Rhetorical Question

Rhetorical Questions

You've probably heard rhetorical questions more often than you realize. You start a sentence with a negative word when you mean something positive. So “Wasn’t that movie great?” means that you think the movie was great. It seems counterintuitive, but that’s the way English works. It’s called a rhetorical question, and it can end in either a question mark or an exclamation point, and in dialogue you can sometimes even have a speaker’s rhetorical question end in aperiod (1).

Another example of a rhetorical question is “Isn’t she leaving?” That question means you think the woman is leaving, but you want to confirm. Rhetorical questions like this take a negative form. If you make the “Isn’t she leaving?” question positive, it becomes just a regular question: “Is she leaving?” If you ask "Is she leaving?" you don’t know the answer; whereas with the rhetorical question “Isn’t she leaving?” you are assuming she is leaving.

Rhetorical questions have popped up in pop music. Stevie Wonder, for example, wrote a famous song called “Isn’t She Lovely,” whose lyrics begin:

“Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she wonderful?

Isn't she precious?

Mr. Wonder definitely thinks the girl is lovely, wonderful, and precious. No question about that.

These kinds of rhetorical questions seem to be quite conversational. You wouldn’t want to write, “Aren’t I the perfect person for this job?” in a job cover letter, nor would you want to say, “Isn’t it obvious that you should hire me?” in an interview. There are better ways to sound more qualified and more professional. So, Aaron: no, it’s not advisable to use this kind of construction in formal situations.

One clue that tag questions are best left to informal situations is that you often hear them used with contractions, which themselves are a bit informal. It would sound weird to ask "It will not rain, will it?" It sounds much more normal with a contraction: "It won't rain, will it?"

Rhetorical questions are those questions that do not expect an answer. These are used simply as a way of drawing attention to something.

Study the following sentences:

·         Do you know what time it is? (Meaning: You are late.)

·         ‘I can’t find my glasses.’ ‘What is this, then?’ (Meaning: Here it is, stupid.)

A rhetorical question is sometimes used to draw attention to a negative situation.

·         What is the use of asking her? (Meaning: It is no use asking her.)

·         ‘I can sing better than you.’ ‘Who cares?’ (= Nobody cares.)

·         ‘Have you lost your tongue?’ (= Why don’t you say anything?)

·         ‘Who do you think you are?’ (= You are not as important as you think.)

Questions beginning with ‘how’ or ‘why should’ can be used to reject suggestions or requests.

·         ‘She is really upset with you?’ ‘Why should I care?’

·         ‘Would she help us?’ ‘Why should she?’

The question ‘How should I know?’ (In American English: ‘How would I know?’) can be used as an aggressive reply to a question.

·         ‘What time does the train arrive?’ ‘How should I know?’

Negative yes/no questions are sometimes used to draw attention to a positive situation.

·         ‘Didn’t I tell you she would come?’ (= I told you that she would come.)

·         ‘Haven’t we had enough troubles?’ (= We have had enough troubles.)