There are several types of elliptical sentences.
1. Sentences without a word-form in the subject position. Речення без словоформи в позиції підмету.
Looks like rain.
Seems difficult.
Don’t know anything about it.
2. Sentences without word-forms in the subject position and part of the predicate position. In such cases the omitted part of the predicate may be either
a) an auxiliary verb (допоміжне дієслово) or b) a link verb
a) Going home soon?
See what I mean?
Heard nothing about him lately.
b) Not bad.
Free this evening?
Nice of you to come.
Susan’s father?
3. Sentences without a word-form only in part of the predicate position, which may be an auxiliary or a link verb.
You seen them?
Everything fixed?
You sure?
All settled.
4. Sentences without word-forms both in the subject and the predicate position. Such ellipses occur in various responses.
What time does Dave come for lunch? - One o’clock.
What were you thinking about? - You.
What do you want of us? Miracles?
Where’re you going? - Home.
5. Sentences without a word-form in the predicate position. Such ellipses occur only in replies to questions.
Who lives there? - Jack.
What’s happened? - Nothing.
34. The communicative types of the sentence.
The sentence is a minimal unit of communication.
From the viewpoint of their role in the process of communication sentences are divided into four types, grammatically marked:declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory sentences.
These types differ in the aim of communication and expressstatements, questions, commands andexclamations respectively.
Declarative sentences
A declarative sentence contains a statement which gives the reader or the listener some information about various events, activities or attitudes, thoughts and feelings. Statements form the bulk of monological speech, and the greater part of conversation. A statement may bepositive (affirmative) ornegative, as in:
I have just come back from a business trip.
I haven’t seen my sister yet.
Interrogative sentences
Interrogative sentences contain questions. Their communicative function consists in asking for information. They belong to the sphere of conversation and only occasionally occur in monological speech.
All varieties of questions may be structurally reduced to two main types, general questions (also called “yes-no” questions) andpronominal questions(otherwise called “special” or “wh” - questions).
General questions
In general questions the speaker is interested to know whether some event or phenomenon asked about exists or does not exist; accordingly the answer may be positive or negative, thus containing or implying “yes” or “no”.
Does your sister go figure-skating?
Is that girl a friend of yours?
Can you speak French?
Tag questions
A tag question is a short “yes-no” question added to a statement. It consists only of an operator prompted by the predicate verb of the statement and a pronoun prompted by the subject. Generally the tag has a rising tone.
You know French, don’t you? - Yes, a bit.
George is a football fan, isn’t he? - He certainly is.
Alternative questions
An alternative question implies a choice between two or more alternative answers. Like a “yes-no” question, it opens with an operator, but the suggestion of choice expressed by the disjunctive conjunction or makes the “yes-no” answer impossible.
Will you go to the opera or to the concert to-night?
Suggestive questions (навідні запитання)
Suggestive questions, also called declarative questions, form a peculiar kind of "yes-no" questions. They keep the word order of statements but serve as questions owing to the rising tone in speaking and a question mark in writing, as in:
You really want to go now, tonight?
- Yes, nothing could make me stay.
You still don’t believe me, Aunt Nora?
- No,I don't.
Pronominal questions
Pronominal questions open with an interrogative pronoun or a pronominal adverb, the function of which is to get more detailed and exact information about some event or phenomenon known to the speaker and listener.
The interrogative pronouns and adverbs which function as question words are as follows: what, which, who, whom, whose, where, when, why, how and the archaic whence (= where from), whither (= where, where to), wherefore (= what for, why).
Adverbial phrases such as how long, how often may also function as question words.
Question words may have various syntactical functions in the sentence, depending upon the information the speaker wants to obtain:
1. Who came first? (subject) - I did.
2. What makes you think so? (subject) - Your behaviour.
3. Whose team has won the match? (attribute) - Ours.
4. Which story did you like best? (attribute) - The last.
5. Who is that man? (predicative) - He is my brother.
6. What are you doing there? (object) - Nothing.
7. When are you going to come back? (adverbial of time) - Tomorrow.
8. How can I get to your place? (adverbial of manner) - By bus.
Pronominal questions are often used as short responses. They usually consist of (a) a question word or (b) a question word followed by a preposition.
a) I’m leaving for home. - When?
George won’t come to-night. - Why?
Let’s meet again. - Where?
I think I can help you. - How?
b) I want to talk with you.
- What about?
Come again. - What for?
Open the tin. - What with?
Question words preceded by prepositions are usually employed as echo questions. No information is missing in the previous remark, the whole idea is questioned. The tone is rising and the question word is heavily stressed. They express surprise, incredulity and sometimes incomprehension.
Let’s talk about life on Saturn. - About what?
I opened the door with a pin. - With what?
You are a shameless liar, - I am a what?
Our neighbour was born in 1973. - She was born when?
Rhetorical questions
Both general and pronominal questions may serve as rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question contains a statement disguised as a question. Usually it is a positive question hiding a negative statement. No answer is expected.
Can any one say what truth is? (No one can say what it is.)
What else could I do? (I could do nothing.)
Who would have thought to meet you here? (Nobody would.)
Imperative sentences
Imperative sentences express commandswhich convey the desire of the speaker to make someone, generally the listener, perform an action. Besides commands proper, imperative sentences may express prohibition, a request, an invitation, a warning, persuasion, etc., depending on the situation, context, wording, or intonation.
Stand up! Sit down. Open your textbooks.
Be quick!
Verbless Commands are sometimes expressed without an imperative verb, as in:
Silence!
Water, please.
To the right!
Off with you!
Gently, darling.
Careful, please.
No smoking!
Hush!
Exclamatory sentences
The main distinctive feature of this communicative type of sentence is a specific intonation; structurally it is variable.
You do look a picture of health! (statement). Hurry up! (command).
35. Interrogative sentences. Types of interrogative sentences.
Interrogative sentences
Interrogative sentences contain questions. Their communicative function consists in asking for information. They belong to the sphere of conversation and only occasionally occur in monological speech.
All varieties of questions may be structurally reduced to two main types, general questions (also called “yes-no” questions) andpronominal questions(otherwise called “special” or “wh” - questions).
General questions
In general questions the speaker is interested to know whether some event or phenomenon asked about exists or does not exist; accordingly the answer may be positive or negative, thus containing or implying “yes” or “no”.
Does your sister go figure-skating?
Is that girl a friend of yours?
Can you speak French?
Tag questions
A tag question is a short “yes-no” question added to a statement. It consists only of an operator prompted by the predicate verb of the statement and a pronoun prompted by the subject. Generally the tag has a rising tone.
You know French, don’t you? - Yes, a bit.
George is a football fan, isn’t he? - He certainly is.
Alternative questions
An alternative question implies a choice between two or more alternative answers. Like a “yes-no” question, it opens with an operator, but the suggestion of choice expressed by the disjunctive conjunction or makes the “yes-no” answer impossible.
Will you go to the opera or to the concert to-night?
Suggestive questions (навідні запитання)
Suggestive questions, also called declarative questions, form a peculiar kind of "yes-no" questions. They keep the word order of statements but serve as questions owing to the rising tone in speaking and a question mark in writing, as in:
You really want to go now, tonight?
- Yes, nothing could make me stay.
You still don’t believe me, Aunt Nora?
- No,I don't.
Pronominal questions
Pronominal questions open with an interrogative pronoun or a pronominal adverb, the function of which is to get more detailed and exact information about some event or phenomenon known to the speaker and listener.
The interrogative pronouns and adverbs which function as question words are as follows: what, which, who, whom, whose, where, when, why, how and the archaic whence (= where from), whither (= where, where to), wherefore (= what for, why).
Adverbial phrases such as how long, how often may also function as question words.
Question words may have various syntactical functions in the sentence, depending upon the information the speaker wants to obtain:
Who came first? (subject) - I did.
Whose team has won the match? (attribute) - Ours.
Who is that man? (predicative) - He is my brother.
What are you doing there? (object) - Nothing.
When are you going to come back? (adverbial of time) - Tomorrow.
How can I get to your place? (adverbial of manner) - By bus.
Pronominal questions are often used as short responses. They usually consist of (a) a question word or (b) a question word followed by a preposition.
a) I’m leaving for home. - When?
George won’t come to-night. - Why?
Let’s meet again. - Where?
I think I can help you. - How?
b) I want to talk with you.
- What about?
Come again. - What for?
Open the tin. - What with?
Question words preceded by prepositions are usually employed as echo questions. No information is missing in the previous remark, the whole idea is questioned. The tone is rising and the question word is heavily stressed. They express surprise, incredulity and sometimes incomprehension.
Let’s talk about life on Saturn. - About what?
I opened the door with a pin. - With what?
You are a shameless liar, - I am a what?
Our neighbour was born in 1973. - She was born when?
Rhetorical questions
Both general and pronominal questions may serve as rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question contains a statement disguised as a question. Usually it is a positive question hiding a negative statement. No answer is expected.
Can any one say what truth is? (No one can say what it is.)
What else could I do? (I could do nothing.)
Who would have thought to meet you here? (Nobody would.)
36. The General and pronominal interrogative sentences formation.
General questions
In general questions the speaker is interested to know whether some event or phenomenon asked about exists or does not exist; accordingly the answer may be positive or negative, thus containing or implying “yes” or “no”.
A general question opens with a verb operator, that is, an auxiliary, modal, or link verb followed by the subject. Such questions are characterized by the rising tone.
Does your sister go figure-skating?
Is that girl a friend of yours?
Can you speak French?
“Yes-no” questions may be incomplete and reduced to two words only: Can you? Does he?
A negative "yes-no" question usually adds some emotional colouring of surprise or disappointment.
Haven’t you posted the letter yet? (Why?)
General questions opening with will/would may be considered as commands and requests according to their communicative role.
Pronominal questions
Pronominal questions open with an interrogative pronoun or a pronominal adverb, the function of which is to get more detailed and exact information about some event or phenomenon known to the speaker and listener.
The interrogative pronouns and adverbs which function as question words are as follows: what, which, who, whom, whose, where, when, why, how and the archaic whence (= where from), whither (= where, where to), wherefore (= what for, why).
Adverbial phrases such as how long, how often may also function as question words.
Question words may have various syntactical functions in the sentence, depending upon the information the speaker wants to obtain:
1. Who came first? (subject) - I did.
2. What makes you think so? (subject) - Your behaviour.
3. Whose team has won the match? (attribute) - Ours.
4. Which story did you like best? (attribute) - The last.
5. Who is that man? (predicative) - He is my brother.
6. What are you doing there? (object) - Nothing.
7. When are you going to come back? (adverbial of time) - Tomorrow.
8. How can I get to your place? (adverbial of manner) - By bus.
As can be seen from the above examples, word order in a pronominal question is characterized by inversion of the operator and the subject. Inversion does not take place when the question word is the subject or an attribute to the subject (see examples 1, 2, 3).
Порядок слів у займенниковим питання характеризується перестановкою Питального слова і підмета.
A question word may be preceded by a preposition.
Питальному слові може передувати прийменник.
On what resolution do you insist?
In colloquial English it is preferable to shift the preposition to the end of the question.
What are you laughing at?
What did you argue about?
Pronominal questions are often used as short responses. They usually consist of (a) a question word or (b) a question word followed by a preposition.
a) I think I can help you. - How?
b) I want to talk with you. - What about?
Question words preceded by prepositions are usually employed as echo questions. No information is missing in the previous remark, the whole idea is questioned. They express surprise, incredulity and sometimes incomprehension.
Let’s talk about life on Saturn. - About what?
I opened the door with a pin. - With what?
You are a shameless liar, - I am a what?
Rhetorical questions
Both general and pronominal questions may serve as rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question contains a statement disguised as a question. Usually it is a positive question hiding a negative statement. No answer is expected.
Can any one say what truth is? (No one can say what it is.)
Do we always act as we ought to? (We do not always act as we ought to.)
What else could I do? (I could do nothing.)
Who would have thought to meet you here? (Nobody would.)
Rhetorical questions occur in colloquial English too, as in this fragment of dialogue:
Will you give me a picture of yours? - What for?... I’m not Marilyn Monroe or Jane Mansfield.
37. Interrogative sentence. Tag-question formation.
Tag questions
A tag question is a short “yes-no” question added to a statement. It consists only of an operator prompted by the predicate verb of the statement and a pronoun prompted by the subject. Generally the tag has a rising tone.
You know French, don’t you? - Yes, a bit.
George is a football fan, isn’t he? - He certainly is.
A tag question is added to a statement for confirmation and therefore is sometimes called aconfirmative question. It corresponds to such Russian tag questions as He так ли? Не правда ли? Ведь так? The speaker expects the listener to share his view of some situation rather than to give him some new information. The most usual patterns of sentences with tag questions are as follows.