I stayed home because it was raining, wasn't it/didn't I?

[sitifan]

1. I stayed home because it was raining, wasn't it?
2. I stayed home because it was raining, didn't I?
Which tag question is correct?

 

[jutfrank]

Why do you think you need a question tag? What's 'correct' depends on what you're trying to do and what you mean to say.

 

[sitifan]

Is "because" a subordinating conjunction or coordinating conjunction?
If it is a subordinating conjunction, only #2 is correct because tag questions refer to the main clause, not the subordinate clause.

 

[jutfrank]

Is "because" a subordinating conjunction or coordinating conjunction?

Subordinating.

If it is a subordinating conjunction, only #2 is correct because tag questions refer to the main clause, not the subordinate clause.

That's not right. In sentence 1 the tag goes with it was raining and in sentence 2 it goes with I stayed home. That makes two very different sentences. Both sentences are possible, if a little hard to imagine.

 

[Annabel Lee]

1. I stayed home because it was raining, wasn't it?
2. I stayed home because it was raining, didn't I?
Which tag question is correct?

For me, only (2) is correct; but (1) could be made correct by changing the tag question to a separate, elliptical sentence:

(1a) I stayed home because it was raining. Wasn't it?​

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The elliptical question in (1a) can only be interpreted as a genuine question, however, not as seeking confirmation. "Wasn't it?" will have rising intonation rather than falling intonation in (1a), whereas in (2) the tag could go either way: it could have rising intonation (genuine question) or falling intonation (confirmation-seeking) depending on the context.

 

[5jj]

For me, only (2) is correct;

I agree with jutfrank:

In sentence 1 the tag goes with it was raining and in sentence 2 it goes with I stayed home. That makes two very different sentences. Both sentences are possible, if a little hard to imagine.

 

[jutfrank]

For me, only (2) is correct

What's the problem with (1) for you, then? I hear it with a falling intonation.

 

[Annabel Lee]

What's the problem with (1) for you, then?

The "because"-clause is an adverbial; it's not part of the basic assertion. For me, a tag question only makes sense in relation to the basic assertion; it doesn't belong or sound the least bit grammatical to me after a mere adverbial. Another example:

3) He went there when he visited, didn't he?​

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Would you say the tag question in that example is ambiguous between "didn't he [go there]?" and "didn't he [visit]?" I'd say that it is unambiguously the former, the tag relating to the basic assertion, not to the adverbial. Or how about this?

4) He was happier after he recovered, wasn't he?​

5) *He was happier after he recovered, didn't he?​

 

[jutfrank]

The "because"-clause is an adverbial; it's not part of the basic assertion.

To me that doesn't matter—the tag attaches to whatever message is being foregrounded, which is unlikely to be, but may be a proposition expressed in an adverbial clause.

I'm starting to think that there may be a dialect difference here. British English loves a tag question, especially in my speech group. You might hear among some British speakers:

A: Why didn't you answer my calls?!
B: Because I was working, wasn't I?!

Does that sound like anything you might hear anywhere in the States?

 

[Annabel Lee]

A: Why didn't you answer my calls?!
B: Because I was working, wasn't I?!

Does that sound like anything you might hear anywhere in the States?

Yes, it does. I think setting an adverbial clause off as a separate sentence makes a big difference to the grammaticality of appending a tag question to it. Even setting it off with an em dash or a comma would make a big difference.

1a. [What did you do last night?]​

I stayed home -- because it was raining, wasn't it?​

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I don't find (1a) ungrammatical, though I continue to find (1) so. It might be interesting to see what happens when we add negation to the mix. Consider these:

6. I didn't stay home because it was raining, did I? [You know I stayed home because I had work to do.]​

7. ?? I didn't stay home because it was raining, wasn't it? [You know I love to be out in the rain.]​

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In (6), the "because"-clause is foregrounded as not stating the reason the speaker stayed home, yet the tag question still applies to the main (superordinate) clause. In my opinion, (7) doesn't work at all as punctuated.

 

[5jj]

In (6), the "because"-clause is foregrounded as not stating the reason the speaker stayed home, yet the tag question still applies to the main (superordinate) clause. In my opinion, (7) doesn't work at all as punctuated.

7. ?? I didn't stay home because it was raining, wasn't it? [You know I love to be out in the rain.]​

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In my opinion, (7) doesn't work at all as punctuated.

This reminds me of the grammars of some 19th and early 20th century grammarians who concentrated on what (in their opinion) people should say rather than what they actually did say. Grammar has little to do with logic.

 

[Annabel Lee]

This reminds me of the grammars of some 19th and early 20th century grammarians who concentrated on what (in their opinion) people should say rather than what they actually did say. Grammar has little to do with logic.

So, in your opinion is a sentence like

5) He was happier after he recovered, didn't he?​

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grammatical and worthy of being endorsed as correct to learners of English worldwide? I find it 100% ungrammatical, and that's based on my ear and eye for the language as a native speaker, not on some logical syllogism.