"Is this" vs "Isn't it"

Question

I am really confused about this and wanted to share/learn.

I was talking with one of my Canadian friends with whom I would like to hang out, about a song and I wanted to say:

"What a good song is this!" (i don't know if it needs to end with "!" or "?")

But something within me said it's not a good usage of English, so I decided to say

"Isn't it a good song?"

and now I am stuck right at that point because none of the above sounded right.

Which way can I tell my friend that I liked this song and ask him if he liked it or not?

Answer 1

The format what a [positively/negatively-qualified] noun is/are + [pronoun] is hopelessly archaic. Native speakers are familiar with it from an early age, because it survives in nursery rhymes...

Little Jack Horner ... said "What a good boy am I!"

The same non-standard "verb + subject" order is also "mocked" by Yoda's grammar in Star Wars...

Strong is Vader ... Strong am I with the Force

In modern English they'd always be expressed as What a good boy I am!, Vader is strong, I am strong.

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It's also worth noting that "Isn't it a good song?" would never be expanded to "Is not it a good song?". This particular contracted format (and the "tag question" version "It's a good song, isn't it?") are very common today, but if a native speaker had to avoid contractions, they'd switch the order to is it not?

The "verb + [pro]noun" reversal of "It's a good song, isn't it?" is standard for tag questions (or indeed, any question of the general form "Is it a good song?"), but it's no longer current in many other contexts.

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I see OP's second alternative "Isn't it a good song?" as a reordering of "It's a good song, isn't it?". It's not likely to be a genuine question - almost certainly the speaker thinks it is a good song, and doesn't expect an answer in the negative.

Because of potential conflation with the rhetorical/tag question form, if the speaker really didn't know, and was asking whether the song was in fact "not good", he'd probably say "Is it not a good song?"

Answer 2

The closest statements to yours that sounds natural to me are:

What a good song this is!

• This would be an very emphatic statement of approval. I think it would be even more common to hear “What a good song!” or “This is (such) a good song!”
• Either way, if you're going to include both “this” and “is” in a statement, make sure they're in that order (“What a good song this is!” or “This is a good song!”). Otherwise, it will sound halfway like a question (or at best an archaic way of phrasing a statement).
• It would be more natural for me (a yank) to hear “don't you think?” appended to a statement to invite agreement, but while I was in the UK, I heard a lot of “isn't it?” (or, really, “innit?”) even when there wasn't really an it mentioned. (c.f.: “innit” on ELU). Your Canadian friend would perhaps also be familiar with “eh?” used this way, but definitely read this Wikipedia entry before using it.

and

Isn't this a good song?

• ...if the song is playing, or “Isn't that a good song?” if you're discussing it later.
• Since this is a question (leaving your own opinion implied in the fact that you're asking it in this way), it should be ordered “is(n't)...this(/that/it)”.

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Depending on the context, most native speakers would probably cast aside such formal grammar and simply say:

Good song!

or, if you wish to “ascertain the comprehension, continued interest, agreement, etc., of the person or persons addressed”:

Good song, eh? (...yeah? ...no?)