Collins Cobuild English Grammar (106 page)

Another kind of rhetorical question consists of a statement followed by a question tag such as
are you
? or
is it
? For example, someone might say
So you are the new assistant, are you
? or
So they’re coming to tea, are they
?

So you want to be an actress, do you?
So they’re moving house again, are they?

Rhetorical questions can also begin with
how
. They usually express a feeling of shock or indignation. For example, instead of saying
You are very cruel
, someone might say
How can you be so cruel
?

How
can you say such things?
How
dare you speak to me like that?

Rhetorical questions
are dealt with fully in paragraph
9.94
.

questions without a verb

5.45
    You can ask a question consisting of
what about
or
what of
in front of a noun phrase, without a verb. You ask a question like this to remind someone of something, or to draw their attention to something. With this type of question, you often expect an action, rather than a reply.

What about
the others on the list?
What about
your breakfast?
But
what of
the women themselves?

suggestions

5.46
    There are several ways in which you can make a suggestion:

you can use the modal
could
in a declarative sentence (see paragraph
5.181
)

We
could have
tea.
You
could get
someone to dress up as a pirate.

you can use a negative
wh
-question beginning with
why

Why don’t
we just give them what they want?
Why don’t
you write to her yourself?

you can use a question consisting of
what about
or
how about
in front of an
-ing
form

What about
becoming an actor?
How about
using makeup to dramatize your features?

you can use the imperative.

‘
Give
them a reward each,’ I suggested.

You can also make a suggestion about what you and someone else might do by using
let’s
. This use is explained in paragraph
5.39
.

Forming negative statements

5.47
    When you want to say that something is not true, is not happening, or is not the case, you normally use a
negative statement
. Negative statements contain words like
not
,
never
, or
nowhere
. These are called
negative words
.

Here is the list of negative words in English:

neither

never

no

nobody

none

no one

nor

not

nothing

nowhere

Negative words indicate the opposite of something or an absence of something.

5.48
    Another group of words such as
scarcely
and
seldom
can be used to make a statement almost negative. These words are called
broad negatives
. They are explained in paragraphs
5.80
to
5.87
.

5.49
    If a statement about the existence of something has a negative word in it, you use
any
(not
no
) as a determiner in front of the following noun phrase. You can also use a word beginning with
any-
such as
anyone
or
anywhere
.

We did
n’t
have
any
money.
He writes poetry and
never
shows it to
anyone
.
It is
impossible
to park the car
anywhere
.

For another use of
any
see paragraph
2.163
.

BE CAREFUL

5.50
    In standard English, it is almost always unacceptable to use two negative words in the same clause. For example, you do not say,
I don’t never go there
, or
I don’t know nothing
.

5.51
    The use of negatives in
reported speech
is explained in paragraph
7.13
. The use of negatives with
modals
is explained in paragraph
5.102
.

not

5.52
    The most commonly used negative word is
not
. Its use with different verbs corresponds to the way these verbs are used in
yes
/
no
-questions
(see paragraphs
5.12
to
5.14
).

position in verb phrases

5.53
    When
not
is used with a verb phrase that contains an auxiliary verb, it comes after the first verb in the phrase.

They
could not exist
in their present form.
They
might not
even
notice
.
The White House
has not commented
on the report.
He
had not attended
many meetings.
I
was not smiling
.
Her teachers
were not impressed
with her excuses.

adding
do

5.54
    If there is no auxiliary verb, you put
do
,
does
, or
did
after the subject, followed by
not
or
-n’t
, followed by the base form of the main verb.

They
do not need
to talk.
He
does not speak
English very well.
I
didn’t know
that.

Be
and
have
are exceptions to this; this is explained in the following paragraphs
5.55
and
5.56
. The shortening of
not
to
-n’t
is explained in paragraphs
5.59
and
5.60
.

not
with
be

5.55
    If the verb is
be
, you do not use
do
. You simply put
not
or
-n’t
after the verb.

It
is not
difficult to see why they were unsuccessful.
There
is not
much point in heading south.
This
isn’t
my first choice of restaurant.

not
with
have
and
have got