# EN: am I!



## david314

Greetings, Thursday's cabbages. I present you with a question of great import -probably better suited for _the grammar forum_.

This register serves as _a dramatic emphasis_, perhaps _poetic _-really, _comical_. Here's an application: "What a joker, *am I*!" Is there a *... suis-je!* construction, en français -this is my question . Voici, mon humble tentaive: _Quel espèce de farceur, *suis-je!*_

-That cant be right, or even close. -Hope I was clear. Merci d'avance.


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## vanagreg

Hi,

it's kind of question tag, isn't it (hey, seen the play here? )

So, maybe :

Quel farceur je suis, n'est-ce pas?
Quel farceur, ne le suis-je pas?
Quel farceur je fais, non?


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## Outsider

I would not use a comma in the English sentence:

"What a joker am I!"​And I would tentatively translate it as

"Que farceur je suis !"
or
"Que je suis un farceur !"​But wait for further replies from the natives.


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## wylis

I would say that the inversion in French cannot be use in this specific case. I woul rather say :

_Quel grand farceur *je suis!*_

[/quote]

Which gives you some dramatic emphasis, but I definitely think that there's a better translation


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## Outsider

I see that I should have used _quel_ instead of _que_...


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## david314

vanagreg said:


> Hi,
> 
> it's kind of question tag, isn't it (hey, seen the play here? )
> 
> So, maybe :
> 
> Quel farceur je suis, n'est-ce pas?
> 
> 
> 
> Quel farceur, *ne le suis-je pas*?
> 
> 
> 
> Quel farceur je fais, non?
Click to expand...

 .... , j'aime ça beaucoup, merci mille fois. We do say also: _I'm such a xyz, *aren't I*?_


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## Dsimson

Good evening !
I've some questions for the *Am I* in English. Do you often use it in everyday's talk ? Or is it only to emphasis an ironical, or dramatic register ?
Morever,





> _ I'm such a xyz, *aren't I*?_


 Wouldn't it be "am not I" instead of "arent' I" ?


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## david314

wylis said:


> ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Quel grand farceur *je suis! *_
Click to expand...

 I love it, the simplicity._  _


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## Outsider

I thought that only "am I not?" was correct...


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## david314

Outsider said:


> I thought that only "*am I not*?" was correct...


  You are correct.


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## ms291052

Even though "am I not" is technically correct, in every day speech "I'm such an xyz, aren't I?" is often used. I would say "aren't I" is used in this context 95+% of the time, with "am I not" being restricted to very stiff jokes, perhaps to a boss or something like that.


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## david314

ms291052 said:


> Even though "am I not" is technically correct, in every day speech "I'm such an xyz, aren't I?" is often used. I would say "*aren't I*" is used in this context 95+% of the time, with "am I not" being restricted to very stiff jokes, perhaps to a boss or something like that.


 That's a valid point. The _high register_ which I chose, almost _literary_, is employed to convey irony. That's why I got so excited about *'ne le suis-je pas' *-which to my great amusement, the natives can't agree upon. This really is a grammar post, in my humble estimation. Thanks everyone.


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## schmaetterlink

I always thought "aren't I" was about the dumbest thing you could say in English. In third grade, one of my classmates began a sentence with "Ain't I..." (This was Kentucky.) The teacher had the temerity to tell him that the correct way of saying it was "Aren't I."


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## Dr. Baha'i

Actually, "ain't" is short for "am not." So it might be more correct to say, "I'm a joker, ain't I?"


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## david314

Upon further reflection, for the _rhetorical tense (...aren't I?_, _...ain't I?), _I am partial to: *n'est-ce pas?*

-Many Americans understand this phrase, too. C'est rigolo!


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