Igor
how to understand this phrase “Well, there wouldn’t be, now would there?” he asks
Sep 3, 2015 7:15 AM
Answers · 5
1
'Well' is not for emphasis or prosody. Prosody is for poems. Here, 'well' is an interjection. It has no meaning, it simply introduces the sentence. 'Now would there?' is where I'm guessing confused the asker. It is indeed a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is... Empty. It is used for style and exaggeration rather than to be answered. It can also be used to ask for agreement on a previous idea. E.g. 1: "This dress is ugly, isn't it?" (Asking for a confirmation / agreement that the dress is ugly.) E.g. 2: "I know, right?" (Common teenager spew where 'right' most likely means nothing.) A rhetorical question is also bombastic. By that, I mean that it uses extra words for nothing, with the sole purpose of being pretentious and pompous (not a good thing...) When used like that, it's a little thing we like to call 'sarcasm.'
September 3, 2015
"Well" is just for emphasis and prosody. "there wouldn't be" means that something would not be present in a given situation. "now would there?" is a rhetorical question. It's asking for agreement from the person with whom one is speaking in order to emphasize the previous part of the sentence. That is to say, to make sure that the other person understands the previous part of the sentence.
September 3, 2015
'now would there?' is used to emphasise 'there wouldn't be' in this case.
September 3, 2015
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!