Question tag —"he is good", quoth the boy...

[man of manners]

Hi!
This is a new thread in which we will discuss some problematic sentences that need suitable question tags.
The sentence is:

"He is good", quoth the boy. [archaic/old use/obsolete except when used for humorous context/effect]
Please, this time I need to know your opinions first.
Thanks in advance!

 

[GoesStation]

Convert it to contemporary usage and the question answers itself: He's good, says the boy - doesn't he? The sentence is still awkward and unlikely but I suppose it's possible.

 

[man of manners]

That's not the way this forum works. GS was in a generous mood.

The forum rules say, "we prefer you tell us what your answer is first." It did not talk about obligation. I only ask for this in only this thread.

 

[Rover_KE]

"He is good", quoth the boy.

Thanks in advance!

We shouldn't need to correct mistakes like this.

 

[man of manners]

We shouldn't need to correct mistakes like this.

OK, I just forgot as all people do. Why do you treat me so firmly? To err is human.

 

[man of manners]

You post a lot of questions, and some members spend a fair amount of time trying to deal with them.

Truly I appreciate your help and the time you spend responding to my threads.

We would prefer it if you (a) followed forum guidelines and (b) tried to take more care so that we don't have to pick up mistakes that people at your level should not be making.

OK, I will do this and I always do this. Didn't you notice that my punctuation errors have deceased remarkably.

 

[Rover_KE]

... my punctuation errors have decreased remarkably.

`

 

[man of manners]

`decreased

Really I don't know what to say except I will be careful.
To err is human. And you can also ignore some mistakes that you know I made unintentionally.

 

[man of manners]

Convert it to contemporary usage and the question answers itself: He's good, says the boy - doesn't he?

"quoth" is only or almost often limited to humorous usage.
I think the answer is "didn't he?"
What do you think?

 

[man of manners]

I really don't think anyone using 'quoth' today would use a question tag.

Suppose it happened in a special or specific context. What do you think the question tag would be?

 

[GoesStation]

It's a pointless exercise. Do note though that quoth is the obsolete third person singular present simple of "to quote" in the obsolete meaning "to say".

 

[man of manners]

Do note though that quoth is the obsolete third person singular present simple of "to quote" in the obsolete meaning "to say".

No, I don't think so. The infinitive is not "quote", but "quethe"
quethe ‎(third-person singular simple present quethes, present participle quething, simple past quethed or quoth or quod, past participle quethed or quethen)
(obsolete except in past tense quoth) To say or declare.
I found this at: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quethe#English

 

[GoesStation]

It appears to be past tense: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=quoth

So it does. This discussion is not a complete waste of time now that I've learned another nugget of obscure obsolete English.

 

[Rover_KE]

No, we can't. You can take more care over the standard of your English.

 

[Rover_KE]

And you can also ignore some mistakes that you know I made unintentionally.

No, we can't. You can take more care over the standard of your English.

 

[jutfrank]

This is a new thread in which we will discuss some problematic sentences that need suitable question tags.

I think there are at least two very basic errors here. First, what do you mean by 'problematic sentences'? Why would you want to discuss a sentence that is problematic?

Second, not all sentences need question tags! Why are you trying to look for what is not there? I admire your passion for analysing language but I think that if you stick to real, natural language, you will get the most fruitful answers.

Please, this time I need to know your opinions first.

Opinions on what? There is no room for 'opinion' here. We can tell you facts about use of English, or we can give you advice or suggestions on usage, or tell you about the intended meaning of an authentic sentence in context, or about any ambiguity there may be, or even how we feel about a certain piece of language. So ask us a clear question and we'll attempt to give a clear answer.

 

[emsr2d2]

Didn't you notice that my punctuation errors have decreased remarkably?

It's quite funny that there was a punctuation error there!

 

[man of manners]

This discussion is not a complete waste of time now that I've learned another nugget of obscure obsolete English.

Please, let's not discuss anything sarcastically. I clearly said it is used nowadays for only humorous usage. And from Wiktionary, I quoted "(obsolete except in past tense quoth) To say or

You can take more care over the standard of your English.

Although It happened that you did correct an unintentionally mistake that other members made, I don't object and I also assure you that I am not a machine. I do make mistakes. To err is human. We, no doubt, make mistakes without exception. I do not comment on anyone's mistakes in a separate post!

What do you mean by 'problematic sentences'? Why would you want to discuss a sentence that is problematic?

"Problematic" means difficult or needing more clarification. The best people to get language consult/advice from are natives.

Not all sentences need question tags!

I do know this. Usually/Generally/Normally, not all sentences need to be tagged. But on special occasions or for special/specific context, there might be some exceptions. Also, I just ask you about the question tag theoretically, then you, generously, can tell me whether it is natural or not in ordinary usage.

I admire your passion for analysing language but I think that if you stick to real, natural language, you will get the most fruitful answers.

I have limited questions that I will have to ask, then I will be done with confusion, I hope.
Please, be patient with me and just tell me the answer theoretically, then you, generously, can tell me whether it is natural or not in ordinary usage.

Opinions on what? There is no room for 'opinion' here. We can tell you facts about use of English.

If we do disagree, there can be room for doubt since there are no language facts that people can disagree over. Facts are taken for granted. Since we sometimes disagree and see some things from one's own different perspective, it might be better to call it 'attitudes/viewpoints' and it is not a bad concept at all as every single word you write is appreciated.

So ask us a clear question and we'll attempt to give a clear answer.

Is my question not clear?

 

[emsr2d2]

Is my question not clear?

I think it's safe to say that the fact that this thread, which could reasonably have been expected to last no more than two or three posts (the question and a couple of answers) is now on its third page, indicates that something is not clear.

Post #1 appeared to be fairly clear. As far as I was concerned, this thread's question was: "What question tag should I use after "He is good"?, the response to which is "The correct question tag is "isn't he?"
Once somebody had posted that response and you had clicked on "Thank", that should have been the end of it.

 

[man of manners]

I think it's safe to say that the fact that this thread, which could reasonably have been expected to last no more than two or three posts (the question and a couple of answers) is now on its third page, indicates that something is not clear.

You could have answered the question directly, but you made fun of my unintentionally made mistakes and made the thread long.

Post #1 appeared to be fairly clear. As far as I was concerned, this thread's question was: "What question tag should I use after "He is good"?, the response to which is "The correct question tag is "isn't he?"

No, my question was about the question tag suitable for this sentence ("He is good', quoth the boy.") as a whole.

Once somebody had posted that response and you had clicked on "Thank", that should have been the end of it.

I really didn't know this and nobody had told me this.