There are/Are there

[irinaofr]

[FONT=&quot]1) Why are there so many children here?


can I ask it this way:

2) Why there are so many children here?

Thanks.
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[Matthew Wai]

Note the correct way to construct a question. Although you will hear native speakers and fluent non-natives using a statement construction with a questioning intonation at the end, we don't recommend that learners try it, and we don't use it in written English except in reported speech.

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[GoesStation]

1) Why are there so many children here?


can I ask it this way:

2) Why there are so many children here?

No, you can't. You will be understood but you will also reveal that you aren't a native speaker. Questions require subject-verb inversion:

There [subject] are [verb] so many children here!

Why are there so many children here?​ [Subject and verb are inverted.]

 

[emsr2d2]

The use of questioning intonation at the end of a statement in order to make it a question doesn't work if you're trying to ask "Why ...?" or any other "Wh ..." questions.

Is there a house in the street?
There's a house in the street?

Are you a journalist?
You're a journalist?

Is the party at seven?
The party's at seven?

However, you can't turn things like "What's your job?", "What time's the party?" into a statement with questioning intonation unless you cut short the sentence. You could say to someone "And the party's at ...?" You would leave a clear pause at the end, probably raise your eyebrows, making it clear that you expect the other person to fill in the missing detail (the time/location).

 

[irinaofr]

Is there a house in street?
There's a house in the street?

Are you a journalist?
You're a journalist?

Is the party at seven?
The party's at seven?

So in your examples each second sentence is wrong?
"You are a journalist?" said with a suitabale intonation sounds fine to me. Am I wrong?

Thanks.

 

[GoesStation]

Each of your second sentences is common in spoken English but wrong in the written language. In spoken English, we're likely to choose the non-inverted form if we want to convey some information about what we think the answer is: So, you're a journalist? means "I'm pretty sure you're a journalist. Are you?"

 

[Matthew Wai]

You're a journalist, right?
You're a journalist, innit?

 

[teechar]

You're a journalist, innit?

That's very much street BrE! Please, don't anybody use it (especially when the main verb in the actual sentence is not "is").

innit = isn't it = a catch-all tag question for those who don't know how (or can't be bothered) to form a proper tag question.

 

[GoesStation]

It's a catch-all tag question then, innit?

 

[Matthew Wai]

That's very much street BrE! Please, don't anybody use it (especially when the main verb in the actual sentence is not "is").

I did not know that word until I saw a teacher use it in a thread about question tags started by man of manners.

 

[Rover_KE]

Is there a house in street?
There's a house in the street?

...
So in your examples each second sentence is wrong?
"You are a journalist?" said with a suitable intonation sounds fine to me. Am I wrong?

As GS said, Your second sentences are not suitable for written English as the intonation cannot be heard.

That's very much street BrE! Please, don't anybody use it (especially when the main verb in the actual sentence is not "is").

innit = isn't it = a catch-all tag question for those who don't know how (or can't be bothered) to form a proper tag question.

I agree, though to be fair, in the Welsh dialect, 'isn't it' is commonly heard informally as a catch-all tag question like 'isn't that so' - corresponding to the perfectly standard French n'est-ce pas and the German nicht wahr.*

* I'd be interested to know if other European languages have equivalent expressions.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I just found a poll on 'innit': https://www.usingenglish.com/poll/49.html

 

[kilroy65]

I agree, though to be fair, In the Welsh dialect, 'isn't it' is commonly heard informally as a catch-all tag question like 'isn't that so' - corresponding to the perfectly standard French n'est-ce pas and the German nicht wahr.*

* I'd be interested to know if other European languages have equivalent expressions.

In Bulgarian, we simply use the word "nali" at the end of the sentence. It roughly translates as "right/isn't that so".

 

[GoesStation]

A
I agree, though to be fair, in the Welsh dialect, 'isn't it' is commonly heard informally as a catch-all tag question like 'isn't that so' - corresponding to the perfectly standard French n'est-ce pas and the German nicht wahr.*

* I'd be interested to know if other European languages have equivalent expressions.

My parents, who both spoke English as a second language, used No? as an all-purpose tag question. I have a feeling the tag came from their native languages, Polish and Yiddish. It's kind of funny that No? actually means "correct?" or "isn't that right?" in this usage.

 

[kilroy65]

It's kind of funny that No? actually means "correct?" or "isn't that right?" in this usage.

It's the same in Albanian (I spent a few years in Kosovo). Their all-purpose tag question is [FONT=&quot][/FONT]"jo" which means "no" in Albanian.

 

[irinaofr]

A couple of more of the sort, please:

1) You only have few children here today?
2) Not many children here today?
3) Why are there only few children here today?
4) There aren't many children here today? Why?
5) Why aren't there many children here today?

Thank you.

 

[teechar]

A couple of more of the sort, please:

1) Do you only have a few children here today?
2) Are there not many children here today?
3) Why are there only a few children here today?
4) There aren't many children here today. Why?
5) Why aren't there many children here today?

.

 

[irinaofr]

There are not many children here today?

If I say it with the corret intonation - can I say it this way?

I understand that it doesn't look right in writing.

Thank you.

 

[teechar]

Why don't you just learn the proper (grammatical) way of saying it?

 

[irinaofr]

Because it doesn't come natural to me in the absence of enough conversational practice to say it this way. It is more natural for me to ask a question with a question intonation. So it would be nice to know that in this instance it would be alright.