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"He is happy, isn't he?"

If you did not use the contraction isn't he, in the question above, would the correct sentence be:

  1. "He is happy, is he not?"
  2. "He is happy, is not he?"

Sentence #1 seems to have to have same meaning as the above question but does not become the subject complement of he? Is #2 the grammatical equivalent albeit archaic or uncommon in modern English?

RegDwigнt
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J.H. Chang
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2 Answers2

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In my part of England (Yorkshire) we sometimes use "is he not?", but not as a tag question as in your example.

"Is not he" is a definite no-no.

The reason is that you are looking at a tag question, so you have the subject-verb inversion, but contractions such as isn't or wasn't can't invert.

Roaring Fish
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    Full tags such as 'is not he?' were known in the past. – Barrie England May 10 '12 at 13:55
  • @BarrieEngland. Out of curiosity, have you got a reference for “is not he“ tags, or is it something that you’ve come across yourself on occasion? Thanks! – Daniel Harbour Aug 05 '12 at 21:04
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    @DanielHarbour: Well, here’s just one example from Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’: ‘One hears sometimes of a child being “the picture of health;” now, Emma always gives me the idea of being the complete picture of grown-up health. She is loveliness itself. Mr. Knightley, is not she?’ What isn’t clear is whether this is what people at the time actually said, or whether it was the convention to write in full forms that were contracted in speech. – Barrie England Aug 06 '12 at 06:52
  • @BarrieEngland Thanks very much for that. Your questions are on the mark. I’ll see if I know anyone who knows... – Daniel Harbour Aug 09 '12 at 17:13
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The sentence "He is happy, is he not? is grammatically correct, although rather infrequent in usage.

Perhaps, the only similar tag question which you are likely to find in everyday situations is the one which presents the verb to be in the first person singular (for example, "I am pretty, am I not?", as "aren't I? may sound a bit awkward).

Your second example is on the contrary not acceptable.

As Roaring Fish said before me, you do not change the structure verb-subject in a question, so the negative "not" needs to come after the subject if it is separated from the verb form, whereas it comes before the subject when it is contracted.

Paola
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    In what version of English does I am pretty, aren't I sound awkward? Or sound more awkward than I am pretty, am I not? To me the aren't I version sounds less awkward, but then I am not a native speaker. – mplungjan May 16 '12 at 06:14
  • @mplungjan. Perhaps "awkward" is not the best adjective to describe what I meant. As I wrote, both expressions are perfectly grammatical; normally people would use the contracted verb-negative form, whereas you would find the subject "I" and the verb "aren't" in question tags only. However, question tags aren't always used in full, so you may happen to hear people say "right?" or similar expressions, and the question tag for my above example may even become "ain't I?", which is widely used but not exactly what textbooks would teach. P.S. I'm not a native speaker either. – Paola May 16 '12 at 15:16
  • @mplungian I aren’t too sure about all this. – tchrist Aug 05 '12 at 20:07
  • "Aren't I" at the end of a sentence is commonly used to ask for allayment of insecurities about one's characteristics, condition, or circumstances. Examples: "Doctor, I'm cured, aren't I?" "I'm a shoe in for the job, aren't I?" "I am normal, aren't I?" – Pantalones Aug 06 '12 at 05:01
  • @Pantalones. I suppose it could also be used in a more jokingly way, such as "I'm the sexiest person in the world, aren't I?" or "I'm always right, aren't I?" – Paola Aug 06 '12 at 07:49
  • Those examples are demonstrating the use of sarcasm more than that of the phrase in question. The sentences are sarcastically asking for validation. – Pantalones Aug 06 '12 at 08:14
  • @Pantalones. I thought that sarcasm was normally directed to someone other than the speaker, and that it meant to be biting. My intention was to say something in jest. – Paola Aug 06 '12 at 08:23
  • I think something is being lost in communication in my forced attempts not to use first or second person on this site...that comment wasn't to say that you were being sarcastic, but that the examples are illustrating the use of sarcasm. – Pantalones Aug 06 '12 at 08:35