Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

The sentence I was thinking of is:

Someone's blocked you in. It's not me, is it? Or is it?

It certainly reads oddly, but I've heard it used in general speech quite often.

As I understand it, the speaker is stating the question twice, firstly expecting the answer "no". Then secondly expecting the answer "yes".

Is the sentence grammatically incorrect? Something about it feels wrong.

share|improve this question
it sounds redundant to me. Why not just "It's not me, or is it?" – Jimmy Sep 15 '11 at 18:14
I guess it is redundant. But it's still commonly used. – Urbycoz Sep 16 '11 at 8:00

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted

There doesn't seem to be anything grammatically incorrect about this sentence. Perhaps the ellipsis of the words "really me" at the end of the sentence may make it sound dodgy:

Someone's blocked you in. It's not me, is it? Or is it really me(who blocked you in)?

It's an entirely valid question, an entirely valid sentence structure. Perhaps a little informal.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.