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

Û

96

), tails (

Û

97

) and tags (

Û

98

). Discourse markers 

(

Û

108

) also play a vital part in maintaining a listener’s involvement.

In informal, face-to-face conversations speakers are often careful not to sound

too assertive or direct; normally they do not wish to seem impolite to their

listeners. They are also careful not to sound over-precise, which might be taken to

be threatening or pedantic. Consequently, polite forms and indirect language,

purposefully vague language and approximations (

Û

103

) are much in evidence

and in ways which would be unusual in most written contexts.