SOME, ANY AND NEGATIVE FORMS IN BIASED QUESTIONS

The questions expressed by yes/no interrogatives are often biased according to the kind of answer the speaker expects, and are based on neutral, positive or negative assumptions.

If the speaker has a neutral assumption about the answer, non-assertive forms (any, anybody, ever, yet, etc. will be added to a positive interrogative:

Do you know anyone in Westminster?

Is the bank open yet?

With a positive assumption, assertive forms – some, somebody, always, already, too, etc. – are added to the positive interrogative:

Do you know someone in Westminster?

Is the bank open already?

Negative-interrogative yes/no questions are based on conflicting attitudes. The speaker had originally expected that the answer would be or should be positive, but new evidence suggests that it will be negative. This conflict produces a feeling of surprise, disbelief or disappointment. If the addressee is directly involved, the biased question can imply a reproach. In this type of question, nuclear negative forms – no, nobody, no-one, never, etc. – can be added to a positive interrogative:

Is there no butter?                                         (There should be some butter, but it seems there isn’t.)

Do you know no-one in Westminster?          (You ought to know someone, but it seems you don’t.)

Alternatively, non-assertive forms can be added to a negative interrogative:

Isn’t there any butter anywhere (BrE)/anyplace (AmE)?

Don’t you know anyone in Westminster?

Assertive forms can be added to a negative interrogative to reflect a positive bias despite an originally negative assumption:

Isn’t there some butter somewhere?                        (It seems there isn’t, but I expect there is.)

Don’t you know someone in Westminster?              (It appears that you don’t, but I think you

                                                                                              must know someone.)

With offers, it seems more polite in English to assume a positive outcome, namely that the offer will be accepted. For this reason, the some forms are normal in such cases:

Would you like some more coffee?                                              [BYU-BNC: KBK]

Do you want something, a soft drink before you go?                  [BYU-BNC: KCA]

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

في كربلاء.. قسم المضيف يقدم 5 آلاف وجبة طعام للزائرين بذكرى شهادة الإمام الجواد (عليه السلام)

إحياءً لذكرى شهادة الإمام الجواد (عليه السلام).. شعبة الخطابة تقيم مجلساً عزائياً في واسط

جمعية كشافة الكفيل تهدي أقسام العتبة العباسية المقدسة لوحات التشبيك الفنية تثميناً لجهودها

المجمع العلمي يقيم برنامج (سراج المنتظرين) في المثنى

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

طريقة مبتكرة للكشف المبكر عن أمراض القلب والشرايين

منظمة الصحة تحذر من خطر إدمان الشباب لأكياس النيكوتين

خبراء يحذرون من عادة شائعة تهدد صحة الملايين

خبير يكشف 5 حقائق طبية صادمة وغير معروفة

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

الأولى في العالم.. الصين تجري تجربة رائدة في الفضاء باستخدام "جنين اصطناعي"

دراسة حديثة تفند ربط التستوستيرون بالمخاطرة لدى الرجال

ميتا تضيف وضع "المحادثة المخفية" إلى تطبيق "واتساب"

فوبيا المرتفعات ليست من الدماغ.. دراسة تكشف السبب

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

INDIRECTNESS, IMPOLITENESS AND CONFRONTATION

DECLARATIVES AS DIRECTIVES

Responding to directives

MODALISED INTERROGATIVES AS POLITE DIRECTIVES

POLITENESS IN DIRECTIVES

THE DISCOURSE FUNCTION OF LET’S IMPERATIVES

DIRECTIVES: GETTING PEOPLE TO CARRY OUT ACTIONS DIRECTIVES AND THE IMPERATIVE

BIASED DECLARATIVES WITH ATTITUDINAL MARKERS

QUESTIONS AS PRELIMINARIES

Let’s and Let us

Negative and emphatic imperatives

The verb in the imperative