Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[puzzle]

Dear teachers,
Some grammars say only when "I" is the subject in the sentence"I think/suppose..", will the tag question agree with the clause,but some say it is the ame with " we " . which is right?
Thak you!

[myprofe]

I'm confused. Can you give an example?
_________________
I'm never going to learn if you don't correct my mistakes!

[puzzle]

yes. e.g.
I think he is clever, isn't he?
We think he is clver, don't we?(or isn't he?) I think it should be "don't we?" but in some books ,they say "isn't he?'
which is right? Thank you!

[myprofe]

With tag questions we are looking for agreement, confirmation or verification from others.

You don't smoke, do you?

They said they would be here for the meeting, didn't they?

It's possible that the speaker is the object of the question.

I didn't break the window, did I?

I told him he could use my car, didn't I?

But, again, you are asking another person, not yourself.

We agreed to meet at 8, didn't we?

Again, asking others to confirm the information, not yourself.

In your example, "We think he is clever, don't we?, you're asking one or more of the people from the group (we) to confirm or reaffirm the original conclusion of the group.

We agreed, right? Didn't we agree on this?

But you could also say "We think he is clever, isn't he?" In this case you are asking a person outside the group (we) for an opinion.

We agreed. Do you agree with us?
_________________
I'm never going to learn if you don't correct my mistakes!