[Grammar] Appropriate question-tag for the following sentence

[neildsilva]

I would like to know what could be the most suitable question-tag for the following sentence:

Humour may be one of our best antidotes to stressful situations.

This is for students learning ESL. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[emsr2d2]

"... mightn't it?" However, I would change "may" to "might" earlier in the sentence - it is the more appropriate word for your context.

 

[neildsilva]

Thanks for your response. I agree that 'may' can be ideally replaced by 'might' in the above sentence. However, I would like to know what an appropriate question-tag would be if the sentence does contain 'may be'.

 

[5jj]

Thanks for your response. I agree that 'may' can be ideally replaced by 'might' in the above sentence. However, I would like to know what an appropriate question-tag would be if the sentence does contain 'may be'.

There isn't one.

As ems has already explained, 'mightn't it?' is possible, but most of us would use 'might' in the main clause if we were going to add a question tag.

'Mayn't it? exists, but it is rarely used.

 

[emsr2d2]

There isn't one.

As ems has already explained, 'mightn't it?' is possible, but most of us would use 'might' in the main clause if we were going to add a question tag.

'Mayn't it? exists, but it is rarely used.

The last person I heard using "mayn't it" was my grandfather whose education in the English language took place in the early 1920s. I haven't heard it from anyone of a younger generation.

 

[5jj]

I haven't heard it from anyone of a younger generation.

I sometimes feel very old in this forum.

 

[emsr2d2]

I sometimes feel very old in this forum.

Oops! You know what? I nearly finished my post with "Now watch 5jj tell me he still uses it" and I talked myself out of it. I should go with my gut instinct!

 

[5jj]

I try to avoid some of the pass-their-best-by constructions in my speech, especially when I am with learners. Unfortunately, the English insisted on in preparatory, public and some grammar schools well into the 1960s was very much the language of educated people of the 1930s, when many of my English teachers were at public school and Oxbridge. It was so drilled/beaten into us for ten years, followed by a further three years with fellow-students and dons who had been through the same process, that some of us are still stuck with it.

 

[neildsilva]

Yes, I did give 'mayn't it' a thought and then quickly disbanded the idea. I have never heard anyone using it in contemporary speech and we focus on functional grammar when teaching English here. Though I cannot change the question (it was asked verbatim in an examination), I would prefer to stick with 'mightn't it'. Thanks - that's a load off my back.