9月9日号：Negative questions

Negative questions have many uses in English conversation. Let’s look at these questions and how we can use them in different situations.

We make negative questions by adding not or -n’t to a question. For example:

◆ Do you like pizza? → Don’t you like pizza?

◆ Can you speak Spanish? → Can you not speak Spanish?

In conversation, it’s more common to use -n’t. Using not sounds more formal.

It’s also very important to pay attention to intonation. Different intonation can change the meaning of a negative question.

Let’s look at some different uses of negative questions.

Negative questions are often used to check or confirm information.

Usually, intonation will rise if we are checking information. If we are confirming information, intonation drops. For example:

◆ Didn’t Toru go to Osaka yesterday?↑ (= I think he went, but am not sure)

◆ Isn’t it going to rain on Friday?↓ (= I believe it’s going to rain on Friday)

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Ian先生プロフィール

英会話イーオン東京本社教務課コーディネーター。イーオン教師のトレーニングや英語セミナーを企画制作するカリスマ教師として活躍中。カリフォルニア大学バークレー校卒業。趣味は読書、料理、クラフトワーク。