tag question

saya   Saturday, October 30, 2004, 23:03 GMT
I've a question.

You say in English "Let's dance, shall we?" An analogous sentence;"Let me help you, shall I?" Does this make sense?

Thank you in advance.

saya
Jim   Monday, November 01, 2004, 00:25 GMT
Yes, they both make sense. This is the kind of thing they don't generally teach you in the ESL books but tag questions are not tied down to the ESL book rules. Here's another example:

1) You're good at maths.

Now stick a tag question onto it. It'll become

2) You're good at maths, aren't you?

... right? Maybe. It could also become

3) You're good at maths, are you?

Both are correct but imply opposite things. (2) implies that the speaker believes that the listener is good at maths whereas (1) implies that the speaker doubts it or is mocking the listener's mathematical ability. Then you could also say:

4) You're good at maths, isn't that so?

or

5) You're good at maths, didn't you say?
D   Monday, November 01, 2004, 03:22 GMT
The 'shall we" ending in the original post is
there because of the plural 'we'.

"Let me help you, shall I" could be better
said as "let me help you, may I" or, even
better, "may I help you"

But the sentence "Let's dance,
may we" is not idiomatic, so we say
"let's dance, shall we" or "may I have this dance"

Other examples:

"Let me hold your hand, may I?"
"Let's go to the store, shall we?"

A sentence beginning with "let" is asking
the other person for permission. If you
are asking permission for yourself, you say
"May I?" but if you are asking if the
other person wants to do it to, then you say
"shall we?"
D   Monday, November 01, 2004, 03:23 GMT
I mistyped 'too' in the previous post.
Tom   Monday, November 01, 2004, 10:54 GMT
Jim:

Both are correct but imply opposite things. (2) implies that ... (1) implies that ...


Could you explain once more which implies what? I think your numbers got mixed up.
Jim   Tuesday, November 02, 2004, 00:23 GMT
So I did. (2) implies the same as I wrote but it's (3) not (1) that implies the doubt/mocking.
Raj K   Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 16:41 GMT
They both make sene,don't they?
Jim   Thursday, November 11, 2004, 05:41 GMT
Sorry Raj K I don't quite understand what it is that you're asking. Do you mean to ask whether they make sense? If so, then yes,

1) You're good at maths.
2) You're good at maths, aren't you?
3) You're good at maths, are you?
4) You're good at maths, isn't that so?
5) You're good at maths, didn't you say?

all make sense.