How would you end this tag question…
Your favourite teacher is Bob, ______________
A) isn’t he?
B) isn’t it?
Could be either, depending. Isn’t he, as in, Bob. Or isn’t it, as in “isn’t that the case?”
[quote=“TomHill”]How would you end this tag question…
Your favourite teacher is Bob, ______________
A) isn’t he?
B) isn’t it?[/quote]
The second one just sounds Welsh to me.
I think for teaching purposes you should go with A although B is technically not wrong in this case (as Sandman says) but will be in others.
Hmm. My gut reaction is to go with “isn’t he?” because the emphasis seems to be on Bob. What throws me off is word order - I would probably start the sentence with Bob (new information first), and if I were to say “Bob is your favorite teacher, _____” then “isn’t he?” is clearly the best choice.
Though it’s not an option, a same-way tag could work too - as in expressing surprise or interest by saying “So Bob is your favorite teacher, is he?”
I’d go with “isn’t he?”, because a teacher is never an “it”.
But the thing I am checking is ‘Your favourite’ right?
Your favourite film star is Will Smith, isn’t it.
How about this…
Your favourite teacher isn’t Bob, is he? I don’t reckon that sounds right… and that is the same sentence as ‘Your favourite teacher is Bob, isn’t he?’
I bet this comes down to American VS British English useage…
Why not keep it simple and do it the South African way; i.e. the only question tag you need regardless of the preceeding clause is “is it?” 
[quote=“TomHill”]But the thing I am checking is ‘Your favourite’ right?
Your favourite film star is Will Smith, isn’t it.
How about this…
Your favourite teacher isn’t Bob, is he? I don’t reckon that sounds right… and that is the same sentence as ‘Your favourite teacher is Bob, isn’t he?’
I bet this comes down to American VS British English useage…[/quote]
No. I disagree. It’s “Your favourite teacher”, which is going to be a person.
Also, “Your favourite teacher isn’t Bob, is he?” is completely correct.
Anyway, my favourite teacher was Mrs. Dunn. She once let me make an otter out of modeling clay. Isn’t it.
[quote=“TomHill”]How would you end this tag question…
Your favourite teacher is Bob, ______________
A) isn’t he?
B) isn’t it?[/quote]
They both sound wrong to me. Stu says to use “he” because teachers aren’t "it"s. But not all teachers are "he"s, either. And even if they were it still sounds funny: Your favorite teacher is Bob, isn’t he. The “he” seems to be referring back to Bob, but it should be referring back to teacher.
I don’t think I’d use either. If you really must use a form like that I might go with “You’re favorite teacher is Bob, right?” or “You’re favorite teacher is Bob, correct?”
Better yet, split it into two sentences: You’re favorite teacher is Bob. Isn’t that true/correct?
In any event, this whole thread appears to be nothing more than a needy and coercive attempt to squeeze praise from a bunch of internet grammarians who’ve never even seen you teach and know nothing about your teaching skills, much less the proper use of tag questions, isn’t he?
It’s funny how you came to that conclusion, isn’t it?
I would wonder if you have many friends with an attitude like that, wouldn’t I?
I wrote the question for a mid-term exam, and now my colleagues are debating the merits of both answers. I wanted a wider perspective. So what is with all the nasty comments.
See You Next Tuesday, aren’t you?
WHO is your favourite teacher? He is.
Is he your favourite teacher? Yes, he is.
Bob’s your favourite teacher, isn’t he? Yes, he is.
All fairly clear to me. But then we’re discussing Bob in the last two, and the first one is a ‘who’ question. Hmmm.
WHO is your favourite teacher? My favourite teacher is Bob.
Would you say ‘it is Bob’ or ‘he is Bob’?
The latter is the answer to “Who’s he?” The former answers “Who is it?”
Who’s your favourite? It’s Bob.
Who’s the winner? It’s Bob.
Who’s IT? (As in “You’re it.”) It’s Bob.
What’s the answer? It’s “Tom Hill”.
Someone’s made a balls-up, and it’s you.
I’ve fallen in love with a girl… it’s you.
I only have one person I can talk to about these difficult grammar issues, and that’s you.
Hey, Loretta! Yes? That’s me!
You don’t say “I’m me” or “he’s me”, does it? I or he can be ‘that’, why can’t we be ‘it’?
Here’s a spanner for you. What if we were asking about the best team or the best staff?
Tom: Sorry, I didn’t mean any offense, just trying to be funny, did I?
Loretta: that all sounded very wise and perceptive except that in the end I have no idea what the hell it means. :s
I hit the ‘submit’ button, and MT’s reply came in after mine on the new page, didn’t he. Funky.
Anyway, I’ve seen Tom teach. He knows his stuff. Has a bit of trouble with his shoelaces in the mornings, but otherwise he’s spot on. He posts this stuff for two reasons:
One is that although the answer doesn’t really matter and, from the perspective of ‘effective commnication’ either form would be fine, as proved by the fact that native speakers expressing an opinion disagree, he’s teaching in a test-centric environment. Sadly, there has to be a ‘right’ answer a lot of the time so that you can measure kids’ ‘ability’ using a multiple-choice form and computerised marking card. I’ve seen the exams that Tom’s kids have to sit, and sometimes have found myself disagreeing strongly with the person who wrote the test. Sometimes three out of four choices are acceptable. Poor Mr Hill is just trying to give the kids a break by not penalising them for something that may be OK.
The other is that he actually cares about what he teaches and wants to do it right. Discussions like this remind him that he’s a qualified and skilled teacher, not a potato, don’t they? Er, isn’t he?
OK, after Loretta’s reply, I give up trying to learn you lot’s language. I’m going to revert back to Norn Irish question tags (well, affirmative question tags at least), which work like this:
“It’s hot today, so it is.”
What about this case then?
Your favourite fruit is apples, isn’t it?
Your favourite fruit is apples, aren’t they?
I’d say that, as in the original question, both are correct depending on emphesis.
You could always just say n’est ce pas?
And when on earth would anyone in bogtrotterland say “it’s hot today so it is?” Never, that’s when. They’d say “sure’n it’s wet today, so it is. Again.”
Just do it the Taiwan English way:
Bob is your favorite teacher, right?
Tomorrow is Saturday, right?
Or…
Bob is your favorite teacher, yes?
Tomorrow is Saturday, yes?
Works every time! 
The correct usage is, of course:
Innit?
[quote=“Brendon”]The correct usage is, of course:
Innit?[/quote]
I would have said “innit” too. It’s a nice catch-all tag, kinda like the French “n’est-ce pas”.
But this being Taiwan, the correct ending is “dui bu dui”.
For the record, though, it would be “isn’t it” as the tag is not referring about a specifically-gendered person but rather about a preference. I’ll spare you the Michael Swan’s reference this time, but don’t make me break out the good book again with all this “isn’t he” bunk.
:stinkyface: