[Musiq]

The contraction for "are not" is usually used in questions like: "Aren't I going with you?" However, "am" is the proper be-verb to be used with the pronoun "I": "I am going with you." The technically ungrammatical usage of "aren't" in questions where "I" is the subject can be considered a "forced" mistake, because there is no good grammatically correct alternative. There is no contraction for "am not;" we don't say "Amn't I going ... ?," and the uncontracted form, "Am I not going with you?," sounds so formal that it is not practical in most situations. Consequently, even though "aren't I" is technically ungrammatical, and can sound a bit jarring to the ear, it is considered correct in normal conversational speech.
Additional note:
Michael Swan: "Practical English Usage" Second Edition
"'Am not' is normally only contracted in questions, to 'aren't'"
"The question tag for 'I am' is 'aren't I'?: 'I'm late, aren't I?'"

 

[rsaavedra]

After seeing the comments here, I went to my "Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage." I was trying to find out what they say about are and am, but surprisingly, this dictionary has an entry for precisely "Aren't I"! It didn't occur to me that there would be one. It's pretty long but here's the second half:

Quote:

Aren't I began appearing in the work of British writers early in the 20th century. It is a pronunciation spelling in origin -British speakers don't pronounce the r. The subtlety of pronunciation was lost on American critics, to whom the construction looked glaringly incorrect. Those who did not damn it as bad grammar condemned it as a too-nice usage affected by women. But the acceptability of the phrase has been growing. It has never been a problem for British critics, who understand the reason for the spelling (Amis 1998, however, thinks that its use in writing outside of fictional dialogue would mark the writer as vulgar.) Recent American critics concede that it is respectable and standard. -Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage

 

[feh1325]

am i?










not