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Questions: short forms

In informal situations, especially in speaking, we can reduce questions rather than using complete clauses. Short questions can be clauses, phrases or even single words:

Full formShort form
Are you hungry?You hungry? or Hungry?
Is this your pen?This your pen?

When we shorten questions, the auxiliary verb and the subject are both often omitted (ellipsis):

  • A: Got the key? (full form: Have you got the key?)
  • B: Yeah.
  • A: Working tonight? (full form: Are you working tonight?)
  • B: No, thankfully.
warning

We cannot omit the auxiliary verb or the subject if the subject is I:

  • Have I met you before?
  • Not: Met you before?
  • Am I really the one for this job?
  • Not: I really the one for this job?

When we know a lot about the context, we often shorten questions:

  • A: Are you looking forward to the party? (full form)
  • B: Not really.
  • A: Why aren’t you? (full form: Why aren’t you looking forward to the party?)
  • B: I’m not a great fan of parties.

When we know a lot about the context, it would be unusual and often too formal to use the full form of the question.

Compare

A: Want to go for lunch now?B: Yeah, great.A: The Diner?B: That’s perfect.A and B know each other well and they often go to lunch at The Diner.
A: Do you want to go for lunch now?B: Yeah, great.A: Do you want to go to The Diner?B: That’s perfect.The full forms of the questions are correct but the full form of the second question sounds more formal than the short form.
See also
  • Ellipsis