“Those books belong to him, don't they / aren't they?” – tag questions for state verbs
In the question, 'Those books belong to Rohan's brother, (question tag)?'
Can we use 'aren't they' in this instead of 'don't they' as 'belong' here is not an action verb that's why I think that we can't use any form of 'do' here. Am I right?
tag-questions
add a comment |
In the question, 'Those books belong to Rohan's brother, (question tag)?'
Can we use 'aren't they' in this instead of 'don't they' as 'belong' here is not an action verb that's why I think that we can't use any form of 'do' here. Am I right?
tag-questions
add a comment |
In the question, 'Those books belong to Rohan's brother, (question tag)?'
Can we use 'aren't they' in this instead of 'don't they' as 'belong' here is not an action verb that's why I think that we can't use any form of 'do' here. Am I right?
tag-questions
In the question, 'Those books belong to Rohan's brother, (question tag)?'
Can we use 'aren't they' in this instead of 'don't they' as 'belong' here is not an action verb that's why I think that we can't use any form of 'do' here. Am I right?
tag-questions
tag-questions
edited Feb 23 at 15:59
userr2684291
2,58521531
2,58521531
asked Feb 23 at 9:03
Shashwat ChoudharyShashwat Choudhary
333
333
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
You must use 'don't they?' if the tag relates to the verb 'belong'. The fact that 'belong' is a state verb, not an action verb, does not change this. 'Belong' is neither an auxiliary verb nor a modal verb, and thus the tag requires use of the verb 'do'.
Question tags
In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English!
– alephzero
Feb 23 at 17:26
Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers.
– Michael Harvey
Feb 23 at 19:24
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "481"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f197947%2fthose-books-belong-to-him-dont-they-arent-they-tag-questions-for-state%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
You must use 'don't they?' if the tag relates to the verb 'belong'. The fact that 'belong' is a state verb, not an action verb, does not change this. 'Belong' is neither an auxiliary verb nor a modal verb, and thus the tag requires use of the verb 'do'.
Question tags
In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English!
– alephzero
Feb 23 at 17:26
Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers.
– Michael Harvey
Feb 23 at 19:24
add a comment |
You must use 'don't they?' if the tag relates to the verb 'belong'. The fact that 'belong' is a state verb, not an action verb, does not change this. 'Belong' is neither an auxiliary verb nor a modal verb, and thus the tag requires use of the verb 'do'.
Question tags
In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English!
– alephzero
Feb 23 at 17:26
Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers.
– Michael Harvey
Feb 23 at 19:24
add a comment |
You must use 'don't they?' if the tag relates to the verb 'belong'. The fact that 'belong' is a state verb, not an action verb, does not change this. 'Belong' is neither an auxiliary verb nor a modal verb, and thus the tag requires use of the verb 'do'.
Question tags
You must use 'don't they?' if the tag relates to the verb 'belong'. The fact that 'belong' is a state verb, not an action verb, does not change this. 'Belong' is neither an auxiliary verb nor a modal verb, and thus the tag requires use of the verb 'do'.
Question tags
edited Feb 23 at 11:36
answered Feb 23 at 9:11
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
15.5k11733
15.5k11733
In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English!
– alephzero
Feb 23 at 17:26
Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers.
– Michael Harvey
Feb 23 at 19:24
add a comment |
In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English!
– alephzero
Feb 23 at 17:26
Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers.
– Michael Harvey
Feb 23 at 19:24
In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English!
– alephzero
Feb 23 at 17:26
In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English!
– alephzero
Feb 23 at 17:26
Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers.
– Michael Harvey
Feb 23 at 19:24
Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers.
– Michael Harvey
Feb 23 at 19:24
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f197947%2fthose-books-belong-to-him-dont-they-arent-they-tag-questions-for-state%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown