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

DECLARATIVE QUESTIONS 

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Not all yes-no questions have interrogative form, and a declarative clause may

function in context as a question:

A: You’re Philip?

B: Yes, that’s me.

The intonation is typically rising (

) (asking for confirmation) or falling (

)

(strongly assuming something):

B: You’re busy all day?

A: Yeah.

A: So you’re going to be here about quarter past?

B: Yeah quarter past, twenty past, yeah.

A: That’s fine.

If a listener repeats a speaker’s utterance as a request for confirmation, it may

have rising intonation and be heard as a question:

A: I’ve got her number.

B: You’ve got her number? 

A: Yeah.

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The repeated utterance may also have a falling intonation and be heard as

expressing a doubt, which the speaker may also interpret as questioning:

A: I’ve got her number.

B: You’ve got her number?

A: Yeah.