We can go to the cinema tomorrow if you want, shall we?

[GeneD]

We can go to the cinema tomorrow if you want, can't we? From the exercises (#7).

My choice was "shall we" but the actual answer is "can't we" there, which is pretty surprising for me, frankly. That sentence is a suggestion, isn't it? I think we could rephrase it using the "Let's go..., shall we" pattern, couldn't we? Anyhow... Is "shall we" possiple in the example sentence, and more importantly, would it be natural?

 

[GoesStation]

It's neither possible nor natural. You can, however, use Shall we if you replace the comma with a period ("full stop" in BrE).

Can't we? is the natural question tag after a statement beginning We can.

 

[GeneD]

On the same site, there is another sentence I made a mistake in (#2). My mother has lovely hair, doesn't she? Well, the first time I did write "doesn't she" but then decided to check if "hasn't she" works as well, and the site marked it as an error. I've learn't somewhere (maybe wrongly) that in BrE such a tag is possible, and I've got the impression (doing some other exercises on the website) that it's BrE in the exercises there; I'm not sure though if it is.

Do the British use such question tags ("hasn't she" and the like) in the present simple?

 

[jutfrank]

Do the British use such a question tag "hasn't she" and the like in the present simple?

Some people might but I would say it's a minority. The normal tag would be doesn't she?.

Use have in a question tag when have in the main part is used as an auxiliary verb.
Use do in a question tag when have in the main part is a lexical verb (not an auxiliary).

When have is used to express possession, it's a lexical verb, not an auxiliary.
When have got is used to express possession, have is an auxiliary.

 

[jutfrank]

For some of us elderly Brits, HAVE, like BE, can be a full verb that requires no auxiliary do.

No offence to my elderly and esteemed fellow member Piscean, but I wouldn't advise learners to do this. It would sound unnatural, I think.

 

[Tarheel]

For some of us elderly Brits, HAVE, like BE, can be a full verb that requires no auxiliary do.

Have you a question for us?
Has he any plans for next summer?
She hasn't a clue about anything.
They haven't a penny to their name.

That calls to minx2 the old nursery rhyme:

Bah bah black sheep, have you any wool?

 

[GoesStation]

For some of us elderly Brits, HAVE, like BE, can be a full verb that requires no auxiliary do.

Have you a question for us?
Has he any plans for next summer?
She hasn't a clue about anything.
They haven't a penny to their name.

That usage isn't completely unknown among Americans, but it's quite rare.