implications for teaching and learning english negative questions

implications for teaching and learning english negative questions implications for teaching and learning english negative questions implications for teaching and learning english negative questions implications for teaching and learning english negative questions implications for teaching and learning english negative questions implications for teaching and learning english negative questions implications for teaching and learning english negative questions

I wish to thank all the lectures at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number

2, especially the lectures in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicatedinstructions during my years of university work

I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their enthusiasm andkindness in helping me collect valuable reference documents and data for myresearch

Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to my beloved family, for their hearted encouragement and endless support

Nowadays, along with the internationalization process in the world, theincreasing development of the relationship between Vietnam and othercountries has resulted in a great demand for English language teaching andlearning throughout the country However, at present English language teaching

in Vietnam is still far from satisfactory This situation is due to a number ofproblems, among which the lack of reading materials is worth mentioning This

is the very reason for this study

Teaching grammar offers great benefit to students of English Moreover,

it is the aspect of teaching the language which involves many languageelements such as vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, etc…Among thosecomponents grammar is the subject that draws more attention from teachers andstudents in Vietnam This study particularly emphasizes the need to teach somenegative questions as a part of teaching grammar to students This stresses theimportance of the knowledge of the negative questions to the students anddefines that knowledge as the help in understanding English grammar, whichcontributes to the mastery of the language

In this paper, the researcher studies the negative questions in English andVietnamese equivalents, compares them to draw out the differences andsimilarities, which helps learners avoid making mistakes in translating

Basing on developing a deep understanding on the negative questions,the writer introduces implications for teaching English negative questions It ishoped that this study can be useful to those who are interested in this theme

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: The English negative questions in comparisons with Vietnamese ones

I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by mefrom any other people’s work without acknowledgements and that the report isoriginally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor

Date submitted: May 2013

TABLE OF CONTENT

Acknowledgement

PART ONE: INTRODUTION I Rationale 1

II Research questions 2

III Research objectives 2

IV Research scope 3

V Research tasks 3

VI Research methods 3

VII Significance of the proposed research 3

VIII Design of the research work 4

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF 5

II.NEGATIVE QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH 6

II.1 Negative questions - Definition 6

II.2 Negative questions – Forms 7

II.3 Negative Questions – Functions 7

II.4.Negative Questions – How to Answer 8

II.5 Negative questions – Classification 8

II.5.1 Negative Yes/No Questions 8

II.5.1.1 Definition of negative Yes/No Questions 8

II.5.1.2.Forms of negative Yes/No Questions 8

II.5.1.3 Functions and intonation of negative Yes/No Questions 9

II.5.2 Negative Tag questions 10

II.5.2.1 Definition of negative Tag questions 10

II.5.2.2 Form of negative Tag questions 10

II.5.2.3 Functions and intonation of negative Tag questions 12

II.5.3 Negative Wh-questions 13

II.5.3.1 Definition of negative Wh-questions 13

II.5.3.2 Form of negative Wh-questions 13

II.5.3.3 Functions and intonation of negative Wh-questions 13

II.5.4 Negative alternative questions 14

II.5.4.1 Definition of Negative alternative questions 14

II.5.4.2.Formation of Negative alternative questions 14

II.5.4.2.1 Negative alternative questions resembling yes / No questions .15

II.5.4.2.2 Alternative questions resembling Wh-questions 15

II.5.4.3.Functions and intonation of Negative alternative questions 15

II.5.5 Minor types of negative questions 16

II.5.5.1 Negative exclamatory questions 16

II.5.5.1.1.The definition of negative exclamatory questions 16

II.5.5.1.2.The Form of negative exclamatory questions 16

II.5.5.1.3.The Functions and intonation of negative exclamatory

questions 17

II.5.5.2 Rhetorical questions 17

II NEGATIVE QUESTIONS IN VIETNAMESE 18

II.1.Vietnamese negative Yes/ No questions 18

II.1.1.The definition of Vietnamese negative Yes/ No questions 18

II.1.2.The Form of Vietnamese negative Yes/No questions 19

II.1.3.The Function of Vietnamese negative Yes/No questions 20

II.2.Vietnamese negative Tag-questions 20

II.2.1 Form of Vietnamese negative Tag – questions 20

II.2.2 Functions of Vietnamese negative Tag questions 20

II.3.Vietnamese negative Wh-questions 21

II.3.1 Form of Vietnamese negative Wh-questions 21

II.3.1 Functions of Vietnamese negative Wh-questions 21

II.4.Vietnamese negative alternative questions 22

II.4.1 Definition of Vietnamese negative alternative questions 22

II.4.2 Form of Vietnamese negative alternative questions 23

II.4.3 Functions of Vietnamese negative alternative questions 23

CHAPTER II: COMPARISIONS OF NEGATIVE QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ONES I Objectives 25

II Comparison 25

II.1 Negative Yes/ No question in English and Vietnamese 25

II.1.1 Similar points 25

II.1.1.1 Form 25

II.1.1.2 Functions 25

II.1.2 Different points 28

II.1.2.1 Form 28

II.1.2.2 Functions 30

II.1.2.3.Intonation 31

II.2 Negative Tag- questions in English and Vietnamese 31

II.2.1 Similar points 31

II.2.1.1 Form 31

II.2.1.2 Functions 31

II.2.2 Different points……… ….………32

II.2.2.1 Form……… 32

II.2.2.2 Functions 33

II.3 Negative Wh- questions in English and Vietnamese 33

II.3.1 Similar points 33

II.3.1.1 Form 33

II.3.1.2 Functions 34

II.3.2 Different points 35

II.3.2.1 Form 35

II.3.2.2 Functions 36

II.3.2.3 Intonation 36

II.4 Negative alternative questions in English and Vietnamese 37

II.4.1 Similar points 37

II.4.1.1 Form 37

II.4.1.2 Functions 38

II.4.2 Different points 38

II.4.2.1 Form 38

II.4.2.2 Functions 39

II.4.2.3 Intonation 39

CHAPTER III: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH III.1 Providing learners with very background knowledge of English culture 41

III.2 Give learners more chances of practicing using English negative questions 41

III.3 Learners’ activeness in the learning process 41

PART THREE: CONCLUSION Conclusion 46

1 Summary of the findings 46

2 Recommendations for further research 47 References 48

PART ONE INTRODUCTIONI.RATIONALE

It cannot be denied that nowadays, English is one of the most widelyused languages in the world It is the mother tongue of more than 350.000.000people, and it is also used as a second language by millions of Europeans,Africans, Indians, etc In addition, English is spoken and read by many Asians

as a foreign language Thus, everywhere people speak English Because of itspopularity, many famous books and documents are translated into English.Many advertisements as well as business contracts are also written in English.Obviously, English has a great influence on the socio-economic as well ascultural life worldwide

In Vietnam, the need for integrating into the world has increased sincethe open-door policy More and more Vietnamese people desire to learnEnglish, some of whom study English for better opportunities The others learnEnglish for further knowledge or for other purposes That is why English is acompulsory subject in many schools and universities, and English centre aremushrooming throughout the country English teaching and learning hasbecome very important and significant to our country’s process ofindustrialization and modernization

In communicative process in English as well as in other languages,questions play an important role in our daily life We are not able to keepcommunicating going on well without asking questions We ask in order toexchange information, ideas, feelings and knowledge On the other hand, wesometimes ask questions not for the above purposes but to confirm, refuse irony

or reply avoidance It is undeniable that questions can not be missed incommunication There are a lot of types of questions in English but in thispaper I would like to devote all my interest to English negative questions inorder to get more understanding of this type of questions and we can be able touse it flexibly and fluently Moreover, a large number of authors have

investigated negative questions in English namely Alexander, L.G (1975), D.

R Ladd (1981) Finnegan E (2004), Lado, R(1957) and many others But theyhave discussed the problems of negative questions in English only or incontrastive analyses, in comparison with other languages rather thanVietnamese

In addition, negative questions have been studied in Vietnamese by DiepQuang Ban (2002), Nguyen Tai Can (1999), Cao Xuan Hao (2003), etc andespecially there have also been some author theses on negative questions inVietnamese by Nguyen Phu Phong (2002) and Nguyen Thi Thin (1994) Theircontributions are a great help to Vietnamese learners of English However,there are few of writers focused on this theme and this theme make manymistake for Vietnamese learners of English Therefore, I choose this theme andstudy about this From my experience and knowledge, I will go deep into thismatter in a hope of assisting to help people who are interested in the subjectmatter

II RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Some questions are raised:

1 How are English negative questions formed, used and classified?

2 How are Vietnamese negative questions formed, used and classified?

3 What are the similarities and differences of the negative questionsbetween English and Vietnamese?

4 What are the difficulties in study English negative questions ofVietnamese learners of English?

Base on the questions above, I am eager to learn about the problems andmake a comparison analysis in negative questions between English andVietnamese so that the major similarities and differences may be found

III RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The study is aimed at following goals:

1 To find out the forms, usage and functions of the English negativequestions in the grammar system

2 To find out the forms, usage and functions of Vietnamese negativequestions

3 To find out the similarities and differences in the negative questionsbetween English and Vietnamese

IV RESEARCH SCOPE

The general research area of this study is grammar

The phenomenon is negative questions in comparisons between Englishand Vietnamese Others relating to the negative questions are also brieflymentioned

V RESEARCH TASKS

The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:

1 To study the classifications, the characteristics, the uses, and thedistinction of the negative questions in English

2 To study the classifications, the characteristics, and the uses of thenegative questions in Vietnamese

3 To compare the negative questions in English with Vietnamese ones

On the basic of the findings, teaching implications to this category are sought toclear the student questions

VI RESEARCH METHOD

To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have beenapplied:

1 Collecting materials from books and references

2 Consulting the supervisor, experienced teachers and friends

3 Synthesizing theoretical documents on English grammar

4 Personal observation

VII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH

The same category grammar in two languages always has similarities anddifferences It will get mislead for learners if they cannot distinguish thedifferences in classifications, functions, and even uses of that category It is,therefore, essential for teachers to have a better solution After the research, it ishoped that the result will be helpful to provide:

1 Input for the learners of English in order to clearly describe thenegative questions in the comparisons.

2 Input for teacher of English with teaching implications of thenegative questions

This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in the negativequestions in English

VIII DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK

The research work has three main parts, namely: Introduction,

Development, Implication for teaching and learning and Conclusion

Part 1: Introduction

This part mentions to rationale, research objectives, research questions,research scope, research tasks, research method, and significances of theproposed research

Part 2: Development

This part consists three chapters

Chapter 1: chapter 1 is entitled “theoretical background” It consists twosections

The first part in chapter 1 is reviews literature in brief

The second part in chapter 1 is named “The negative questions inEnglish” It has been one section It has things related to the negative questions

in English such as classification, characteristics and uses

The third part in chapter 1 is named “The negative questions inVietnamese” It has been four sections They are Negative structure in Yes/Noquestions, Negative structures in Tag- questions, Negative structures in Wh-questions, Negative structures in alternative questions

Chapter 2 is named “the negative questions in comparisons withVietnamese” It has three sections Section one is studied to the similarities.The second deals with the differences

Chapter 3 is devoted to the teaching implications The last one is partfour: conclusion

Part 3: Conclusion

This part is a summary of all main contents

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF

Negative questions stand in place of questions, important part of theEnglish grammar Negative questions are used to indicate the speaker’sidea(what he/she believes is or is not true) and attitude (surprise, anger,

…).Many grammarians have described negative questions like L.G Alexander (1990), Betty Scrapper Azar (2002), Anne Seaton( 2007), & Randolph Quirk

(1973) and so on They each have their own way to describe the negativequestions Fundamentally, they concentrate their attention on the definition,formation, functions of the negative questions, types of negative questions andtheir uses Moreover, negative questions in Vietnamese are also described by

some authors such as Diep Quang Ban (2002), Nguyen Tai Can (1999), Cao

Xuan Hao (2003) and Nguyen Phu Phong (2002).

L.G Alexander (1990) in Longman English Grammar constantly

concerns with basic different uses between some questions He focuses on Yes/

No questions, negative statements, yes/ no answers He only doesn’t deal withthe formation of ways of making yes/ no questions, forms of yes/ no questions

He also introduces alternative negative forms and negative questions Innegative question, he describes about the full form and the short form.Furthermore, he describes how to use stress and intonation in negativequestions

Betty Schrampfer Azar (2002) in Understanding and Using English Grammar refers to the background knowledge of negative questions He gives

specific details for each negative question He introduces more about forms of

yes/ no and information questions, wh- negative questions, tag- negativequestions He specifies forms of avoiding double negatives.

In the book Basic English Grammar book 1, Anne Seaton (2007) only

focuses on his attention on two kinds of questions They are yes/ no questionsand wh- questions He gives some more simple uses, functions and positions ofthem In addition, he pays much attention to uses with some negative questionssuch as yes/ no negative questions and wh- negative questions

Randolph Quirk (1973) in the book A University Grammar of English

gives some materials about several features of negative questions or specificdetails of relationship between subjects, predication with negative questions Inhis opinion, assertion and non- assertion are some major types of sentence

In the book Ngu Phap Tieng Viet, Diep Quang Ban and Hoang Van

Thung (2010) deals with specific characteristics, classifications and description

about negative questions He mentions four types of Vietnamese negativequestions such as negative structure in Yes/No questions, negative structures inTag- questions, negative structures in Wh- questions, negative structures inalternative questions

Language group of philology faculty, Hanoi Pedagogical University (2006) in the textbook Ngu Phap Tieng Viet part 1 gives basic features and

kinds of negative questions They pay attention to classify negative questions

by functions and intended uses

In short, much research has been done on the negative questions but theydon’t point out comparison between them in English and Vietnamese In fact,there are similarities and differences between them Consequently, it is veryessential to have a comprehensive study of negative questions in Englishcomparison with that in Vietnamese

II NEGATIVE QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH

II.1 Negative questions – Definition

According to Tran My Tien in A contrastive analysis of negative questions in English and Vietnamese, negative questions are interrogative

sentences with the presence of negative marker They ordinarily do notaccomplish questioning in the sense of information seeking.

E g

Does not she understand?

Why don’t you listen to me?

II.2 Negative questions – Forms

In the book Oxford Practice grammar with answers, John Eastwood

wrote that

We make a question negative by putting n’t after the auxiliary (e g have,

does)

Have you done it yet? Haven’t you done it yet?

What does the advert tell you? What doesn’t the advert tell you?

According to L.G Alexander in the book Longman English Grammar,

the word order of the full form is different from the short form:

Full form: Did he not explain the situation to you?

Short form: Didn’t he explain the situation to you?

We normally use the short form in conversation and the full form onlyfor emphasis

II.3 Negative Questions – Functions

In the book Longman English Grammar, the author wrote:

Depending on the stress and intonation we use, we can:

- Express disbelief, surprise: Can’t you really ride a bicycle?

- Invite the answer “Yes”: Don’t you remember our holiday in

Spain?

- Express annoyance: Can’t you ever shut the door behind

you?

- Make exclamations: Isn’t it hot in here!

(L.G Alexander, 1990: 198)

II.4.Negative Questions – How to Answer

When replying to a negative question, you answer a negative questionthe same as a regular question There is no difference

A: Haven't you gone to the doctor?

B: No, I haven't yet I'm too busy

A: Don't you brush your teeth every day?

B: Yes, of course do

II.5 Negative questions – Classification

II.5.1 Negative Yes/No Questions

II.5.1.1 Definition of negative Yes/No Questions

Definition of Yes/ No questions:

“Those expect the answer Yes or No are Yes/ No question”

Therefore, the negative yes/ no questions are so called because theyexpect the answer Yes or No and contain a negative form of one kind oranother

(Quirk & Green Baum, 1973: 192)

E g

Don’t you meet her?

Can’t you sing any song?

Will no one help me?

II.5.1.2.Forms of negative Yes/No Questions

According to Alexander (1992; 255) in the book Longman English Grammar, negative Yes/No question can appear in a post subject position in its

full form not, or in pre-subject position in its clinic-contracted form n’t We can

say that contracted and subcontracted negative questions appear in either shortnegative form or long negative form, or in other words, it can appear indifferent word order

Subcontracted form Contracted form

Did she not come to the party? Didn’t she come to the party?

II.5.1.3 Functions and intonation of negative Yes/No Questions

When the speaker wants to express surprise, disappointment, annoyance

or he wants to persuade someone, negative Yes/ No questions employed

The first function is that negative Yes/No Questions can be used toconvey something that make us surprised when it has not happened, or is nothappening

E g

Don’t you remember my name?

Haven’t you put those shelves up yet? (= I am surprised that you haven’t

Don’t you believe me?

In this example, the speakers want to persuade the listeners to believethem

Moreover, when the speaker wants to express annoyance negative Yes/

No questions can be used For example:

Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?

Besides, we can use negative yes/ no questions to expressdisappointment For example:

Haven’t you got any money?

A question with can’t can be a complaint or an impolite request.

Can’t you sit down?

I am blocking my view

We can also use a negative yes/ no question instead of a statement and atag

Aren’t you a friend of Harriet’s? (=You‘re a friend of Harriet’s, aren’tyou?)

Also, when negative oriented questions are raised, the speaker is said to

be expecting or hoping the answer “Yes”

E g Haven’t you seen that film already?

Don’t you need some money?

II.5.2 Negative Tag questions

II.5.2.1 Definition of negative Tag questions

According to B.S Azar in the book Understanding and Using English Grammar,

A tag- question is a negative question added at the end of a sentence

E g

She is a teacher, isn’t she?

According to Tran My Tien in A contrastive analysis of negative questions in English and Vietnamese, negative Tag- questions consist of

operator plus pronoun with a negative particle The tense of the operator isdetermined according to the verb phrase in the subordinate clause

II.5.2.2 Form of negative Tag questions

As can be seen from the above examples, a tag question includes twoparts: a statement and a tag In addition, a comma “,” is always required beforethe tag

We can put a tag at the end of a statement to make a question The tagconsists of operator plus a subject pronoun, with or without a negative particle.The choice and tense of the operator are determined by the verb phrase in the

subordinate clause and the subject pronoun refers to the subject of thestatement.

Affirmative sentence + Negative tag —>Affirmative answer expected

E g

Mary is here, isn’t she? Yes, she is.

You like tea, don’t you? Yes, I do.

They have left, haven’t they? Yes, they have.

There have more examples about negative tag questions:

This/ That is your book, isn’t it? The tag pronoun for this/ that = it

These/ Those are yours, aren’t they? The tag pronoun for these/ those =

they

There is a meeting tonight, isn’t there? In sentence with There + be,

There is used in the tag.

Everything is okay, isn’t it?

Everyone took the rest, didn’t they?

—> Personal pronoun are used to refer to indefinite pronouns They are

usually used in a tag to refer to everyone, everybody, someone, somebody and no one, no body.

Everything is all right, isn’t it?

Everybody has left, haven’t they?

+ In some other cases, the tag subject is determined by the context

E g

This one is a good person, isn’t he/ she?

“This one” here may refer to a male or a female It depends on different

context in which the question appears

+ Additionally, the tag “aren’t I” (or sometimes “ain’t I”) for “I am” isalso used

E g

I am beautiful, aren’t I?

+ Sometimes, leaving out pronoun subjects and auxiliaries in sentenceswith question tag is acceptable Also, a question – tag may be used after anelliptical question

E.g (It is) a nice day, isn’t it?

(They are) intelligent pupils, aren’t they?

II.5.2.3 Functions and intonation of negative Tag questions

According to Longman Dictionary, tag questions are used to assert or tocheck information that we are not sure it is true or false Therefore, negative tagquestions also have functions like this The statement and the tag are divided by

a comma and the tense of the statement and the tag is the same It means that ifthe verb of the statement is an auxiliary verb, the verb of the tag will match it.Sometimes we just use them for effect when we are trying to be sarcastic, or tomake a strong opinion When we want to find out the agreement or affirmation

of answers, we use negative tag questions

E.g.1: The concert was boring, wasn’t it?

E.g.2: They did not finish their duty, did they?

According to B.S Azar in the book Understanding and Using English Grammar, we can use either the falling or the rising tone on the tag in negative

tag questions A tag question may be spoken with a rising intonation if thespeaker is truly seeking to ascertain that his/ her information, idea, belief iscorrect

E g

Ann lives in an apartment, doesn’t she?

A tag question may be spoken with a falling intonation if the speaker isexpressing an idea with which s/he is almost certain the listener will agree.

E g

It is a nice today, isn’t it?

II.5.3 Negative Wh-questions

II.5.3.1 Definition of negative Wh-questions

WH-questions are also called information questions because the answer

to the question requires more than just a short answer and more than “Yes”

“No” answers (there must be some information in the answer) Most questions begin with words that start with the letters “WH”, and they usuallyend with falling intonation

WH-E.g.1: Which color do you not like? (Requiring information)

E.g.2: Which color don’t you like?

E.g.3: Why doesn’t Tim give her a gift? (Surprise)

E.g.4: Why didn’t you tell me sooner? (Complaint)

II.5.3.2 Form of negative Wh-questions

They are formed with the aid of the following interrogative words: Who,Whom, Whose, What, Where, When, Why, How, etc In negative Yes/Noquestions, “not”can be put in a post-subject position in its full form or pre-subject position in its shortform

Negative WH-questions with “who”, “what”, “which”, “when”, “where”,

“how” are only used for requesting information Meanwhile, negative questions with “why” contain much more sense to express speaker’s attitudes

WH-II.5.3.3 Functions and intonation of negative Wh-questions

We can use “why don’t …?” As a suggestion

E g

Why don’t you put the shelves up now? Well, all right.

Why don’t we sit on the balcony? Good idea.

We can use Why didn’t…? To criticize

We will have to stand now Why didn’t you book seats for us? (= Youshould have booked seats for us.)

We can also use a wh-question to ask for information

Who hasn’t checked their baggage in? Oh, I haven’t Sorry

What don’t you understand? This paragraph here

Negative Wh-questions (or information questions) are employed to seekinformation from the listener A falling tones not a rising one is the maincharacteristic of intonation in Wh-questions and there is always a risingintonation on question-words This means the questions are uttered toemphasize on the explicit information

E g

What haven’t you done?

Who didn’t pass the exam?

However, a rising intonation will be presented if the speaker asks thequestion with eagerness to gain more information

E.g A: Don’t go to that wedding!

B: Why not?

II.5.4 Negative alternative questions

II.5.4.1 Definition of Negative alternative questions

Negative alternative questions (questions with “or”) are “those that

expect as the reply one of two or more options presented in the question and add negative element after auxiliary verb.”

(Quirk and Green Baum, 1975: 192)

E g

What wouldn’t you like to go, by bus or by train?

II.5.4.2.Formation of Negative alternative questions

An alternative question is a question that expresses more than twoanswers but only one is true In form, alternative questions are similar to yes/nointerrogatives, in beginning with the bounded operator and not containing aquestion word

When we transform to negative questions, we often add “not” aftersubject.

E.g.: Which dress wouldn’t you like, the pink one or the white one?

→ you wouldn’t like the pink dress

→ you wouldn’t like the white dress

Actually, there are two types of Alternative questions: one resembling aYes/No question and the other is similar to a Wh-question:

II.5.4.2.1 Negative alternative questions resembling yes/ No questions

According to Quirk and Green Baum (1973: 199) “ The structure of

alternative Yes/ No questions follows the pattern of clausal coordination; that

is, two or more separate questions are collapsed together, whenever convenient,

by ellipsis” ( illustrated hereafter by parentheses):

E.g Should I come or (should I) not (come)?

We can form negative alternative question from any positive Yes/ Noquestion by adding “or not” or a matching negative clause:

E.g Yes/ No question: Do you like her?

Alternative question: Do you like her or not?

Do you like her or don’t you (like her)?

This type of Alternative questions differs from Yes/ No questions only inintonation

II.5.4.2.2 Alternative questions resembling Wh-questions

This alternative question type is really a compound of two separatequestions: a Wh-question followed by an elliptical alternative question of thefirst type

E g

What wouldn’t you like to go, by bus or by train?

Which wouldn’t you prefer, tea or coffee?

II.5.4.3.Functions and intonation of Negative alternative questions

A negative alternative question contains a separate nucleus for eachalternative: a rise occurs on an item in the list, except the last, on which there is

a fall

Negative alternative:

Wouldn’t you like h coffee, h beer or ↓ wine?

What wouldn’t you prefer, film h or play ۟↓?

Both types of negative alternative questions above have the samefunction The speaker, when asking the question, offer different alternatives orchoices and require the addressee to choose one of two or more choices that hedoesn’t know

II.5.5 Minor types of negative questions

II.5.5.1 Negative exclamatory questions

II.5.5.1.1.The definition of negative exclamatory questions

The negative exclamatory questions are the same as the exclamatoryquestions and add negative composition

“The exclamatory question is a question in form, but is functionally like

an exclamation.” (Quirk and Green Baum 1973:199)

E g

Isn’t it nice today!

Didn’t she come!

In above examples, forms of them are questions (auxiliary verb + subject+ verb) and the function of them like an exclamation (express attitude andfeeling)

II.5.5.1.2.The Form of negative exclamatory questions

Negative exclamatory questions have the form as negative Yes/ Noquestions and in this type instead of using the question mark like in other types

of questions, the exclamatory mark is used

E g

Isn’t it nice today ۟↓!

Can’t they help ↓ us!

II.5.5.1.3.The Functions and intonation of negative exclamatory questions

The most characteristic negative exclamatory question is an negativeexclamatory question resembling a negative Yes/ No question but differingonly in intonation: instead of the final rising tone, it has a final falling one

E g

Haven’t you finished it? ↓

Wasn’t it a horrible fire? ↓

Didn’t she come? ↓

These kinds of questions have the function of inviting the listener’sagreement to something on which the speaker has strong feelings Contrary toappearances, the meaning is vigorously positive

E g

Won’t you help me? ↓

(Please help me!)

Wasn’t it a horrible fire? ↓

(What a horrible fire it was!)

Clearly, such questions can only be used when the speaker (or the writer)and the addressee share the same experience and the same context

II.5.5.2 Rhetorical questions

In “A grammar of contemporary English”, Randolph Quirk, Sidney

Green Baum, Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik define rhetorical question as

“The rhetorical question is one which functions as a forceful statement.Moreover, a positive rhetorical question is like a strong negative assertion,while a negative question is like a strong positive one.”

A rhetorical question can resemble a yes/no question and has the normalrising intonation of a yes/no question People use the rhetorical questionresembling the yes/ no question form to express a strong feeling, opinion orimpression

Negative: Isn’t that an ugly husband?

(That is an ugly husband.)

Hasn’t anyone round here got any sense?

(Surely someone here got some sense.)

A rhetorical question may also resemble a wh- question, which isequivalent to a statement in which the Q- element is replaced by the negativeelement The intonation is that of an ordinary wh- question except that a rise-fall tone is likely in some cases

What happened? ↓

(Nothing happened.)

What make me different? ↓

(Nothing makes me different.)

II NEGATIVE QUESTIONS IN VIETNAMESE

II.1 Vietnamese negative Yes/ No questions

II.1.1.The definition of Vietnamese negative Yes/ No questions

Vietnamese negative Yes/ No questions were discussed in manygrammar books written by such authors as Diep Quang Ban, Cao Xuan Hao,Nguyen Tai Can, etc However, there are still many different points of view ofthis question type

According to Diep Quang Ban Vietnamese negative Yes/ No questionsare questions with usual interrogative particles, and in his opinion, this type isused to get information which calls for Yes or No response The answers tothese questions maybe: “ừ/ phải/ vâng/ đúng rồi/ phải rồi, etc.” (Positiveanswers) or “Không/ không phải/ không đúng, etc.” (Negative answers)

Cao Xuan Hao considers negative Yes/ No questions in Vietnamese asgeneralized questions that are used to check the degree of reality of the wholeclause in the questions

Generally speaking, in most cases, Vietnamese negative Yes/ Noquestions require Yes or No answer like English negative Yes/ No question

E g

Cậu không nhận ra tớ ư?

(Don’t you recognize me?)

Có chứ.

(Yes, I do.)

II.1.2.The Form of Vietnamese negative Yes/No questions

According to “A descriptive English grammar” written by Ha Van Buu,

Vietnamese tend to express negative questions by adding some negative word

such as:“không”, ,“chưa”, “chẳng” or “chả” which are normally placed after the subject and before the predicate in combination with “ à/ ư/ sao/ hả/ hử/ chứ/ …” which occur in final position Sometimes “chẳng phải/ không phải/ chả phải…” in presubject position is used in combination with “à/ sao/ hay sao/ là gì/ đó sao” in final position

Form:

S + “không”/ “chưa”/ “chẳng”/ “chả” + … + à/ ư/ sao/ hả/ hử/ chứ/ gì/ hay sao/chớ/ chứ gì/ được sao/ được ư/ phải không/ đấy chứ / nhỉ?

E.g.: Em chưa làm bài tập à?

(Haven’t you done your homework?)

Em không yêu anh à?

(Don’t you love me?)

Chẳng phải/ không phải/ chả phải/phải chăng/ chẳng phải là / không phải là / chả phải là + S +…+ à/ sao/ hay sao/ là gì/ đó sao?

E.g.: Chẳng phải con đã mở cửa sao?

(Wasn’t it you who opened the door?)

Chẳng phải cậu thích cô ấy là gì?

(Isn’t it true that you like her?)

Chẳng lẽ (nào)/(có) lẽ nào/ có đúng là + S+ “không”/

“chưa”/ “chẳng”/ “chả” +… + à/ ư/ sao/ hả/ hử/ chứ/ gì/ hay sao/chớ/ được sao/ được ư/ đấy chứ ?

E.g.:

Chẵng lẽ nào tôi yêu anh ấy rồi ư?

(Is it possible that I love him?)

Có đúng là 2012 sẽ là năm tận thế không?