrase makes it ultimately a negative sentence, which governs the choice of tag.

Here's a better example, I think:

I can't not go, can I?

We wouldn't say:

I can't not go, can't I?

It's the can't bit that counts, not the not go.