Questions: echo and checking questions
Spoken English:
We use echo questions to repeat part of what we have just heard when we don’t fully understand or when we want to confirm what we have heard. We use rising or fall-rising intonation:
A:
Did you hear Pete’s giving up his job.
B:
Pete’s giving up his job?
Echo questions are often statements (declaratives) with a wh-word at the end:
A:
His name is Thokosani.
B:
His name iswhat?
In speaking we sometimes ask questions of ourselves as we speak. We do this when we are trying to remember specific information or to show that we are not sure or when we want our listener to confirm something: [trying to remember/showing uncertainty] There’s a great new restaurant on that street, what was it called, Marco’s, I think.
[looking for confirmation]
A:
Fiona is coming to stay in June, when is it, the last weekend in June?
B:
Yeah, I think that’s right.
See also:
Questions: follow-up questions
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