第五十二天

[nnozomi]

Tag questions with 不
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Tag_questions_with_%22bu%22

More of the same really, but stuck at the end of the sentence to mean "right?" or "okay?". Annoyingly, the CGW page linked above does not specify if there's a reason to distinguish between 对不对, 好不好, and 是不是. The latter seems to come up in the middle of sentences a lot more...

Guardian:
你也能深刻感觉到，我们特调处的热情，稳重，友好，对不对？ (Poor Xiao Guo in response: 对对对。）
你呢，就先把你的英雄梦收起来，好不好? (start by putting your heroic dreams away, okay?)

My practice:
我先把暖气开，你再脱外套，好不好？
他们是铁三角，对不对？

（我快要评论回复）

Comments

[presumenothing]

I'd distinguish it as 好不好 for suggestions, vs 对不对 and 是不是 for confirmations? Essentially where you'd tack on "okay?" vs "right?" in English.

[nnozomi]

Straightforward and easy to remember! 谢谢你啊。

[laireshi]

他们是铁三角，对不对？
对 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[nnozomi]

对对。（你的。。。小图片？怎么说icon呢？。。。很好！）

[grayswandir]

是不是. The latter seems to come up in the middle of sentences a lot more...

As a tag question? Or how do you mean? Like, "is it or is it not the case that..." (as in "她是不是你的朋友？")? I think of that as a different usage... I'm surprised I can't find a page about it on CGW. :/ Wiktionary lists 是不是 as a conjunction as well as a tag question.

[trobadora]

Wiktionary lists 是不是 as a conjunction as well as a tag question.

Oh, cool, thank you, that's very good to know!

[nnozomi]

Like, "is it or is it not the case that..." (as in "她是不是你的朋友？")? I think of that as a different usage...
yeah, I was thinking of something like your example as opposed to, I don't know, 这本书很好，是不是？ or something where it would be a tag question; the former seems to be more common.

[trobadora]

Annoyingly, the CGW page linked above does not specify if there's a reason to distinguish between 对不对, 好不好, and 是不是.

So maybe I'm missing something, but the way I've been distinguishing them is 好不好 as "okay?", 对不对 as "right?", and 是不是 as "isn't it?"

[grayswandir]

Yeah, that's exactly how I think of them. I'd guess there are probably other tag questions besides these three that follow the same structure, too... At least, I can think of a few in Cantonese, like 得唔得, which I think in Mandarin would be 行不行 ("okay?"/"is that possible?"/"can we do that?")? I feel like 可不可以 could also be considered a tag question, if it's tacked onto the end of a sentence.

And, I don't know if there are Mandarin equivalents for these, but Canto also has 知唔知 ("you know?") and 明唔明 ("got that?"/"is that clear?"), so I guess I kind of just see all of these as yes-or-no tag questions where the meaning follows from the verb.

[trobadora]

Yeah, that makes sense to me! And it's always fascinating to hear about your Canto perspective. :D

(I'm sure I've heard at least 行不行 as a tag question before; not sure about others.)

[grayswandir]

Ah. You know, I was assuming you could put 可不可以 at the end of a sentence, but now that I think about it, maybe it would have to be 可以吗 instead？

[trobadora]

I have definitely heard 可以吗 as a tag at the end of a sentence! No idea if the x不x version also exists, though.

[nnozomi]

Definitely heard 行不行, yes! The other Mandarin versions I think would be two-syllable ones, 知不知道 and 明不明白, basically along the same lines.

[nnozomi]

the way I've been distinguishing them is 好不好 as "okay?", 对不对 as "right?", and 是不是 as "isn't it?"
yes, that makes sense! 谢谢你～