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

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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

From utterance to discourse | 195

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Where the tail consists of a pronoun alone, the object pronoun, not the subject

pronoun, is used:

I’m hungry, 

me

. I don’t know about you.

(I’m hungry, I.)

He’s crazy, 

him

.

When demonstratives are used in the tail, they must agree in number with the

preceding pronoun:

It’s a speciality of the region, 

that

.

They’re lovely potatoes, 

these

.

Tails and clause elements   

97c

Tails most typically refer back to subjects in the preceding clause. They can also

refer to objects or complements or adjuncts:

She’s never had 

one before, 

a mosquito bite

.

I reckon we’d been 

there before as children, don’t you, 

to Lowestoft

?

Tails are listener-sensitive. The tail clarifies what may not have been understood

by the listener. The tail can also reinforce and add emphasis to an already explicit

referent:

A: Did Max help you?

B: Yes, he moved all my books.

A: He said he’d try and help out.

B: Yeah, he was very helpful, 

Max

.

They’re an odd couple, 

those two

.

They look good down there, don’t they,

those tiles

?

That’s what I like most, 

people with real team spirit

.

Tails frequently occur in statements in which the speaker is evaluating a person or

thing or situation:

She’s a great tennis player 

Hiroko is

, isn’t she?

A: It’s not nice juice, 

that isn’t

.

B: I’ll still try some.

A: Where’s your glass?

196 | From utterance to discourse

Cambridge Grammar of English

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