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

Formulaic questions

A number of follow-up questions are formulaic and serve as ways of expanding

the discourse or requesting further specification. These include How come? So

what? What for?

and Like what?:

200 | From utterance to discourse

Cambridge Grammar of English

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[the shuttle here is a train which carries cars constantly back and forth between

Britain and France]

A: The shuttle would be out of the question, you see.

B: How come? 

A: Well, the shuttle is where you take your car on.

(How come = Why?)

A: I finished loads of odds and ends.

B: Did you? Like what? 

A: Like, my programs. Finished that off.

(Like what = What, for example?)

TWO-STEP QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES  

101

Questions in spoken English can involve a two-step process. One question may

act as a preface for another question. In such cases, the listener may feel that the

first question is too direct or too general and so the speaker shows sensitivity to

the listener’s reaction by anticipating a response:

What does stalking consist of? I mean, what was she doing exactly?

Yes-no

questions are only rarely self-contained. While they may function to elicit

specific information, such questions are normally asked as a preface to further

questions. For example, the question Are you going to the match tonight?

anticipates an answer which may then be followed by a further more personal or

specific question:

A: Are you going to the match tonight?

B: Yeah, I am.

A: Do you mind if I tag along?

B: Sure. We’re leaving around seven.

A: Are you in this Sunday afternoon?

B: I expect so. I think we might be going out later.

A: Okay, do you mind if I pop round to pick up the drill?

B: Of course not.

Another form of two-step question is the pre-question:

A: I wondered if I might ask something?

B: Sure.

A: Would you be able to write a reference for me? 

Can you tell me something? What time is the rubbish collection on Mondays?

Another type of two-step question involves projected answers in a two-step

process:

Where are you going? 

Into town?

What time did you say they were coming back? 

Seven?