Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: forma interrogativa

Salve a tutti!
Una domanda. La forma interrogativa di una frase che coinvolge il verbo to
be (o alcuni altri), si fa anteponendo al soggeto il verbo:
is it the gift?
Una persona, oggi, ha detto ad una ragazza polacca, in inglese: it's  the
gift?
Io gli ho chiesto il perchè della sua scelta, e mi è stato risposto che è
possibile, nel linguaggio parlato , ignorare la costruzione solita della
forma interrogativa.
E' vero?
Nel mio corso di inglese ho trovato molti aspetti del lingiaggio informale
(la forma contratta, ecc ecc), ma mai questa "regola".
Grazie

 gift?
QUOTE (Gilmore Girls, 3x10)
LORELAI: Hello Gran, good to see you. 
TRIX: You’re well? 
LORELAI: I’m well. 
TRIX: You’re working? 
LORELAI: I’m working. 
TRIX: You’re single? 
LORELAI: I’m single. 
TRIX: By choice, or do you scare the men with your independence?
UNQUOTE
Unless it expresses surprise (I can't think of an example offhand), I can't
say I like it very much, but let's see what native speakers say. I suspect
it's only possible with short questions.
[...]
Bye, FB
-- 
"I saw something nasty in the woodshed!"
(Cold Comfort Farm, the film)

 it's only possible with short questions.
I sense that in the example I quoted the questions in the affirmative don't
sound wrong because Trix is checking, rather than actually asking about her
grand-daugher as if she knew nothing about it. I'm speculating here, but I
feel that "you're single?" _here_ amounts to asking "are you _still_
single, like when I talked to you last?" or "Are you single? Because I knew
you were". I'm sorry if I've talked nonsense. (smiling face)
Bye, FB
-- 
"Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally
dislike."
("An Ideal Husband", Oscar Wilde)

Giň
How do you expect me to grow, if you don't let me blow?
(Rachel a Ross, Friends 2x19)


Making statements into questions simply by using an interrogative intonation 
(or adding a question mark in writing) isn't uncommon (and the question 
needn't be short) , though it's true that , as FB says , these are often 
questions which don't ask for 'new' information , but which ask for 
confirmation of (often repeating) something said or reported which has 
caused surprise , shock  , or disbelief ; or questions which are implicitly 
asking for confirmation of something the questioner believes to be the case 
, or to be likely : e.g.
'She said *what* ?'
'You told the Sergeant-Major that you thought he didn't have a clue about 
man-management ?'
'He expected to be paid after making such a cock-up of the job?'
'You'll be there on Tuesday , Tom ?'
Sentences of the latter type might well be completed in the conventional way 
by the tag 'are you ? ' 'will she ?' 'did they?' etc. , but these are 
frequently omitted (quite often the word 'then' is tagged onto the end of 
the sentence instead)
'You're on your own again , then , Ted ?' (the speaker has heard that Ted's 
girlfriend has walked out)
'You don't really expect me to believe your ridiculous story about being 
held up by two armed terrorists on the way back from the pub ? Held up by 
your mates is more like it.'
'You didn't happen to see Jim on your way in ?'
Without context , it's impossible to say if  'It's the gift?' falls into 
these categories.
Mike 

 E' vero?
Yes, it's true.  You didn't know that?
bye
Ari

 Yes, it's true.  You didn't know that?
Is that more frequent in American English, by any chance?
-- 
Enrico C
...still legal tender...

 it's only possible with short questions.
Or just with contracted forms (it's, you're, ain't)
-- 
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
(Janis Joplin)
23/08/2005 11.56.17

Alex wrote:
[cut]
You can do that also in the interrogative sentence where you should use the 
to do like this?!
-- 
I'm a Dream!!! 


I am not sure because I have no way of comparing.  Perhaps someone else
can answer your question.
bye
ari

 use the to do like this?!
Penso non mi abbia risposto nessuno perchè la domanda in inglese risultava 
incomprensibile! :-P
La ripropongo in italiano:
la stessa cosa vale per le interrogative con verbi diversi da be, have, ecc. 
dove ci vuole il "do"? Ossia nel linguaggio informale si può, sempre o in 
qualche caso, omettere il "do" in una domanda?


 qualche caso, omettere il "do" in una domanda?
Shoes come off?
Your sister killed the President of Paraguy?

 qualche caso, omettere il "do" in una domanda?
io lo faccio spesso quando sto in chat, ma alcune volte sono stato
ripreso e qualificato come "ignorante" :)
Ciao,
 Luigi