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

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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Speech acts | 703

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[house guest to host just before dinner]

A: 

What if I set the table?

B: Oh, thanks, yes, that’d be nice.

(offer)

[informal student meeting: deciding times to meet again]

A: I’m available at eleven but if it goes on past, like, twelve, I’ve got a tutorial

at twelve so er …

B: No it wouldn’t go past twelve. 

A: Well that’s alright then. 

B: Right. 

How about Thursday at twelve then?

C: We’ve got a class then. 

D: Yeah everyone’s got … 

B: Anybody want to do Thursday at nine? 

(suggestion)

In informal contexts, how’s about occurs as an alternative to how about: 

A: I’ll fit it around your schedule. 

B: Oh that’s very kind of you. 

A: Erm 

how’s about kind of half eight-ish?

B: Yeah. 

A: Yeah.

All three expressions realise other important functions too. How about (and to a

lesser extent what about) is frequently used to invite someone to speak or

comment, or to reciprocate a speaking turn. They are also used to raise new topics

of conversation or to shift the topic to a different sub-topic:

A: It was very interesting doing it. 

B: It was all right was it. Yeah. Yeah. How did everybody else feel? 

Lucy, how

about you? 

C: Er, well, the same really.

A: Are you Norwich born and bred? 

B: Yeah I am. 

What about you? 

Where were you born? 

A: No I’m from Kent but I’ve lived in Wales. 

A: I think there should be stronger government regulations to make the

industry reduce the risks to the public because they are admitting there are

risks. 

B: Right. 

A: So there should be some. That’s my point of view. 

B: But 

how about the argument that industry knows its operations better than

anyone else?

704 | Speech acts

Cambridge Grammar of English

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What if 

is also used to hypothesise or to imagine possible situations:

[friends chatting, dreaming of winning the national lottery]

A: What do you think is a reasonable amount that you’d like to win? 

B: A couple of million. 

C: Enough to do you till you die. [laughs]

A: Planning ahead are we? [laughs]

B: Well that’s a good amount [laughs] isn’t it. 

A: Mm. 

B: But 

what if you have a short life?

C: Then you write a big will. [laughs]