Alternative questions

An alternative question implies a choice between two or more alternative answers. Like a “yes-no” question, it opens with an operator, but the suggestion of choice expressed by the disjunctive conjunction or makes the “yes-no” answer impossible. The conjunction or links either two homogeneous parts of the sentence or two coordinate clauses. The part of the question before the conjunction is characterized by a rising tone, the part after the conjunction has a falling tone.

Will you go to the opera or to the concert to-night?

An alternative question may sometimes resemble a special question beginning with a question word:

Which do you prefer, tea or coffee?

Where shall we go, to the cinema or to the football match?

Actually such structures fall into two parts, the first forms a special question, the second a condensed alternative question.

Sometimes the alternative contains only a negation:

Will they ever stop arguing or not?

Suggestive questions

Suggestive questions, also called declarative questions, form a peculiar kind of "yes-no" questions. They keep the word order of statements but serve as questions owing to the rising tone in speaking and a question mark in writing, as in:

You really want to go now, to-night?

By their communicative function suggestive questions resemble sentences with tag questions; they are asked for the sake of confirmation. The speaker is all but sure what the answer will be (positive or negative), and by asking the question expects confirmation on the part of the addressee.

You are familiar with the town? - I spent winter here many years ago.

You still don’t believe me, Aunt Nora? - No,I don't.

The answer is sometimes unexpected.

A child like you talking of “we women”! What next? You’re not in earnest?

- Yes, I am.

Unlike ordinary “yes-no” questions, suggestive questions may contain independent elements, such as interjections, modal words or phrases, the conjunction so, parenthetical clauses, etc., as in:

You are joking, eh? Surely you are not offended? So you knew about, it before?

Suggestive questions are frequently used as question responses with various kinds of emotional colouring, most often that of surprise or incredulity.

He said you were a very good ski-teacher. - He said that?

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