Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: ...aren't I?

Ok, questa proprio non riesco a spiegarmela:
http://go-girly.com/?strip=194
Uno dei personaggi di questo fumetto dice:
"I'm interrupting something, aren't I?"
Non saprei dire quale slang parli il personaggio in questione, nel 
fumetto non è ancora stato spiegato chi sia o da dove provenga :-(
L'unico particolare che può venirmi in mente è la frase che
ha detto alla sua prima apparizione:
[riferito a una città]
"Neat...spiffy....totally rad to the max"
Nebo

 ha detto alla sua prima apparizione:
You (and I) may not like it, but it's perfectly idiomatic. Apparently, "Am
I not?" sounds highfalutin most of the time. I understand everybody would
say "aren't I?" in most contexts. I'd be interested to know what Xakero
thinks about this.
Bye, FB
-- 
Io ho deciso di rifiutarmi di vederlo: Ettore con la faccia di Eric Banana
mi fa venire i conati.
(commento sul film "Troy" apparso su it.fan.scrittori.tolkien)

I understand everybody would say "aren't I?" in most contexts.
Yes. Of course, contractions shouldn't be used in formal writing
(unless this has changed recently) so one would have to use "am I
not?" in that case, though formal writing in the first person is
somewhat unusual in itself, I suppose.
Swan says "amn't I?" is possible but unusual. I don't believe I've ever heard
it and would advise against using it.
-- 
Adam Atkinson (
gh...@mistral.co.uk
)
Verbing weirds language. (Calvin)

 correct construction.
Was he a native speaker? I found out that construction, or rather I
recognized that construction as a construction, but a few months ago, but
I'm Italian, I'm young and I'm no professor.
Bye, FB
-- 
"Suppose I say I'm not interested."
"Does five hundred dollars interest you?"
"Very much."
"Then bring it: it's an expensive restaurant".
(The Cheap Detective)

 thinks about this.
I guess Nebo has never heard of the perfectly correct and commonly used
"aren't I" and for this reason thought it was wrong, or dialectical/slang
like "ain't" would be.
Such misunderstandings can happen to the best, even professors teaching
English. I remember how my son's teacher, in the sentence "We searched
everywhere, but the cat was nowhere to be found" marked "was nowhere to be
found" wrong, simply because he was not familiar with this absolutely
correct construction.
-- Xakero

 I'm Italian, I'm young and I'm no professor.
and by the way... how do we know the teacher was male? :)
Are we mindreaders or what? :)

 Was he a native speaker? 
Impossible.
As professors don't usually teach English, I assume Xakero means
"professore", ie. "teacher".
-- 
Mary

 I'm Italian, I'm young and I'm no professor.
Me too, but I'm aware that construction exists (thanks to songs in English)
and I use it, though
I sometimes have difficulties in translating it properly... I mean, I
perfectly know what it means
but if I were to translate it into Italian I'd surely have to wonder how to
translate that form.
It's likely he's not a native speaker anyway.

 trovava" ("non li si trovavano" ==> puah!).
My mistake...č una forma impersonale :-PPPP
(non ho capito tutta la sequenza del "puah" o_______________O )
Nebo

 Oppure: "era introvabile".
Yeah...shorter and even better ^_^
Nebo

 Oppure: "era introvabile".
there are several ways to translate it of course, but you must find every
time the one that fits well to the context

 Credo che generalmente in italiano quella costruzione generi un passivo.
"Non lo si trovava" non č un passivo: "non lo si trovava" ==> "non li si
trovava" ("non li si trovavano" ==> puah!).
Ciao, FB
-- 
"Golden orb... The golden orb... The golden orb..."
(Cold Comfort Farm, the film)

 It's likely he's not a native speaker anyway.
"Non lo si trovava da nessuna parte" ^___^
Credo che generalmente in italiano quella costruzione generi un passivo.
Nebo

 "Non lo si trovava da nessuna parte" ^___^
Oppure: "era introvabile".
-- 
Mary

 No - Xakero said "he".
whoops... that's right :)

 Are we mindreaders or what? :)
No - Xakero said "he".
-- 
Mary

 Was he a native speaker? 
He wasn't, and in my view he was to inert (read "lazy) to look it up. 
-- 
Xakero



Right. Upper high school, or something like that. What is the liceo in
Italy, I believe.
-- 
Xakero