Timeline for "Those books belong to him, don't they / aren't they?" – tag questions for state verbs
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 23, 2019 at 19:24 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | Using the present continuous (present progressive) tense like that is common in (for example) Indian English, but is considered incorrect in formal and informal American and British English. It is called an "Indianism" by more careful Indian speakers. | |
| Feb 23, 2019 at 17:26 | comment | added | alephzero | In some dialects of English (but not in standard formal English, IMO) you can say "these books are belonging to him" instead of "these books belong to him". If that form is acceptable then presumably "These books are belonging to him, aren't they" would also be acceptable in the same dialect, but it is definitely not standard English! | |
| Feb 23, 2019 at 11:36 | history | edited | Michael Harvey | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 1 character in body
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| Feb 23, 2019 at 9:11 | history | answered | Michael Harvey | CC BY-SA 4.0 |