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

S – V 

O (clause as object)

I mean 

what I say.

You know 

that I want to speak about it to him privately first.

You see

loads of people at clubs that haven’t got good figures wearing

short skirts.

● Discourse marking:

[5.1 is the name of a version of a computer programme]

A: She hasn’t got 5.1 on her machine but her partner can load it if we can lend

her the disks. 

I mean, am I at liberty to let these disks go outside the

company? 

B: Erm. 

A: I don’t know how many they’re licensed for either? 

B: Eight. 

(I mean as discourse marker, marking the statement following as a rewording

or clarification or expansion of the previous one)

210 | From discourse to social contexts

Cambridge Grammar of English

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

[complaining about restaurant prices]

A: But when you say have a coffee or something or a soft drink it just mounts

up actually. 

B: Mm. Yes. And you see prices going up er say to four ninety nine+ 

A: Mm. 

B: +or five ninety nine. 

A: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

B: You know and people don’t sort of perceive that er it’s really expensive. But

when you think about it, 

you know, just the basic dish, four ninety nine or

five ninety nine. Five or six pounds. 

A: Yeah. 

B: Plus, you know, the little bits and pieces. 

A: Yeah. Yeah. 

(you know as discourse marker, marking statements as assumed shared

knowledge or uncontroversial or logically linked)

A: Do you not normally come here for your Delenia products? 

B: Oh well it varies. 

A: Right. 

B: I don’t have a set place. You see I move around quite a lot with work so I

just go wherever I can pop into. 

(You see as discourse marker, linking a statement with its explanation)