Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[el7jake]

I understand about tag questions and question tags. But I do not understand the following example:

I am going to be all right, aren't I?

A person can't say are not I or I are not. So why aren't I?

Thank you!

Jake L.

[Philo Kevetch]

Hello Jake -

'am I not' is often expressed as 'aren't I' in tag questions and is generally considered acceptable.

Some people consider the use 'am I not' as being a bit pretentious -

while others consider the use of 'aren't I' as reserved for 'h droppers'.

Do you think we might hear "ain't I" as a tag question some day soon?

Philo

[CP]

I thought ain't I was the contraction for am I not, and I ain't the contraction for I am not. No?
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Philo Kevetch]

DISCLAIMER...DO NOT TAKE THE FOLLOWING AS RECOMMENDED USAGE

CP - soon enough

Ain't "ain't I" the contraction for "am I not", and ain't "I ain't" the contraction for "I am not"?

I'm write, ain't I?

[CP]

My daughter was about 2, and I asked her a question, something like, "Are you getting sleepy?" Her answer: "No, I amn't."

I was so proud. She correctly applied the rule we all use for is not and are not to am not, though she had never heard it said that way.

Amn't is a little hard to say, but ain't comes out with a punch. It should be a proper word, as far as I'm concerned, because it would come in handy and doesn't break the rules any more than won't breaks the rules as a contraction of will not.

Just because it would be wrong to use for anything but the first person singular doesn't mean it should be banned. But since it is banned, I ain't likely to use it where it don't belong.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Philo Kevetch]

Agreed - The 'plastic' nature of English is one of the reasons it is such a fun language.

There is no formal body with authority to 'rule' the English language
(i.e. - France)

'ain't' will probably be considered acceptable

as will I / you / he / she / it "be" ....if the usage persists.

(there was a similar thread some time ago)

'banned' or not, for the moment....studens do sit exams on currently accepted 'grammar' and 'usage'.

the irony is that grammar and usage may change so quickly
that the 'learners of English' posting in this forum today
might be called upon to tutor those 'native' speakers
- who live long enough - in the new 'ngls'

I've tried, with limited sucess, to read some international 'chat rooms' and to understand the lyrics of new musical genres; Quite amusing, actually.

[lotus]

Hi,

Isn't ain't also a contraction for isn't?
Ain't that a shame?

A good discussion on this topic:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=348695

"The American Heritage Book of English Usage quoted by Bartleby, states
that it probably arose as an acceptable alternative to Ain�t, whose
use became seen as a sign of the ignorance of the speaker. The article
outlines the use of ain�t and goes on [to] state, "The stigmatization of
ain�t leaves us with no happy alternative for use in first-person
questions. The widely used aren�t I?, though illogical, was found
acceptable for use in speech by a majority of the Usage Panel in an
early survey, but in writing there is no alternative to saying am I
not?"

"...The point of this example is not to urge [the]
rehabilitation of ain't'--legislating language change is generally a
losing proposition--but to illustrate the linguistically arbitrary
nature of social valuation of the results of language change."

My personal belief is that "aren't I?" is acceptable both in speech and in writing.

---------------------------------------

On to children and grammar:

Children are great grammar/language learners. That's why they can learn two or three languages with no problems. You'll hear a child say "He hitted the ball" or "This toy is mines." If if weren't for the exceptions, they'd all be speaking like adults by age five.

Chomsky had theorized that we are all born with an innate propensity to learn language, and that our knowledge of language/grammar itself is deeply rooted in our subconscious. In learning a language, we are simply fulfilling our need to communicate. A child doesn't care how it communicates and it doesn't know the boundaries of communications until an adult or a textbook tells it otherwise. In many ways, a second language learner exhibits the same characteristics and goes through the same hurdles.


--lotus
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War does not make one great --Yoda