Guide to English grammar

35 Echo questions and echo tags

1 Echo questions
We can use an echo question when we do not understand what someone says to us, or we find it hard to believe.
I often eat bits of wood. -What do you eat?/You eat what?
My father knew Ronald Reagan. -Who did he know?/He knew who?
Did you see the ghost? -Did I see the what?
The second speaker is asking the first to repeat the important information. These questions can usually be with or without inversion. They are spoken with arising intonation on the question word.
What have they done?
They've donewhat?

NOTE

1. 
   The question word what on its own can be an echo question or an exclamation.
   

I often eat bits of wood. -What?/What!

2. 
   We can use a yes/no question to check that we heard correctly.
   

I often eat bits of wood. -You eat bits of wood?

2 Echo tags

We form an echo tag like an ordinary question tag. • 34(1). A positive statement has a positive tag, and a negative statement has a negative tag. (But • Note c.)
We're moving house soon. -Oh, are you?
Max played the part brilliantly. -Did he really?
The boss isn't very well. -Isn't she?
My brothers can't swim. -Can't they?
These tags express interest in what someone has just said. Oh, are you? means “Oh, really?” The voice usually rises.
Oh,are you?
Did hereally?
But if the voice falls, this means that the speaker is not interested. • 54(2c)

NOTE

1. 
   An echo tag is sometimes without inversion.
   

We’re moving house soon. -You are?

2. 
   After a positive statement, there can be a “short statement + echo tag”.
   

We’re moving house soon. -You are, are you?
Max played the part brilliantly. -He did, did he?
Like a simple echo tag, this also expresses interest. Although the information is new, there is asuggestion that it was expected: You are, are you? I thought so. But if the short statement contradicts the previous sentence, this expresses surprise or even disbelief.
We're moving house soon. –You aren't, are you?
My brothers can't swim. –They can, can't they?

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3. 
   We can use a negative tag in reply to a positive statement. This expresses agreement.
   

Max played the part brilliantly. -Yes, didn't he?
It's a lovely day.-It is, isn’t it?
That was fun. -Yes, wasn’t it?
The information is already known; both speakers saw Max playing the part.

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