Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
The Trend of Grammar Shortcuts
Hello,
I have noticed a trend in social networking where the start of a phrase of chopped off. Here is an example I found today....
"Have an old VHS copy of beauty and the beast, it could be worth $7000".
Where it should've started with "do you".
"Do you have an old VHS copy of beauty and the beast, it could be worth $7000".
How can we describe this trend in the sense of structural grammar, (of which is all too common these days), and how can we describe the function of the words "do you"?
I never was very good English at school, but in my pre-retirement years I have a new interest.
Thank you,
Adrian.
I have noticed a trend in social networking where the start of a phrase of chopped off. Here is an example I found today....
"Have an old VHS copy of beauty and the beast, it could be worth $7000".
Where it should've started with "do you".
"Do you have an old VHS copy of beauty and the beast, it could be worth $7000".
How can we describe this trend in the sense of structural grammar, (of which is all too common these days), and how can we describe the function of the words "do you"?
I never was very good English at school, but in my pre-retirement years I have a new interest.
Thank you,
Adrian.
Top answer
This is not something new. Dropping words like this (technically called ellipsis) is very frequently encountered in English. " Other examples (in this type of construction the dropped word would have to be "I"): "Whoowhee!
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This is not something new. Dropping words like this (technically called ellipsis) is very frequently encountered in English. The dropped word here is "I." It cannot be "Do you.": " Have an old VHS copy of Beauty and the Beast; it could be worth $7000." Other examples (in this type of construction the dropped word would have to be "I"):
"Whoowhee! Have the makings of a hit song here
"Whoowhee! Have the makings of a hit song here
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