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Conversational
Language (#1)
The grammar used in written
language and the grammar
used
in conversational language
are
often quite different.
In
fact,
what's normal, common,
and
acceptable in spoken
language is often considered unacceptable in written
language.
For
that reason, we'll take a look, in the next
several Hints,
at what some of these
differences are.
1. Yes / No
Questions
Written
English
In written language, Yes /
No
("simple") questions have
three
forms:
BE + subject + other
words?
Is anyone absent?
Are you hungry?
Are
Joe and Bill brothers?
Was
she at work today?
Were Jun's
parents born in Japan?
AUXILIARY + subject
+ verb + other words?
Is anyone listening?
Are you feeling hungry?
Are Susie
and Jill coming to the party?
Can you
understand
this?
Will you help me?
Should we
stay or leave?
Has
Fred's wife had her baby yet?
Have you seen that movie?
Have you had
lunch yet?
Had they already left when you
arrived?
Do / Does / Did +
subject +
verb + other words?
Do you understand me?
Does your apartment have air conditioning?
Did Joe call you last night?
Do you do
your laundry more
than once a week?
Did your brother
do well on his exam?
Conversational
English
In everyday conversation,
Yes / No questions
are often
"abbreviated" by omitting some of the words.
The result
is sentences that are common, normal,
and acceptable for
speaking, but not acceptable in writing. There are two
main ways that these "abbreviated"
questions are made.
Here's one
of them:
Omitting BE
or the Auxiliary Verb
Examples:
Is anyone absent? ===>
Anyone absent?
Are you hungry? ===> You
hungry?
Was she at work today? ===>
She at work
today?
Is
anyone listening? ===>
Anyone listening?
Are you feeling hungry? ===>
You feeling hungry?
Are Susie and Jill coming
to the party?
===>
Susie and Jill coming to the
party?
Has
Fred's wife had her baby
yet? ===?
Fred's wife had her baby yet?
Have you seen that movie?
===>
You seen that movie?
Have you had lunch yet? ===>
You had lunch yet?
Had they already left when
you arrived?
===>
They already left when you
arrived?
Do you understand me? ===>
You understand
me?
Does
your apartment have air
conditioning? ===>
Your apartment have air
conditioning?
Did Joe call you last night?
===> Joe call
you
last night?
Do you do your laundry more
than once a week? ===>
You
do your laundry more than
once
a
week?
Did
your brother do well on
his exam? ===>
Your brother do well on his
exam?
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Special Notes:
| 1. |
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Notice
that BE, do, and
have
can be both
auxiliaries and main verbs. |
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| 2. |
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Notice that
modal
auxiliaries are not
used in the
pattern noted above. |
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| 3. |
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In "abbreviated"
Yes / No questions, certain
auxiliaries
are often contracted, but the subject
is omitted
and only the contracted auxiliary
is
heard:
Is anyone absent? ===>
's anyone absent?
Is anyone listening? ===>
's anyone listening?
Has Fred's wife had her baby
yet? ===?
's Fred's wife had her baby yet?
Have you seen that movie?
===>
've you seen that movie?
Have you had lunch yet?
===>
've
you had lunch yet?
Had they already left when
you arrived? ===>
'd they already left when you arrived?
Does your apartment have air
conditioning? ===>
's your apartment have air conditioning?
Did Joe call you last night?
===>
'd Joe call you last night?
Did your brother do well on
his exam? ===>
'd your brother do well on his exam?
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| 4. |
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These contractions sometimes
cause sound
changes--particularly for / d / and / z /
when
they come before the / iú /
sound:
'd your brother do well on his exam?
(/ d / + / iú / = / d3iú /) (d3 =
j)
's your apartment have air conditioning?
(/ z / + / iú / = / 3iú /) (3 = zh)
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Remember:
The contractions above and
the questions with no
auxiliary are not acceptable in writing!
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