You haven't ..... written that letter, have you?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Dear Sir/Madam

You haven’t … written that letter, have you? a) clearly b) truly c)actually d)blankly

The answer was given as actually. Can anyone explain why the answer should not be clearly?

Thanks and Regards,
Bala

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Hi Balama,
I would like to add my tuppence to your question:

The question tag “have you?” implies that there just is a doubt that you haven´t “actually” written the letter. But it is not for sure. “actually” or “in fact” much more might mean an expression of astonishment that you wrote the letter.

In case it was sure or obvious that you haven´t written the letter It would read:
You clearly/obviously haven´t written the letter. No doubt, that you did not.

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Using “clearly” at that point in the sentence would be ambiguous. Is the sentence asking if the letter is clear? Then the sentence should be: You haven’t written that letter clearly, have you?
or
Is the sentence asking if the letter has been written? Then the sentence should be: You clearly haven’t written that letter, have you?

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You could also substitute ‘actually’ with really: You haven’t really written that letter, have you?

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As we have to choose from the options given, the word actually can only be picked up, Torsten.

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I know, Lawrence. I used ‘really’ to better illustrate the meaning of the given sentence.

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