[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 179 KB, 750x1000, thomas-jefferson-books.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6505396 No.6505396 [Reply] [Original]

Can someone explain quickly the rules behind using the contraction "isn't"? I've used it for a long time and have not considered the fact that perhaps it's often not used correctly, or whether anyone even notices this. I am supposing that it is a contraction of "is not," but people seem to also use it to mean "is it not?".

So, "It isn't great" would be correct, but "It's bad, isn't it?" would be incorrect?

I'm asking this because people in general seem to not differentiate between the two examples which I gave above, and so this has confused me.

>> No.6505408

"is not it?" is technically incorrect but idiomatic and in contexts where "isn't" is acceptable is also accepted since you can't contract the more correct form, which would be "is it not?"

>> No.6505415

I guess I should also add that as a native English speaker I merely never have though about this until now, but there are ungrammatical uses of words which so pervade our parlance that we essentially never think about them. I attempted to Google search the answer for this but found only fragmented answers.

>> No.6505420

>>6505408
Yes, but 'isn't it?" would technically be grammatically incorrect, though practically everyone uses it, right?

>> No.6505433

We don't like your type, asking too many questions about grammer. Stickin' yer nose were it don't belong. Just causin' trouble.

>> No.6505442 [DELETED] 

>>6505420
That's what I meant by "is not it?", which in non-contracted form is as far as I know never said

>> No.6505447

As someone speaking the Queen's English, I think you'll find the correct way to contract is to say 'innit.' as in 'innit bruv,' for example.

>> No.6505453

>english isn't my native language

Please fucking leave.

>> No.6505456

>>6505420
Actually nevermind that, I've seen Verb + not + subject + clause
... at least in poetry. Might or might not be grammatically correct.

>> No.6505464

>>6505433
Yes, but you have to admit that asking "isn't it?" just doesn't make sense if it's a mere contraction. "Is not it?" doesn't make any sense.

>>6505447
Yes, but then you'd sound like a chav, and they're not saying 'innit' because it's grammatically correct.

>> No.6505471

>>6505453
Ho ho ho. I didn't say that anywhere.

>> No.6505597

Bamping for answer.

>> No.6506024
File: 835 KB, 1758x1773, John_Bauer_-_Princess_Tuvstarr_gazing_down_into_the_dark_waters_of_the_forest_tarn._-_Google_Art_Project.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6506024

>>6505597
A contraction follows it's own rules. You cannot simply uncontract (is that even a word?) a contraction and expect it to be equivalent grammatically to the contraction.

Wiki the word Clitic, might help out.

tldr; "Isn't it" is grammatically correct since contractions follow their own rules. Basically they are considered words of their own.

>> No.6506030
File: 24 KB, 288x218, 1419509724326.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6506030

>>6506024
>A contraction follows it's own rules
>it's
>In a thread about grammar

Fuck me.

>> No.6506210

>>6505464
"Isn't" replaces "is"
>is it good?
>isn't it good?
etc.

>> No.6506249

What is colloquialism?

Who gives a shit. There's lots of phrases that people use that are incorrect in an official sense, but make sense in the colloquial sense.

>> No.6506267

contractions are weird. they aren't really just shortenings of two words. take "i've," said to contract "i have" ("i've got two pencils"). here's an idiomatic dialogue:

a: have you been to london?
b: i have

here's nonsense:

a: have you been to london?
b: i've