Tag question

Status
Not open for further replies.

fadysandy

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Egypt
Current Location
Egypt
He is too busy to talk, isn't he?
I think 'too..to' expresses positive and 'rather' expresses negative.
Is it OK?:cool:
 
He is too busy to talk, isn't he?
I think 'too..to' expresses positive and 'rather' expresses negative.
Is it OK?:cool:

Your tag question is correct. I don't understand the next question.
 
Three years ago, I read this notice 'too + adj. + to + inf.' expresses positive. e.g. This book was too expensive, but I bought it. And 'rather' expresses negative. e.g. This book was rather expensive, so I couldn't buy it.
Is this notice grammatically correct?
 
Three years ago, I read this notice 'too + adj. + to + inf.' expresses positive. e.g. This book was too expensive, but I bought it. And 'rather' expresses negative. e.g. This book was rather expensive, so I couldn't buy it.
Is this notice grammatically correct?

No, "rather" is not a negative term. "Rather" has a variety of meanings. It is often used to modify adjectives or adverbs. The words it modifies determine whether the meanings are positive or negative. If I found a book that was "too" expensive, I wouldn't buy it. If I found one that was "rather" expensive, I might.

See here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rather
 
fadysandy, this is the third thread you've posted with the same unhelpful title.

A better title for this thread would have been isn't he?

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top