Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Negation 423b

Boosting

Negative (most typically interrogative) forms can often boost a speech act (make

it more forceful) and say that the speaker thinks the listener really should act in a

particular way:

My son said, ‘I don’t think she’s very well daddy. I think she’s, she’s ill, 

don’t

you think you should go in and see what’s happening?’ I said, ‘No, I, I don’t

think so, I think her husband will take care of that.’

(compare: Do you think you should go in …)

Can’t you turn that music down!

710 | Speech acts

Cambridge Grammar of English

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Hedging/downtoning

Negation can also have the opposite effect to boosting, i.e. it can hedge or

downtone a speech act. This occurs in a number of formulaic declarative

structures with verbs such as have, know, suppose:

A: You don’t have Jane Carey’s email address by any chance?

B: Yeah, sure.

The + sign indicates an interrupted turn which continues at the next utterance

A: I don’t suppose you’ve brought the saw back? 

B: Have I still got it? 

A: Yes. 

B: Oh yeah I took it last weekend. 

A: You borrowed it and brought it back+ 

B: Yeah yeah. 

A: +and then you took it again.

You don’t know what time the shop opens, do you?