Ain’t and aren’t I Negative Question Tags

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You are reading my post now, aren’t you? Sure you are. It’s gonna be interesting, ain’t it? Well, you won’t know until you read it.

What I want to direct your attention to is the question tags at the end of the sentences. In the first sentence you can see the question tag aren’t you. You probably use it a lot yourself when talking to people. But did you ever wonder how you use the corresponding tag in first person singular? I mean when you need the negative form like above. Then, the sentence would begin like that:

I’m reading a post, …?

Now, exactly, what question tag would you use now? With the second person I’m sure you would have no problem whatsoever. But you probably don’t use the question tag in the first person singular so often.

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First Person Singular Negative Question Tag

As far as prescriptive grammar is concerned, which is the one that tells us how to speak, the preferable form would be am I not. So, the sentence would now be:

I’m reading a post, am I not?

Although this approach is correct, it’s rarely used in real-life conversations. The predominant form in real-life conversations is rather aren’t I. So now we would have:

I’m reading a post, aren’t I?

This form is used not only in question tags, though. You’ll find it in regular questions as well:

Aren’t I supposed to wait for them here?

The Form ain’t

Another form that is quite frequently used is ain’t I. You must remember, though, that this form is considered substandard. Therefore try to limit yourself to informal conversations, where it’s pretty popular, and rather avoid the form in formal or written language. You can use it in both question tags and regular questions. Some examples:

I’m reading a post, ain’t I?

Ain’t I supposed to wait for them here?

Ain’t instead of Be and Have

But this substandard form is much more versatile than this. Not only does it occur with all persons, not just the first person singular, but it can also replace the negative forms of both be and have (only when used as an auxiliary verb).

Let’s have a look at some examples. First let’s see how it is used instead of be:

STANDARD FORM	AIN’T
If you aren’t* a murderer, I’ll let you in.*	If you ain’t* a murderer, I’ll let you in.*
She’s waiting for you, isn’t* she?*	She’s waiting for you, ain’t* she?*
There isn’t* any water in the lake.*	There ain’t* any water in the lake.*
There isn’t* anything you can do about it.*	There ain’t* anything you can do about it.*

Substandard Contexts

One interesting thing I could add here is that because the form is substandard, it usually occurs in substandard contexts, which means you can see other substandard words or constructions as well. So, for example there can be double negation. It’s frowned upon in standard English, but it’s pretty widespread in substandard language.

So, the last two examples could equally well be rewritten as:

There ain’t no water in the lake.

There ain’t nothing you can do about it.

And now some examples where the form stands for the negative auxiliary have:

STANDARD FORM	AIN’T
Even now, after two days, she hasn’t* had enough of it.*	Even now, after two days, she ain’t* had enough of it.*
She’s stolen it, hasn’t* she?*	She’s stolen it, ain’t* she?*
He hasn’t* done anything useful.*	He ain’t* done anything useful.*
I haven’t* seen any books here.*	I ain’t* seen any books here.*

Again, in the last two examples you could use nothing instead of anything and no instead of any respectively.

Just remember that this form shouldn’t be overused, especially in more formal contexts.