hux / hix / hux?

Checking a Statement

Level 4

Position distinguishes a confirmation tag from a copular form inside an indirect question.

How It Works

Add final hux? to invite confirmation: “right?” The main clause keeps its agreement. This tag occurs with plural-subject statements; final hu is another confirmation form. English may render the tag with “right?” or a matching question such as “didn't they?”

Inside a copular whether question, hux precedes a description or location. Feminine hix also occurs in this embedded construction. Compare jekk il-ħanut hux miftuħ, “whether the shop is open,” with Il-ħanut mhux miftuħ, “The shop is not open.” Interrogative -x does not itself negate the description.

In jekk il-borża hix magħluqa, “whether the bag is closed,” both the embedded copular form and the adjective match the feminine bag. Keep this embedded agreement separate from the final tag illustrated above.

Examples (4)

  1. Il-mistednin waslu, hux?

    The guests arrived, didn't they?

    Final hux checks a plural-subject statement.

  2. Se nieklu hawn, hux?

    We will eat here, right?

    The final tag invites confirmation of the plan.

  3. Staqsejt jekk il-ħanut hux miftuħ.

    I asked whether the shop was open.

    Embedded hux asks about a masculine singular description; English backshift reflects the reporting context.

  4. Staqsejt jekk il-borża hix magħluqa.

    I asked whether the bag was closed.

    Embedded hix and magħluqa match the feminine singular bag; this illustrates an indirect question.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

hux / hix / hux?Level 4Checking a Statement

Learn This First

Separate final confirmation hux? from embedded copular questions, preserving embedded gender agreement and the non-negative function of interrogative -x.