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

Initial I

Initial I is often unnecessary in declaratives in informal speech, both with

auxiliary and modal verb structures and with lexical verbs (especially mental

process verbs such as think, reckon, guess, hope, like, love, wonder, suppose):

A: What’s the matter?

B: Can’t find my glasses.

(understood: I can’t find my glasses.)

Like your new car.

(understood: I like your new car.)

A: Chocolate?

B: No. Don’t want any more, thanks.

[guest (A) and host (B) at dinner table; afters is an informal word for dessert]

A: That was lovely.

B: Hope you’ve got a little bit of room left for afters.

[talking about a house infested with mice]

A: They used to wake us up in the night didn’t they, scurrying up the walls.

B: Yeah. Wonder how they got up walls.

This also occurs frequently in short replies such as: don’t know, can’t remember,

think so

, hope so:

A: Can you make those changes to the list?

B: Yeah. Think so, yeah.