surprise enthusiasm or negative exclamation

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 86 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as:

phrases or exclamations where the negative interrogative form of an auxiliary verb is used to express surprise or enthusiasm.

This is a real challenge to search for. Surprise and enthusiasm are not something you can formally search for, but the structures similar enough can be.  A negative interrogative followed by a verb and an adjective is easy to catch.  From the examples given, we can start our search by looking for:

A search on iWeb for:

_v* _x _p* _v* _j*

1 WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT 3487

These seem more like they are seeking agreement.

2 WOULDN’T IT BE NICE 3398

3 WOULDN’T IT BE BETTER 1098 (this seems to be suggesting politely a change)

4 WOULDN’T IT BE COOL 791


5 WOULDN’T IT BE WONDERFUL 424


6 WOULDN’T IT BE EASIER 413 (this seems to be suggesting politely a change)

7 WOULDN’T IT BE FUN 307


8 WOULDN’T IT BE AWESOME 288
9 WOULDN’T IT BE AMAZING 213
10 WOULDN’T IT BE GOOD 206

11 WOULDN’T IT BE POSSIBLE 205
12 SHOULDN’T I BE ABLE 189

13 WOULDN’T IT BE INTERESTING 170
14 WOULDN’T IT BE FUNNY 163

15 SHOULDN’T YOU BE ABLE 124
16 SHOULDN’T THEY BE ABLE 90

17 WOULDN’T IT BE LOVELY 89

18 WOULDN’T YOU BE ABLE 82
19 SHOULDN’T WE BE ABLE 79

20 WOULDN’T IT BE FANTASTIC 59

21 WOULDN’T IT BE BEST 56

22 WOULDN’T IT BE NEAT 54

23 WOULDN’T IT BE IRONIC 48

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *